History Lecture 1

Euclids proof that there are an

infinite number of primes pn
Assume we know all of the primes p1, p2, , pn.

Let P = p1p2pn, i.e. the products of our complete list of

primes
Let q = P+1
If q is prime then there is at least one more prime on the
list
If q is not prime, it has some prime factor p
-If p is on our list it divides P (by definition of P)
-It also divides q, by definition
- Any number that divides two others also divides their
difference.
-but q-P = 1, and nothing divides 1.
Therefore, p in not on the list and there is at least one more
prime number.
Ancient Greece (776 31 BC) and
the birth of natural philosophy

To begin at the beginning

 Where to start?

Australopithecu Homo erectus

s
 Ancient Greece in four
stages
Archaic (776-505 BC) Hellenistic (301
Cities: Miletus, Sparta. 147BC)
Themes: materials and City: Alexandria.
mathematics. Themes: mathematics
People: Thales, People: Euclid,
Pythagoras,
Archimedes
Classical (499 - 322 BC)
Decline (146 ? BC)
City: Athens.
Themes: Philosophy
Themes: astronomy
People: Socrates, Plato,
People: Ptolemy
Aristotle
Archaic naturalism (776 505 BC)
Both from Miletus

Thales Anaximander
(624-546 BC) (610-546 BC)

All matter is water Matter composed of elements fire,

earth, air and water
Pythagoras (582-500 BC)

The world is an
ordered place

Universe supports a
consistent
mathematics

Mathematics is the
fundamental concept
Music of the spheres
Greek geocentric model

Pythagoreans (6th - 5th

Century BC) developed
geocentric model of the
universe

Pythagorean music of the

spheres

Musical intervals
correspond to pairs of
spheres
Mathematics and
environment
Pythagoras theorem
Symmetries in Geometric
Shapes
Classical philosophy
(499-322 BC)
Socrates (469-399 BC)
 Socratic thought
Use of reason and logical argument

Use of language (and suspicion of

writing)

Little evidence of an interest in

Nature
Plato (429-347 BC)

The ideal world is fundamental

The allegory of the cave
 Platonic thought
We live in an imperfect world containing
copies of ideal forms

The true forms live in a separate realm of

existence

True forms are expressible in mathematics

This also inspires a social philosophy (ideal

society with philosopher kings)
Aristotle (384-322 BC)
 Aristotle

The philosopher

Founded logic, biology, humanities,

physics and metaphysics

Probably the single most important

figure until Newton
 Logic, Knowledge,
Categories
Logic (prior analytics): propositions, made
up of subjects and predicates

Knowledge (posterior analytics): to know

something you need to know its cause
(=explanation) and there must be no
possibility for it to be otherwise

Categories: What is it, where is it, what are

its qualities, quantities, relations, location?
 Structure of the
sciences
Scientific thought can be systematized
or axiomatized

Physics = natural science

Objects of physics are capable of

change or motion and exist
independently.

Logic is a tool of philosophy but

knowledge comes from empirical
Aristotles world
Aristotles Universe

Sub-lunar things are

imperfect, celestial
things are perfect
and constant
 Aristotles elements
Earth (heavy, moves down)

Fire (light, moves up)

Air and water find

somewhere in between
Aristotles Universe

Sub-lunar things are

imperfect, celestial things
are perfect and constant
Aristotles motion
 Aristotelian dynamics
Things move because they are looking for
their final state.
v = const F

(in contrast to the Newtonian dv/dt = const

F)

If resistance to motion is R, then the force -

velocity relationship generalised to
v = const F/R
 Example: arguments against the
vacuum
Version 1
Air is needed to cause things to move
The world must be full of air
There cannot be a vacuum

Version 2
Air resists motion
If air is removed, a body would stay still or
move at the same speed forever
This is absurd, so there is no vacuum
 Metaphysics

Apart from (beyond) natural science there is a subject

called metaphysics
Some simple metaphysics
Objects have properties

What is the relationship between an

object and its properties?

What are properties and are they real?

Plato says that properties exist in

heaven

Aristotle says properties are real things

in our world
Metaphysics: substance and change
The things in the Universe are substances.
These are individual and separable from their
properties.

Examples: medium sized objects like this

pens, that statue, my car

Things can change (i) their substance (by

coming into/out of existence); (ii) quantity,
(iii) quality and (iv) place

Substances are made of matter and form

 Substances
Basic objects are substances (this pen,
my cat, that statue)

Matter is undifferentiated stuff in the

world (e.g. materials like bronze)

Form is the shape of the matter (i.e. the

shape of a statue).
 Causes
Aristotles causes are closer to explanations
than what we call causes nowadays

To find a cause ask a questions:

Q: Why does A have B?

A: A has B because A is C and C has B

The A is C part allows you to identify a cause.

Example: Why do cows have 4 stomachs?

Cows have four stomachs because cows are
ruminants and ruminants have several
stomachs
Hellenistic Greece (301 147BC)
Euclid (325-265 BC)
His book The
Elements
Is the most
important in all of
mathematics

Based on 5 axioms
he derives results
in number theory,
geometry and
solids.

Much of the
material is not
original, but many
of the proofs are
 Euclids proof that there are an
infinite number of primes pn
Assume we know all of the primes p1, p2, , pn.

Let P = p1p2pn, i.e. the products of our complete list of

primes
Let q = P+1
If q is prime then there is at least one more prime on the
list
If q is not prime, it has some prime factor p
-If p is on our list it divides P (by definition of P)
-It also divides q, by definition
- Any number that divides two others also divides their
difference.
-but q-P = 1, and nothing divides 1.
Therefore, p in not on the list and there is at least one more
prime number.
 Euclids axioms
1. A straight line segment can be drawn joining any two
points.

2. Any straight line segment can be extended indefinitely

in a straight line.

3. Given any straight line segment, a circle can be drawn

having the segment as radius and one endpoint as
center.

4. All right angles are congruent.

5. Parallel lines never meet

Non-Euclidean geometry
Parallel transport
Large scale structures in space-time

Big crunch

Universe
expands
rapidly and
never stops

Universe
expands just
fast enough to
never collapse
Ptolemy (100-170 AD)
Book on astronomy The
Almagest gives geometric
models to compute
positions of the planets.

It contains a star catalogue

and list of constellations

Wrote book on geography

(Geography) containing
coordinates of all of the
places he knew on a grid
spanning the known world.
Greek geocentric model

Pythagoreans (6th - 5th

Century BC) developed
geocentric model of the
universe

Pythagorean music of the

spheres

Musical intervals
correspond to pairs of
spheres
Retrograde motion of the
planets
Retrograde Motion of
Planets
 Summary
Ancient Greece is where physics as
we recognize it begins
Greek natural philosophy contains
theories about mathematics
substance, cosmology, mechanics
and the underlying philosophy
It was so successful, it would be
hundreds of years before it was
superseded