jamesgray2

Hey, Alexa, what’s the origin of scientific thinking?

In the 6th century BC, Miletus may have been a small Greek city on the Ionian coast, but some people there were thinking big ideas. Thales has widely been regarded as the father of philosophy, even though most of us today remember him for his theorem. More important than his personal contribution to thinking and the history of philosophy, however, was the establishment of a school of thought indebted to him: the Milesian school, home to the first Presocratic thinkers. The philosopher Anaximander, also from Miletus, was one of Thales’ closest disciples – and a name Alexa should be well-acquainted with.

The history of science in the West starts with the Milesian school and with Anaximander. The latter is said to have produced the first map of the known world, the archetype of all subsequent mappaemundi, Europe at the top, Asia…

There were only a few commodities more expensive to buy than a book in the medieval period. You could buy a horse or a mail coat for more than what you’d spend on an average bound book, but not much else. Buying an education was even more costly. In the 14th century, a year spent in a monastery school in England cost as much as buying a cottage. A degree at Oxford was one of the most costly things you could buy in late-medieval England outside real estate, political or ecclesiastical offices or military services.

Medieval books were wildly expensive to make, required time and were extremely valuable. Making a book was closer to the work of a jeweller than to that of an intellectual.

Medieval books were made from scratch. Ink was made from scratch. Parchment was made from scratch. Pens were made from scratch. Bindings were made from…