What scientific documents were written at the time of the ancient romans in latin?

I don’t know of any. Are there any?

There are plenty of works of FICTION written in roman times in latin (eg. Virgil)
There are MODERN scientific works written in latin (eg. “Principia mathematica” by Newton and “Systema naturae” by Linnaeus)
There are scientific works in GREEK written in roman times (probably including “Almagest” and “Geography” by Ptolemy)

mollwollfumble said:

What scientific documents were written at the time of the ancient romans in latin?

surely ALL of the scientific documents that were written at the time of the ancient romans were written in latin

diddly-squat said:

mollwollfumble said:

What scientific documents were written at the time of the ancient romans in latin?

surely ALL of the scientific documents that were written at the time of the ancient romans were written in latin

Nah, Pliny et al wrote txtspeak.

mollwollfumble said:

What scientific documents were written at the time of the ancient romans in Latin?
…
There are scientific works in GREEK written in roman times (probably including “Almagest” and “Geography” by Ptolemy)

Other scientific works written in Greek in Roman times include Galen’s contributions to medicine. All of Galen’s treatises were written in Greek.

mollwollfumble said:

What scientific documents were written at the time of the ancient romans in Latin?
…
There are scientific works in Greek written in roman times (probably including “Almagest” and “Geography” by Ptolemy)

Other scientific works written in Greek in Roman times include Galen’s contributions to medicine. All of Galen’s treatises were written in Greek.

I’ve found one, but not unless you call “architecture” a science. Vitruvius wrote his “De Architectura” in Latin.

poikilotherm said:

diddly-squat said:

mollwollfumble said:

What scientific documents were written at the time of the ancient romans in latin?

surely ALL of the scientific documents that were written at the time of the ancient romans were written in latin

Nah, Pliny et al wrote txtspeak.

Checking Pliny. Yes, I think you’ve got one. Pliny the Elder wrote his “Natvralus Historia” in Latin. It is considered the origin of the modern Encyclopaedia.

Stephanus Arcu wrote “Breviter historiam temporis”, but that was for a popular audience.

The Romans were good engineers. They were absolutely crap at science.

sibeen said:

The Romans were good engineers. They were absolutely crap at science.

What is considered science?
They would have to have been good at metallurgy and forging etc to equip their armies.
I wonder if techniques, metals used etc, was actually written down in journals or was passed on first hand to apprentices

Cymek said:

sibeen said:

The Romans were good engineers. They were absolutely crap at science.

What is considered science?
They would have to have been good at metallurgy and forging etc to equip their armies.
I wonder if techniques, metals used etc, was actually written down in journals or was passed on first hand to apprentices

That’s just a subset of engineering, IMHO.

I cannot think of any major scientific breakthrough that was made by the Romans, and in a thousand odd years that’s a pretty poor record. I think their record in mathematics was just as dire.

They had no issues with taking already developed scientific and mathematical principles and applying them, but as for developing their own…nada.

sibeen said:

Cymek said:

sibeen said:

The Romans were good engineers. They were absolutely crap at science.

What is considered science?
They would have to have been good at metallurgy and forging etc to equip their armies.
I wonder if techniques, metals used etc, was actually written down in journals or was passed on first hand to apprentices

That’s just a subset of engineering, IMHO.

I cannot think of any major scientific breakthrough that was made by the Romans, and in a thousand odd years that’s a pretty poor record. I think their record in mathematics was just as dire.

They had no issues with taking already developed scientific and mathematical principles and applying them, but as for developing their own…nada.

we will add your cultural and technological distinctiveness to our own

sibeen said:

Cymek said:

sibeen said:

The Romans were good engineers. They were absolutely crap at science.

What is considered science?
They would have to have been good at metallurgy and forging etc to equip their armies.
I wonder if techniques, metals used etc, was actually written down in journals or was passed on first hand to apprentices

That’s just a subset of engineering, IMHO.

I cannot think of any major scientific breakthrough that was made by the Romans, and in a thousand odd years that’s a pretty poor record. I think their record in mathematics was just as dire.

Without Roman Numerals the movie industry would have less glamorous sequel titles, Rocky 2 instead of Rocky II, Star Trek 2 instead of Star Trek II

Cato wrote a book in agriculture I believe

there would be books written for paramedics of the roman army

they would have written books on material sciences involving the use of concrete – which they perfected

few buildings built in the last century would last a few thousand years – most if them would have succumbed to concrete cancer or fallen over by then

then you’ve got the roads , they were so good that in Britain they simply asphalted them over – the next major refurb of a roman was 100 years – our roads are mainly every 7 or so

plumbing bet there would books on plumbing – fluid dynamics , hydraulic rams like at Pergamum, aquaducts, pipes , fountains , central heating, baths etc

Stephanus Arcu wrote “Breviter historiam temporis”, but that was for a popular audience.

