#roman science

[lindahall]

Cicero – Scientist of the Day

Marcus Tullius Cicero, a Roman statesman, writer and orator, died Dec. 7, 43 B.C.E.   Cicero was not much of a philosopher, and even less of a scientist.

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[spacetelescopescience]

Imagine you’re a detective trying to solve a mystery, but your only view is through the keyhole of a door. It would be very hard to collect all of the clues with such a limited view. But, if you were able to open the door and see the whole room, solving the mystery would be much easier. This is what the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will do for space astronomy!

As a survey mission, Roman will observe areas of the sky repeatedly, much like going back to the room multiple times to look for new details, or details that may have changed. It will cast a wide net with Hubble Space Telescope-quality data, but with 200 times Hubble’s infrared field of view! The infrared Roman mission will greatly expand our view of the universe, and it will provide many more clues to help solve some the greatest mysteries of astrophysics. 

Illustration: J. Kang/STScI.

[zodiacpostgenerator]

The signs as Roman science:

Aries, Libra: Medicine in ancient Rome

Taurus, Scorpio: Roman mathematics

Gemini, Sagittarius: Ancient Roman units of measurement

Cancer, Capricorn: Ancient Roman scientists

Leo, Aquarius: Roman calendar

Virgo, Pisces: Forensics in antiquity

[the-past-as-prologue]

Book I Mother of Aeneas and of his Rome, and of gods and men the joy, dear Venus, who underneath the gliding heavenly signals busies the seas with ships and makes earth fruitful (for only through you are living things conceived and because of you they rise up to bask in the light of the sun): from you the harsh winds flee and the skies’ black storm clouds scatter at your approach; for you the intricate earth sprouts flowers, wide ocean roads subside into gentle smiling, and furthest reaches of heaven glow serene in response to your prompting. In the spring’s first days, the nurturing western breezes breathe free again, and birds in the air, smitten by you, warble the news of your coming, as beasts of woods and fields cavort in the meadows and splash through brooks—and all for love. Under your spell, all creatures follow your bidding, captive, eager even. Look to the teeming seas, the mountains, the fast-flowing streams, the treetops, or rolling gorse where birds flutter and dance the reel of lust as earth once more renews itself as you have ordained, for you alone govern the nature of things, and nothing comes forth to the light except by you, and nothing joyful or lovely is made. I seek, therefore, your blessing and help in writing these verses that I presume to compose on the Nature of Things,

Lucretius. Opening dedication of 'On the Nature of Things' - 'De Rerum Natura'.

[the-past-as-prologue]

It was long the case that men would grovel upon the earth, crushed beneath the weight of Superstition whose head loomed in the heavens, glaring down with her dreadful visage until Epicurus of Greece dared to look up and confront her, taking a stand against the fables and myths of the gods with their stories of those impending thunderbolts from above and the vengeful roar of the skies that merely provoked his courage and strengthened his will to defy them and shatter the bars of the cage where Nature was kept in confinement.

de rerum natura

Lucretius, 50 BCE

[artist-tyrant]

Those races nearest to the southern half of the axis are of lower stature, with swarthy complexions, curly hair, black eyes, and little blood, on account of the sun. This poverty of blood makes them over-timid to stand up against the sword ... On the other hand, men born in cold countries are, indeed, ready to meet the shock of arms with great courage and without timidity.

Vitruvius