Panini (c520-460 BCE) formulates nearly four thousand grammatical rules for Sanskrit, including such concepts as phoneme, morpheme, and the root. This is the earliest known example of the discipline of linguistics.
Hippocrates of Cos (c460-370 BCE), known today as the father of Western medicine.
Aristotle (384-322 BCE) writes and teaches on topics as varied as physics, metaphysics, music and poetry, philosophy and ethics, linguistics, biology and zoology. His surviving works have a profound influence on Western thought and the development of science and the scientific method. He got a lot right, but he did champion the geocentric model of the universe. Oops.
Theophrastus (c371-c287 BCE), who studies biology, zoology, geology, physics, metaphysics and ethics, is best known for his two surviving works on botany (Enquiry into Plants and On the Causes of Plants).
Hierophilos (335-280 BCE) is allowed to dissect human cadavers by the Pharaohs of Alexandria, thus leading to the earliest descriptions of the nervous system.
Aristarchos of Samos (310- c.230 BCE) is the first person known to propose a heliocentric model of the solar system, as opposed to the geocentric model (favored by Aristotle).
Euclid of Alexandria (c 300 BCE), known today as the father of geometry, writes Elements. It remains the main text for teaching mathematics until the early 20th century CE.
Ultrahard wootz steel is developed in India around 300 BCE. It is highly prized by Middle Eastern and European traders. Study of wootz steel in 17th century Europe leads to the development of modern metallurgy.
In 387 BCE, Plato founds his famous Academy in Athens with the motto "Let none unversed in geometry enter here."
Archimedes of Syracuse (c. 287-212 BCE) -- mathematician, engineer, inventor, physicist and astronomer -- is still considered one of the greatest scientific minds of the classical world. See: hydrostatics, statics, the water screw, and the principle of the lever.
Eratosthenes of Cyrene (c276-c195 BCE) invents both the term and the scientific discipline of geography. He is the first person to calculate the circumference of the Earth, the tilt of the Earth's axis, and the distance from the Earth to the Sun. He also invented the leap day.
Hipparchus of Nicaea (c190-c120 BCE), known today as the founder of trigonometry, also discovered the precession of the equinoxes and compiled the first comprehensive star catalog.
The Antikythera Mechanism (150-100 BCE), so called for the island in whose waters it was found in 1900 CE, is an ancient analog computer used to calculate the astronomical positions. Similarly complex mechanisms do not reappear in Europe until the 14th century CE.
In first century BCE China, negative numbers and decimal fractions are in use.
Gaius Plinius Secundus (23-79 CE) aka Pliny the Elder completes his massive Natural History in 77 CE, only a few years before he dies during the evacuation of Pompeii.
In 125 CE, Chinese astronomer Zhang Heng uses hydropower to turn a stellar sphere mounted on an equatorial axis in real time; the movement of the sphere matches that of the sky above.
Zhang Heng invents the seismometer in 132 CE.
In 263 CE, Liu Hui publishes The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art. Skilled in geometry, he calculates pi to five places and creates a mathematical proof identical to the Pythagorean Theorem.
Hypatia of Alexandria (c351-415 CE), NeoPlatonist philosopher, mathematician and astronomer. As the head of the Platonist Academy in Alexandria, she taught pagans and Christians alike. She also edited editions of Euclid's Elements and Ptolemy's Almagest, as well as Diophantus' Arithmetica. She was attacked and murdered by a Christian mob.
The oldest portions of the Ayurvedic text the Sushruta Samhita date to the third or fourth centuries CE. It contains detailed examples of anatomy, herbology, and diseases and their symptoms, as well as medicinal preparations.
Aryabhata (476-550 CE) in his Aryabhatiya introduces various trigonometric functions to Indian mathematics, as well as trigonometric tables and algebraic algorithms.
In 628 CE, Indian mathematician and astronomer Brahmagupta pens the massive Brahmasphutasiddhanta. In it, he develops a formula for cyclic quadrilaterals, calculates the ephemerides, and suggests that gravity is a force of attraction (a millennium before Newton). He is also the first person to use zero as a number.
By 635 CE, Chinese astronomers have figured out that the tail of a comet always points away from the Sun.
