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IHUM 6A - WHS
N/A
160
History
Undergraduate 1
03/18/2009

Additional History Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
“a man without learning”
Definition
Leonardo DaVinci proclaimed himself this, meaning he wasn't a member of the scholarly elite who knew latin - he figured out everything he did by his own experimentation, and he argued everybody else could too
Term
“Anatomy of the World” by John Donne
Definition
A poem written by catholic cambridge student Donne about how frigtening the world is after the earth, and consequently people, are removed from the center of the universe. This captures the real nervousness around the scientific revolution
Term
“Mediterranean”
Definition
Means "center of the world": for Europeans, western Turks, and north Africans this really WAS the center of their world
Term
“where there is shouting there is no science”
Definition
DaVinci's dislike of scholars who spent most of their time bantering back and forth and arguing with eachother. This, he said, gets us nowhere
Term
Acheulean enigma
Definition
The mysteries of the handaxe: why were so many made for such a long time? Why did their fundamental design never evolve or change? How were they so widespread?
Term
Acheulean handaxe
Definition
Axe-shaped stones found across Eurasia, appearing after the first tools and before the upper paleolithic explosion
Term
Agnotology
Definition
The study of ignorance coined by Proctor
Term
Al Geber
Definition
Islamic scholar who figured out algebra, and wrote in a really convoluted manner (the word gibberish)
Term
Aletheia
Definition
Truth, greek meaning literally "that which is not forgotten" - Science is remembering in a sea of forgetfullness
Term
Almagest
Definition
Ptolemeic book of astronomy written around 100 AD that was the standard until gallileo came around
Term
Anasazi
Definition
Native americans in the south west that lived around a millenia ago and disappeared after 300 years - they were expert astronomers who used stone tablets to track solstices and equinoxes
Term
Andreas Vesalius
Definition
European physician who pioneered accurate anatomical illustration by actually DISECTING bodies (getting his hands dirty, as opposed to just reading texts)
Term
Animal Spirits
Definition
Descartes' concept of our emotions and instincts, as opposed to the divorced purely-thought soul responsible for "reason" and centered in the H-gland
Term
Anna Sofaer
Definition
The artist lady that discovered the sun dagger
Term
anthropomorphism
Definition
Attributing human qualities to non-human things, especially animals
Term
Archeostronomy
Definition
The study of how ancient peoples studied astronomy, for instance the anasazi and stonehenge
Term
Aristotle’s Four Causes
Definition
Material, shape, movement, and goal (eg wood, blueprint, carpenter, house)
Term
Arno Landscape
Definition
A painting of a landscape by DaVinci that illustrated his view of the world as a giant organic thing, really wavy and animated and such
Term
As-Salamu `Alaykum
Definition
"Peace be with you" - Columbus's first words to Native Americans show how influential Islamic Empire was
Term
atom
Definition
"Indivisble" - Originally a greek concept by Democritus that matter was made of combinations of tiny indivisible particles
Term
Bacon’s 3 Great Inventions
Definition
3 great inventions of the chinese bacon recognized - the magnetic compass, gun powder, and the printing press
Term
Baconianism
Definition
Bacon's scientific framework that one cannot trust one's senses and must determing EVERYTHING through experiment and direct experience. Empiricism
Term
Bacon's Great Instauration
Definition
A book, the cover of which showed a ship sailing through Hercules's pillars into the mediterranean
Term
Big History
Definition
History covering more than the written record - human origins before writing, possibly even before humans
Term
biochemical warfare
Definition
Similar to biological, but specifically chemical. Snake venom arrows
Term
biological weapons
Definition
Turns out to be a very old concept of humans using biological things as weapons - pots full of scorpions in iraq, plague infested corpses, pigs!?
Term
blitzkrieg theory
Definition
the theory that early native americans followed megafauna and hunted them faster than they could reproduce
Term
Blombos Cave
Definition
Cave containing rocks with scratches on them dating to very early upper paleolithic--there is debate whether the scratches were art, recordings, or just angry cavemen with sharp things
Term
boomerang effect
Definition
The concept that what we do to our surroundings comes back and effects us - pertinent to biological and biochemical warfare
Term
boundary work
Definition
The idea that the line between science and non-science, such as magic or alchemy, is pretty vague and what we consider to be science and nonscience is subjective
Term
Broom Star
Definition
The chinese term for a comet - they thought it looked like a broom, europeans thought it looked like a dagger. The chinese were keen observers of these- they knew the tail always points away from the sun
Term
Bush model of Evolution
Definition
Gould proposes decimation - that life starts off really diverse, but most branches die off and a small number survive and begin to expand into the future
Term
Cartesian Dualism
Definition
The idea that the mind (reason) and the body (our physical presense and "animal spirits") are separate from eachother
Term
Ceren
Definition
The mayan pompei - a volcano erupted and preserved the town perfectly, though this time the people got out before it was too late :D !
