How many things we use today come from ancient Greece?

Question

I'm trying to remember from my dim and distant education, but wasn't Pythagoras Greek? And are there other medical or philosophical ideas we still use today? Many thanks! ;-)

Answer 1

The civilization of the ancient Greeks has been immensely influential on language, politics, educational systems, philosophy, science, and the arts.



Ancient Greece mathematics contributed many important developments in the history of mathematics, including the basic rules of geometry, the idea of formal mathematical proof, and discoveries in number theory, mathematical analysis, applied mathematics, and approached close to establishing integral calculus. The discoveries of several Greek mathematicians, including Pythagoras and Euclid, are still used in basic mathematical teaching.



The Greeks developed astronomy, which they treated as a branch of mathematics, to a highly sophisticated level. The first geometrical, three-dimensional models to explain the apparent motion of the planets were developed in the 4th century BC by Eudoxus of Cnidus and Callippus of Cyzicus. Their younger contemporary Heraclides Ponticus proposed that the Earth rotates around its axis. In the 3rd century BC Aristarchus of Samos was the first to suggest a heliocentric system, although only fragmentary descriptions of his idea survive. Eratosthenes, using the angles of shadows created at widely-separated regions, estimated the circumference of the Earth with great accuracy. In the 2nd century BCHipparchus of Nicea made a number of contributions, including the first measurement of precession and the compilation of the first star catalog in which he proposed our modern system of apparent magnitudes.



The Ancient Greeks also made important discoveries in the medical field. Hippocrates was an physician of the Classical period, and is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine. He is referred to as the "father of medicine" in recognition of his lasting contributions to the field as the founder of the Hippocratic school of medicine. This intellectual school revolutionized medicine in ancient Greece, establishing it as a discipline distinct from other fields that it had traditionally been associated with (notably theurgy and philosophy), thus making medicine a profession.

Answer 2

Archimedes was Greek, although he lived in the Greek colony of Syracuse in Sicily.

He famously discovered the principle that a body floating in water displaces its own weight of water, which is very useful in designing ships. He did this whilst taking a bath. He then ran down the street shouting "Eureka!", and so invented streaking.



The Greeks are also supposed to have invented democracy and the Olympics, although their versions of them were a lot different to the ones we know.

Answer 3

Most medical terms have their origins in ancient greek.



e.g. rheumatology, rhinitis, cutaneous etc.





And there's always democracy but their idea was very different to the one we have today. They had the one man one vote system just not everyone counted among those men that got votes.