Bi Sheng (990-1051 CE) invents movable type printing.
In 1088, botanist, metallurgist, mineralogist and astronomer Su Song (1020-1101) erects an astronomical clocktower in Kaifeng, employing the oldest known example of an endless power-transmitting chain-drive.
Shen Kuo (1031-1095 CE) describes the magnetic needle compass; discovers true north; and, after observing the discovery of marine fossils in the Taihang Mountains, devises a theory of geomorphology. He also develops a theory of climate change after finding petrified bamboo.
In the 12th century CE, Bhaskara's Siddhanta Shiromani discusses longitude, diurnal rotation, lunar and solar eclipses, and planetary conjunctions, among many other topics.
Kelallur Nilakantha Somayaji (1444-1544 CE), of the Kerala School of astronomy and mathematics, develops a partial heliocentric model of the solar system. It is similar to that developed later by Tycho Brahe.
Select Recommendations
[Editor's Note: includes short stories, anthologies, novels, nonfiction, comic strips, comic books, graphic novels, movies, and television series.]
Armageddon 2419 by Phillip Nolan [1928]
Avatar by James Cameron [2009]
Babylon 5 by J. Michael Straczynski [1994]
Beneath the Thirteen Moons by Kathryne Kennedy [2010]
The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction by Edward James and Farah Mendelsohn [2003]
Close Encounters of the Third Kind by Steven Spielberg [1977]
Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon by Cyrano de Bergerac [1656]
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain [1889]
Daughters of Earth and Other Stories by Judith Merrill [1968]
The Day the Earth Stood Still by Robert Wise [1951]
The Description of a New World, Called the Blazing World by Margare Cavendish [1666]
The Dispossessed by Ursula K LeGuin [1974]
Dulcie and Decorum by Damon Knight [1955]
Dune by Frank Herbert [1965]
Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach [1975]
Erewhon by Samuel Butler [1872]
Exile's Burn by Elaine Corvidae [2009]
The Female Man by Joanna Russ [1970]
Finder by Carla Speed McNeil [1999]
Firefly by Joss Whedon [2002]
Flash Gordon by Alex Raymond [1934]
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin Abbott [1884]
Forbidden Planet [1956]
The Forebears of Kalimeros: Alexander, Son of Philip of Macedon (Predki Kalimerosa: Aleksandr Filippovich Makedonskii) by Alexander Veltman [1836]
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley [1818]
From the Earth to the Moon (De la Terre à la Lune) by Jules Verne [1865]
The Gate to Women's Country by Sheri S. Tepper [1993]
The Ginger Star by Leigh Brackett [1974]
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift [1726]
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood [1985]
Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman [1915]
A Journey to the Center of the Earth (Voyage au centre de la Terre) by Jules Verne [1864]
Kindred by Octavia Butler [1979]
The Legend of the Centuries by Victor Hugo [1859]
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K LeGuin [1969]
Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy [1888]
The Man in the Moone by Francis Godwin [1638]
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury [1950]
Memoirs of the Twentieth Century by Samuel Madden [1733]
Metropolis by Fritz Lang [1927]
&n
bsp; Micromegas by Voltaire [1752]
The Mummy! A Tale of the Twenty-Second Century by Jane C Loudon [1836]
Neotopia by Rod Espinosa [2004]
Neuromancer by William Gibson [1984]
The New Atlantis by Sir Francis Bacon [1627]
New Maps of Hell by Kingsley Amis [1960]
Niels Klim's Underground Travels (Nicolai Klimii iter subterraneum) by Ludvig Holberg [1741]
Nightfall by Isaac Asimov [1941]
The Nine Billion Names of God by Arthur C Clarke [1953]
Northwest of Earth by CL Moore [2008]
Omega: A Novel of Eco-Magic by Stewart Farrar [1980]
One Thousand and One Nights [earliest version dates to 8th century CE]
Owl Stretching by K.A, Laity [2012]
Planetary by Warren Ellis, et al [2001]
A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs [1912]
Promethea by Alan Moore, et al [1999]
Queen of Swords by Katee Robert [2012]
The Red One by Jack London [1918]
The Republic by Plato [c380 BCE]
R.U.R. by Karel Čapek [1920]
