Ancient science strove to understand the origins
and workings of nature and humanity.
Science has encompassed many methods and
varied disciplines over time, occupying
human thought for millennia. The questions
that scientists ask tend to remain constant
even as the answers differ according to time
and culture.The strange and sometimes simple
explanations that the ancient Greeks and
Romans gave for natural phenomena appear
less absurd to us when we consider that the
answers of today may appear ridiculous to
observers a thousand years from now.Among
ancient scientists—from Mesopotamia,
Persia, India, China, Egypt, Greece, and
Rome—the Greeks were by far the leaders in
scientific inquiry because they asked the most
penetrating questions, many of which still
elude complete answers. (See GREEK ARCHAIC
AGE; GREEK CLASSICAL AGE; GREEK HELLENISTIC
AGE; PHILOSOPHY.)