Term
chemical weapons
Definition
This is stupid, chemical warfare was already on the list
Term
Chinese Cosmology
Definition
Notions of balance, macrocosom and microcosm, etc etc
Term
cochineal
Definition
Bugs that live on cactai, when dried out and ground up produce a brilliant red dye. The europeans were astounded! They only became obsolete around the mid-1800s
Term
Codex Leicester
Definition
A large compendium of DaVinci's notes, including his thoughts on the nature of water
Term
contextuality
Definition
Science is always performed under the context of a society, and we often ignore that
Term
contingency
Definition
The world as we see it today didn't HAVE to turn out this way
Term
Copernican revolution
Definition
The idea that the sun is the center of the universe - oh shit!!
Term
Copernicus
Definition
Came up with the Copernican revolution in order to work out calendar accuracy
Term
Copernicus' De Revolutionibus
Definition
The work he published his Copernican Revolution in
Term
Corpus Hermeticum
Definition
The western body of works saying the microcosm is linked to macrocosm
Term
Craft Guilds
Definition
Guilds of women scientists in Germany prior to the 20th century
Term
curiosity cabinets
Definition
Cabinets of interesting things European nobles and academies kept around the scientific revolution
Term
David Starr Jordan
Definition
First presidetn of stanford - Used science to further racism, thought blacks and whites were different species (preadamism, hey!!)
Term
De Humani Corporis Fabrica
Definition
Vesalius's work describing the "human fabric", or how we're made. Featured a lot of woodcuts showing the rise of medical illustration
Term
de-differentiation Theory
Definition
Zilsel's theory
Term
dialectic method
Definition
"Truth through debate" - Ancient greeks thought the best way to arrive at the truth was healthy discussion amongst peers
Term
Diego de Landa
Definition
Jackass spaniard who destroyed a LOT of mayan books, records, and art because they were "heretic"
Term
doctrine of sympathies
Definition
Magic view of the world - nature provides clues for us, such as stitch patterns on leaves reflecting their healing power, or the bond between knife and wound
Term
Drapetomania
Definition
"Disease" where slaves want to run away from their masters for some reason
Term
Dresden codex
Definition
One of the best surviving examples of mayan writing - Accurately tracks the position of venus
Term
duplex veritas
Definition
The western notion that science and religion have to be strictly seperated
Term
Early Modern v. Modern Society
Definition
Changes in the structure of western society resulted in a harsher environment for women scientists (fewer venues for science, now ONLY at universities)
Term
Edgar Zilsel
Definition
Sociologist of science, published a book about the history of "genius" (he says the very concept didn't really exist before the rennaisance)
Term
eidos
Definition
"The ideal" - Greek concept of the ideal version of every object - the ideal triangle, the ideal apple, etc. This can be seen in illustrations in plant guides: the ideal mushroom, not a picutre of a real but imperfect one
Term
Elisabetha Hevelius
Definition
Husband wife team of astronomers, show the paradigm of scientist teams including women before the 1800s
Term
elk antler
Definition
You can slam this on rocks to make achulean handaxes
Term
end-lop
Definition
When a chunk of rock on the opposite end you hit falls off (you need to be careful about this, it can make or break a good achulean handaxe)
Term
English flint
Definition
The best rock to make handaxes out of
Term
ethnocentrism
Definition
The concept that western society is the best and has triumphed over all else - borderline racist, more than borderline silly
Term
Fajada Butte
Definition
the place where the anasazi placed their giant stone calendar slabs
Term
Finished Artifact Theory
Definition
The concept that what we see as a finished artifact - the achulean handaxe, might just be the waste left over from the true artifacts - in this case, obsidian shards or whatever
Term
five Chinese elements
Definition
Wood, fire, earth, water, metal
Term
four element theory
Definition
The concept that the entire world is made up of four elements (fire, water, earth, mist) that can be mixed together to form everything we see
Term
four humors
Definition
Black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood - the greeks said us humans are made of just this!
Term
geometry
Definition
"Measuring the earth" - Greeks put a lot of thought into measurements and records like this
Term
ghost of evolution
Definition
A feature or thing caused by an extinct thing - for instance, avocados and MEGASLOTHS
Term
Giordano Bruno
Definition
Italian who was persecuted by the catholic church for musing about humans on other planets and if they each have their own Jesus
Term
gunpowder
Definition
Stuff that destroys castles - the chinese had it first
Term
hammer stone
Definition
A stone to hit a bigger stone with to produce a handaxe (interchangable with antler)
Term
Hegel
Definition
Crazy german philosopher who thought the Chinese were incapable of abstract thought due to their language structure
Term
Hercules vs. The Hydra
Definition
Hercules killed the hydra and then dipped his arrows in her blood to create poison arrows - a mythical example of biological warfare
Term
Hermes Trismagistus
Definition
Magician who never actually existed
Term
Hermeticism
Definition
Magic often practiced in secret due to charges of heresy!