The Saga of Pliocene Exile by Julian May [1981]
The Saga of Rex by Michel Gagne [2010]
The Secret History of Science Fiction by James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel [2009]
Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold [1986]
Sister Emily's Lightship and Other Stories by Jane Yolen [2001]
Somnium by Johannes Kepler [1620-1630]
Star Trek by Gene Roddenberry [1966]
Star Wars by George Lucas [1977]
A Stirring in the Bones by Jennifer Lyn Parsons [2012]
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein [1961]
The Sultana's Dream by Roquia Sakhawat Hussain [1905]
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (aka Princess Kaguya) [10th century CE]
Top Ten by Alan Moore, et al [2001]
To Serve Man by Damon Knight [1950]
A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans Le Lune) by Georges Méliès [1902]
True History by Lucian of Samosata [2nd century CE]
The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall by Edgar Allen Poe [1835]
Utopia by Thomas More [1516]
The War of the Worlds by HG Wells [1898]
Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy [1976]
Women, Feminism and Literature: Where No Man Has Gone Before: Essays on Women and Science Fiction by Lucie Armitt [2012]
Wraeththu Chronicles by Storm Constantine [1987]
Xenozoic by Mark Schultz [2010]
Our Contributors
At an early age, Quincy J. Allen had the intention of becoming an author. Unfortunately, he was waylaid by bandits armed with the age-old addage, “So you wanna be a starving artist the rest of your life?” As a result he ended up a slave to the IT grind for 17 years, maintaining his sanity with motorcycles and music.
He’s been published in a number of anthologies, a few magazines, and one omnibus. He has a new short story coming out in Tales of the Talisman in summer/fall of 2012. His steampunk version of Rumpelstiltskin is under contract with Fairy Punk Studios, and his novel Chemical Burn -- a finalist in the Rocky Mountain Writers Association Colorado Gold Writing Contest --was published in June of 2012. His new novel, Lady’s Blues, will be ready for sale this summer with the sequels not far behind.
You can follow his blog at quincyallen.com or friend him up on FaceBook under Quincy J Allen.
Rebecca Buchanan is the editor-in-chief of Bibliotheca Alexandrina, as well as editor of the Pagan literary ezine Eternal Haunted Summer. She blogs at BookMusings: (Re)Discovering Pagan Literature, and her work as appeared in Bards and Sages Quarterly, Cliterature, Datura, Into the Great Below, Linguistic Erosion, Luna Station Quarterly, Mandragora, and Skalded Apples, among other venues.
Jolene Dawe has published short stories in the webzines Eternal Haunted Summer and Mosaic Minds. She is the author of Treasures From the Deep, a collection of stories inspired by the myths of Poseidon. Jolene shares her home in Eugene, Oregon with her partner, their critters, and a quirky vintage spinning wheel. Visit her online at The Saturated Page.
Although not the original Diotima, the author does agree that the western world has invested far too much energy into separating the inseparable duo of mind and heart. Diotima has written widely on a number of subjects, including essays, fiction and poetry. Two of her latest books have been published by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina: Dancing God, a collection of poetry; and Goat Foot God, an examination of the Great God Pan. Her latest work of fiction is Tales in Vein, a series of short stories available in ebook and audio book format. Her website can be found at http://diotima-sophia.com.
Eli Effinger-Weintraub practices naturalistic Reclaiming-tradition hearthcraft in the Twin Cities watershed. She plants her beliefs and practices in the Earth and her butt on a bicycle saddle. She writes plays, creative nonfiction, and speculative fiction, often inspired by the visual art of her wife, Leora Effinger-Weintraub. Previous works have appeared in Witches & Pagans, Circle, and Steampunk Tales, as well as at the Clarion Foundation blog, I’m From Driftwood, and Humanistic Paganism. Eli is also a mercenary copyeditor. Find her online at http://backbooth.thesane.net, at the Pagan Newswire Collective blog No Unsacred Place, and on Twitter as @AwflyWeeEli.
