Really? Care to give a citation? Which Greeks? What observations/theories etc from that period still stand? All I can think of are the spherical Earth and its size.
In particular, why did Aristotle claim that heavier things fall faster? Seems to me like he forgot the observe step.
VA: Really? Care to give a citation? Which Greeks? What observations/theories etc from that period still stand? All I can think of are the spherical Earth and its size
Funny, first you present a scientific theory from over 2200 years ago:
VA: Pythagoras and Archimedes knew the Earth is sphereical; Erastosthenese measured its diameter
Then you claim ignorance of any 2200 year old scientific theories.
Clearly you are trying to play the game of gotcha (but you are not doing a very good job).
As for your question of "which Greeks" - Aristotle is credited with establishing empiricism and the foundation of the scientific method.
Other Greek scientific theories:
Democritus - matter is make up of atoms
What an absurd statement - Aristotle is created with creating the concept of empiricism:
The basic idea behind empiricism is that knowledge can be derived through careful observation and cataloging of phenomena and extrapolating laws or principles from these observations. Even though empricism is a Western concept and is loaded especially with Enlightenment baggage, it is, in fact a cross-cultural phenomenon. Its origins in the West lie in their most developed form in the philosophy of Aristotle, who reacted against the abstractions of Plato and the Pre-Socratic philosophers by developing a more or less universal system of intellectual inquiry: when investigating a subject, he would first consult all the experts and written texts and catalog their ideas, he would next observe as much phenomena related to the inquiry that he could and then derive laws from his observations, and then use those laws against the previous authorities.
Virginia-American you are really shooting blanks with that statement. BTW: go up on your roof and drop a piece of paper (feather, Styrofoam peanut) and a bowling ball - you have just observed a heavier object falling faster.