In my book Biological
Evolution and Cultural Evolution in the History of Life and Man, published
in Spanish, I analyze the cultural history of 23 civilizations and compare
their evolution. In the particular case of science, I wrote this:
...the first-generation
civilizations (Mesopotamia, Egypt and the American) reached their maximum
scientific development in mathematics and astronomy. Egypt and Mesoamerica
added medicine to these sciences. A second-generation (Greco-Roman) and a
third-generation civilization (Islam) also practiced the natural sciences. As
for the West, it is a unique and unprecedented case, as its scientific
development has been overwhelming.
...astronomy was the
first cultivated science... Mathematics emerged in parallel... It was soon
found that both sciences were related, for mathematics supported astronomy, making
it possible to perform complex calculations and predictions.
The pagan religions...
tried to predict the future, using for that purpose sacrificed animals, which
led to an accumulation of anatomical knowledge, soon applied to man, which mixed
with ancient knowledge about the properties of medicinal plants, led to the
formation of a corpus of medical doctrines.
On the other hand, the
development of the physical, chemical and biological sciences was less urgent...
and so it was attempted only by civilizations that had freed from the
necessities of survival an important part of human work... This happened for
the first time in Greece, the cradle of philosophy and most of the modern
sciences.
