The term science comes from the Latin word scientia, meaning "knowledge". It can be defined as a systematic attempt to discover, by means of observation and reasoning, particular facts about the world, and to establish laws connecting facts with one another and, in some cases, to make it possible to predict future occurrences. There are other ways to define science, but all definitions refer in one way or another to this attempt to discover specific facts and the ability to figure out patterns in which these facts are connected.
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Timeline
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c. 1600 BCEEarliest Egyptian water clocks in use.
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c. 647 BCE - c. 629 BCEExtensive collection of clay tablets acquired known as Ashurbanipal's Library at Nineveh.
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597 BCEBabylonian king Nebuchadnezar captures Jerusalem.
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28 May 585 BCEA battle between Media and Lydia broke off immediately as a result of a total eclipse of the sun and the two armies made peace. The eclipse was successfully predicted by Thales of Miletus.
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c. 450 BCEParapegma star calendar invented in Greece by Meton and Euctemon.
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c. 450 BCEFirst klepsydra - water timekeeping device - used in Athens.
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420 BCEDemocritos develops an atomic theory of matter.
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c. 310 BCE - c. 230 BCELife of Greek astronomer and mathematician Aristarchus of Samos.
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287 BCE - 212 BCELife of Archimedes, physician, mathematician and engineer.
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c. 275 BCECtesibius invents first sophisticated multi-cogged water-clock.
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c. 270 BCEAristarchus of Samos proposes a heliocentric world view.
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c. 190 BCE - c. 120 BCELife of Hipparchus of Nicea, the ancient Greek mathematician, astronomer and geographer considered the greatest astronomer of antiquity and among the most impressive in world history
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c. 159 BCEFirst water-clock set up in Rome.
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c. 110 BCE - c. 50 BCETower of The Winds by Andronicus constructed in Athens.
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c. 50 BCEAntikythera instrument invented, an astronomical measuring device.
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100 CEThe mathematician and astronomer Menelaus of Alexandria lived.
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1799 CEAlessandro Volta invents the first electric battery.
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1821 CEMichael Faraday discovers the principles of an electric motor.
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1859 CECharles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, thereby introducing the Theory of Evolution.
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1869 CEThe Periodic Table of Elements is proposed by Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev.