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Western philosophy was founded by Socrates, and Greek science was blossomed by his students and descendants such as Plato, Aristotle, Euclid, Archimedes, and many others.

It seemed that after the tragic death of Archimedes, Greek science and philosophy started declining into the Middle Ages, a dark period in science and civilization. The trend was snapped only after the Renaissance in Italy from the 15th century. Is this true? More thought is welcome.

Eugene Zhang
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    Plenty of important Greek mathematicians and scientsts post-Archimedes. Hipparchus, Ptolemy, Heron, Nichomedes, Strabo, etc. Also, on the other end, its a stretch to say Socrates founded Western Philosophy, and he didn't really have much to do with Greek science. – simplicio Mar 13 '19 at 23:56
  • But none of post-Archimedes Greek mathematicians and scientists matched the level of Aristotle, Plato, Euclid, Archimedes, and so on. – Eugene Zhang Mar 14 '19 at 00:42
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    It seems Math Wizard knows the answer. So, what he asks is a matter of opinion. Which is not allowed here... – Gerald Edgar Mar 14 '19 at 01:18
  • I am not sure about it and so I ask this question. Any answer involving more detail and fact is welcome. – Eugene Zhang Mar 14 '19 at 01:24
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    Archimedes was killed in 212 BC, the middle ages did not start until 476 AD. If you want turning points the first was expulsion of scholars from Alexandrian library c.180 BC by Ptolemy VIII, and the second, its final decline c. 250 AD. – Conifold Mar 14 '19 at 08:38

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After Archimedes, there was Apollonius (a mathematician in the same league as Euclid and Archimedes by consensus of historians of mathematics.) Even later (no one knows exactly when) lived Diophantus. Apollonius and Diophantus created algebraic geometry in the same sense as Archimedes invented integral calculus.

Whole science of trigonomerty was developed after Archimedes death.

These are mathematicians. But Greek astronomy even did not even start at the time of Archimedes: the first of the two greatest astronomers of antiquity, Hipparchus, was born after Archimedes death. The second and the most famous, Ptolemy, lived more than 300 years after Archimedes.

It is true that Greek science experienced the periods of decline. But the final decline and the end of it came only at the time of the late Roman empire. (Ptolemy or Diophantus would mark the turning point).

You can certainly try to argue that Archimedes was the greatest of all of them. But continuing this line of thought you may conclude that the turning point of Western European science was Newton's death:-)

Alexandre Eremenko
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  • Online source suggests that Apollonius was in late 3rd – early 2nd centuries BC, which was basically the same period as Archimedes. From your post, I think we can not say Greece mathematics/science declined after Archimedes. But it is obvious that Greece philosophy peaked at Aristotle and declined after his death. – Eugene Zhang Mar 14 '19 at 04:59
  • Calling Ptolemy a Greek scientist is a bit of a stretch, since he may have lived in Alexandria, Egypt his entire life. (Though he may have been born in Greece.) But +1 for this answer. – Rory Daulton Mar 14 '19 at 09:57
  • "...Newton's death" <--- you mean that wasn't ? :-) – Carl Witthoft Mar 14 '19 at 12:36
  • @Rory Daulton: Ptolemy wrote in Greek and worked within Greek culture. He was probably a Roman citizen. Do you want to call him a Roman or an Egyptian scientist? – Alexandre Eremenko Mar 14 '19 at 13:59