Inanna Gabriel is author of several short stories published online and in print, as well as one novel, Act Three Scene Four, published by Misanthrope Press. She co-edited the Pagan-themed short fiction anthology Etched Offerings: Voices from the Cauldron of Story, and also contributed the title story to that book. She has followed a Pagan path for eighteen years, and is lately trying to more frequently blend her spirituality into her writing. She maintains a fiction-related blog at inanna-gabriel.com.
S.R. Hardy is a poet, novelist and translator whose work has appeared in venues such as Northern Traditions, Death Head Grin, Widowmoon Press and the Eunoia Review. He is currently at work on a variety of translations, poems and stories. In addition, he blogs about words at http://www.anarcheologos.com.
Michelle Herndon is a resident of Black Mountain, North Carolina and enjoys writing, sushi, anime, and really bad horror movies. She has a BFA in English from WCU and is currently working on a PhD in religion and cryptozoology from Miskatonic University. She works in a bookstore when not hunting vampires, and lives under the tyranny of her tailless cat Bobby. Other stories of hers can be found with Phase 5 Publishing.
Ashley Horn is a priestess of Artemis and devotee of Thoth. She is also a writer of adolescent fantasy fiction, and she received an MFA in creative writing from the University of Southern Maine. She lives in southeastern Michigan with her wife, Mary, and spends her time doing outreach for both the Pagan community and for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights.
Jason Ross Inczauskis completed his Masters degree in 2011, and is currently residing close to Chicago, Illinois. He lives in a small apartment with his love, Tabitha, and more books and dolls than you can shake a stick at. He has worshipped Athena since the year 2000, and gradually came to worship the other Hellenic deities as well, officially converting to Hellenismos in 2010. When asked about his spiritual path, he may refer to himself as a Hellene, a Hellenic, or Greek Pre-Orthodox, depending on who’s asking and his mood at the time, though he always follows it with the caveat: ‘but not a very good one’. He is the editor of Shield of Wisdom: A Devotional Anthology in Honor of Athena. His devotional writing has also appeared in several books at this point, including From Cave to Sky: A Devotional Anthology in Honor of Zeus, Out of Arcadia: A Devotional Anthology in Honor of Pan, Unto Herself: A Devotional Anthology for Independent Goddesses, and The Scribing Ibis: An Anthology of Pagan Fiction in Honor of Thoth.
Jordsvin has been a Norse Heathen for over twenty years. He has MA degrees in Spanish, French, and Library Science. Jordsvin lives with his life partner of twenty-four years, Christopher, in a mid-sized city in the Upper South of the
United States. His interests include history, gardening, and raising and showing fancy poultry.
Pell Kenner was born in the 1950's in the Great Black Swamp region of Ohio, and has been an avid reader of science fiction and fantasy since grade school. He's been a Kemetic since 2010. His writing blog is PellKenner.com, and he also blogs on KemeticRecon.com and ShrineBeautiful.com.
William Kolar was unable to provide a biography before this volume went to press.
Gerri Leen lives in northern Virginia and originally hails from Seattle. She has a collection of short stories, Life Without Crows, out from Hadley Rille Books, and over fifty stories and poems published in such places as: She Nailed a Stake Through His Head, Sword and Sorceress XXIII, Return to Luna, Sniplits, Triangulation: Dark Glass, Footprints, Sails & Sorcery, and Paper Crow. She also is editing an anthology of speculative fiction and poetry from Hadley Rille Books that will benefit homeless animals. Visit http://www.gerrileen.com to see what else she's been up to.
Sandi Leibowitz is a native New Yorker who writes speculative fiction and poetry, mostly based on myth and fairy tales. She has long loved the beauty of the pagan goddesses and gods, in all their many forms. Her fiction has appeared in Jabberwocky, Shelter of Daylight, and Cricket. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in magazines such as Goblin Fruit, Mythic Delirium, Apex, Illumen, Niteblade, and Eternal Haunted Summer. She sings and plays classical, early and folk music with Cerddorion, Choraulos and NY Revels (among other groups) and does indeed own (and poorly play) a beautiful fish-skin drum. She fell in love at first sight with the Danube River from a plane going from Prague to Budapest, and fondly remembers a gorgeous night-time champagne cruise on that river after a folk performance in Budapest. She loves to swim but does not wrestle except with the occasional Erroll-Flynn-look-alike, and then only in the most friendly fashion.
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