Why the Ancient Greeks Matter: The Problematic Miracle that Was Greece
Greek science was a small corner of Greek culture, which is the puzzle this book is actually about.
Reviel Netz, a historian of Greek mathematics, asks what was genuinely unusual about Greece and how much of it was accidental. He is sceptical of the standard miracle story, noting that science occupied a narrow place in a culture mostly given over to poetry, rhetoric and religion. Uneven, and most interesting where he argues against the received account.
Recommended by 1 Person
Tyler Cowen
Reviel Netz, Why the Ancient Greeks Matter: The Problematic Miracle that Was Greece. Uneven but periodically fascinating: “But science was but a small part of the Greek cultural sphere and it would be surprising if the overall contours of Greek cultural life could be explained through science alone.”
Source · March 2025
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