Cato wrote a book in agriculture I believe

there would be books written for paramedics of the roman army

they would have written books on material sciences involving the use of concrete – which they perfected

few buildings built in the last century would last a few thousand years – most if them would have succumbed to concrete cancer or fallen over by then

then you’ve got the roads , they were so good that in Britain they simply asphalted them over – the next major refurb of a roman was 100 years – our roads are mainly every 7 or so

plumbing bet there would books on plumbing – fluid dynamics , hydraulic rams like at Pergamum, aquaducts, pipes , fountains , central heating, baths etc

Ta. I’ll look those up. Stephanus Arcu and Cato you say.

I think Vitruvius mentioned concrete and other building-related things in his architecture book. Galen’s medical treatises in Greek would have been the best books for paramedics. He started out treating soldiers in battle, then moved on to treating gladiators, and finished off treating the rich.

mollwollfumble said:

Ta. I’ll look those up. Stephanus Arcu and Cato you say.

I think Vitruvius mentioned concrete and other building-related things in his architecture book. Galen’s medical treatises in Greek would have been the best books for paramedics. He started out treating soldiers in battle, then moved on to treating gladiators, and finished off treating the rich.

My post was tic, moll :)

(Stephanus Arcu is Latin for Stephen Hawking)

Bubblecar said:

mollwollfumble said:

Ta. I’ll look those up. Stephanus Arcu and Cato you say.

I think Vitruvius mentioned concrete and other building-related things in his architecture book. Galen’s medical treatises in Greek would have been the best books for paramedics. He started out treating soldiers in battle, then moved on to treating gladiators, and finished off treating the rich.

My post was tic, moll :)

(Stephanus Arcu is Latin for Stephen Hawking)

You utter utter bastard, that’s it I’m going outside to watch the lightning.

Bubblecar said:

mollwollfumble said:

Ta. I’ll look those up. Stephanus Arcu and Cato you say.

I think Vitruvius mentioned concrete and other building-related things in his architecture book. Galen’s medical treatises in Greek would have been the best books for paramedics. He started out treating soldiers in battle, then moved on to treating gladiators, and finished off treating the rich.

My post was tic, moll :)
(Stephanus Arcu is Latin for Stephen Hawking)

LOL. I didn’t see that coming.

> Cato wrote a book in agriculture I believe

Checks for tic, not a pun on “cato” in modern rocketry which means “catastrophic failure”.

“De Agri Cultura (On Agriculture), written by Cato the Elder, is the oldest surviving work of Latin prose. Dated this essay’s composition to about 160 BC, it was an up-to-date product from his own knowledge and experience in the new capitalistic farming. He is much quoted by Pliny the Elder in his Naturalis Historia.”

Looks like it’s worth a read.

Seneca “Naturales quaestiones” looks like another one. “Naturales quaestiones is an encyclopedia of the natural world written by Seneca around 65 AD. It is much shorter than the Naturalis Historia produced by Pliny the Elder. It is one of the few Roman works which deals with scientific matters. It is not a systematic work, but a collection of facts of nature from various writers. The first book deals with meteors, halos, rainbows, mock suns, etc.; the second of thunder and lightning; the third of water. The fourth book speaks of hail, snow, and ice; the fifth of winds; the sixth of earthquakes and the sources of the Nile; and the seventh of comets.”

diddly-squat said:

mollwollfumble said:

What scientific documents were written at the time of the ancient romans in latin?

surely ALL of the scientific documents that were written at the time of the ancient romans were written in latin

Ask the Hans.

this latin thread.

Thank-you.

For much of the Classical Roman period, Greek was still regarded as the language of philosophy.

Indeed.

And as an after thought. Latin is still used in the field of botany to describe species. Latin was the common language before English.

diddly-squat said:

mollwollfumble said:

What scientific documents were written at the time of the ancient romans in latin?

surely ALL of the scientific documents that were written at the time of the ancient romans were written in latin

Um… no?

dv said:

diddly-squat said:

mollwollfumble said:

What scientific documents were written at the time of the ancient romans in latin?

surely ALL of the scientific documents that were written at the time of the ancient romans were written in latin

Um… no?

Perhaps some Grecian pillars?

dv said:

diddly-squat said:

mollwollfumble said:

What scientific documents were written at the time of the ancient romans in latin?

surely ALL of the scientific documents that were written at the time of the ancient romans were written in latin

Um… no?

See, that’s what I was waiting for.

dv said:

diddly-squat said:

mollwollfumble said:

What scientific documents were written at the time of the ancient romans in latin?

surely ALL of the scientific documents that were written at the time of the ancient romans were written in latin

Um… no?

arabic

PermeateFree said:

And as an after thought. Latin is still used in the field of botany to describe species. Latin was the common language before English.

the lingua Franca