Astronomy
In the field of astronomy Hippocrates tried to explain the phenomena of comets and the Milky Way. His ideas have not been handed down very clearly, but probably he thought both were optical illusions, the result of refraction of solar light by moisture that was exhaled by, respectively, a putative planet near the sun, and the stars. The fact that Hippocrates thought that light rays originated in our eyes instead of in the object that is seen, adds to the unfamiliar character of his ideas, which belong to the realm of speculative philosophy.
Read more about this topic: Hippocrates Of Chios
Famous quotes containing the word astronomy:
“Awareness of the stars and their light pervades the Koran, which reflects the brightness of the heavenly bodies in many verses. The blossoming of mathematics and astronomy was a natural consequence of this awareness. Understanding the cosmos and the movements of the stars means understanding the marvels created by Allah. There would be no persecuted Galileo in Islam, because Islam, unlike Christianity, did not force people to believe in a “fixed” heaven.”
—Fatima Mernissi, Moroccan sociologist. Islam and Democracy, ch. 9, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. (Trans. 1992)