Term
Ibn Battuta
Definition
Islamic anthropologist, went on larger voyage than Marco Polo did
Term
Ibn Sina
Definition
Islamic scientist, author of the cannon of medicine
Term
Ideologies of Representation
Definition
How humans are represented is EXTREMELY subjective - the cave man hunched over and hairy or upright and proper
Term
incantations
Definition
The magical idea that words can have an effect on physical matter
Term
Index Librorum Prohibitorum
Definition
Banned books by the catholic church, includes greats like Gallileo, Bruno, and Copernicus
Term
Islamic Empire
Definition
The height of the middle-eastern islamic empire, around 650 to 750 AD, which seriously stressed the pursuit of science
Term
isotropic stone
Definition
Stone without grain - that is, it's the same in every direction - iso: one tropic: level
Term
Kekule
Definition
Scientist who dreamt of ouroboros and realized the cyclical structure of Benzene
Term
Key Factor Theories
Definition
What was the key mutation that made us human? Thumbs? Brains? Upright posture? Art? Farming?
Term
Kukulcan
Definition
Anasazi god represented by venus - every morning venus would rise and the sun would catch up to it and kill it
Term
L’Homme
Definition
Descartes' treatise on the human body (part of 3)
Term
La Géométrie
Definition
Descartes' work on analytical geometry - cartesian coordinates, points on a curve, etc
Term
Ladder model of Evolution
Definition
The idea that evolution is ever-rising to the ultimate perfection, and we are highest on the ladder at the moment
Term
Lamp of Galileo
Definition
The chandelier in a duomo in pisa where galileo figured out the physical forces at work behind pendula
Term
Le Monde
Definition
Descartes' treatis on the world (part of 3)
Term
Les Meditations
Definition
Book containing theory of selfhood: "I think, therefore I am"
Term
magnetic compass
Definition
Allows people to travel out of view of the coastline over sea - that is, go in a straight line
Term
Maria Sibilla Merian
Definition
Woman scientist who went to South America in search of a worm better than the silk worm
Term
Maria Winkelmann
Definition
Woman astronomer who chose her husband based on how good of an astronomer he was. She was later denied tenure at a university, pushing back women in scinece movements :{
Term
material culture of science
Definition
Science's fixation on "tools of the trade"-beakers, scales, etc-many dating back to the Islamic Empire's scientific days
Term
Mayan blue
Definition
Blue pigment the mayans developed that is extremely resistant to corrosion over time. Only recently have we been able to figure out how they made it (indigo + a specific kind of clay). They were SO ADVANCED!!!
Term
Mechanism
Definition
The idea that the world is one giant machine, greatly espoused by descartes
Term
megafauna
Definition
Giant animals that roamed the americas before early human migrants hunted them to extinction. Megabears. Megatigers. MEGASLOTHS!
Term
Melancholia
Definition
Art shortly after DaVinci depicting one of the four humours, responsible for both insanity and genius. Heavy use of symbolism, realism, and a signature (wow !!)
Term
Miletos
Definition
Western part of Turkey where a lot of pre-socratic philosophers came from
Term
Modern Divisions of Labor
Definition
Modern ideas seperating the "roles" of men and women
Term
name 2 of Galileo’s contributions
Definition
really good telescopes, observation that the moon is not perfectly spherical
Term
name two Chinese firsts
Definition
gunpowder and compass
Term
name two pre-Socratics
Definition
Democritus - figured the atom out, and Anaximander - his four element theory
Term
Neolithic age
Definition
Development of agriculture, towns, communities. Major stage of human development, comes after upper paleolithic. 12000 ya - 6000 ya
Term
Noble Networks
Definition
Similar to craft guilds, networks of science pre-20th century
Term
orientalism
Definition
Making non-western culutre and history way more exotic than it is.
Term
originism
Definition
Understanding something only in the context of its origin
Term
Ourobouros
Definition
The dragon eating its tail, forever in a circle. Represents cyclical, self-critical thought of the scientific revolution
Term
Out of Africa Theory
Definition
The theory that we all are descended from one original group of humans migrating out of Africa
Term
Pandora’s Box
Definition
Box full of evil, once opened cannot be closed. Good allegory for biological warfare
Term
Philoctetes
Definition
The guy Hercules gave his poison arrows to. Died when they accidentally hit his foot. Instead of passing them on he dedicated them to a god of healing so they would never harm anyone again
Term
philosophia
Definition
Love of wisdom - The greeks loved knowledge!
Term
Phoenician alphabet
Definition
Phonetic alphabet as opposed to pictographs representing a word - This was big stuff
Term
Pica
Definition
Lead paint guys said babies who liked to bite things had this disease (another example of scientific excuses)
Term
Pieces of 8
Definition
Gold currency featuring hercules's pillars on them
Term
pigs of war
Definition
Pig squeals frightened elephants, used in india
Term
pillars of Hercules
Definition
The pillars Hercules threw into the mediterannean - represent all we know as a species so far
Term
Pleistocene
Definition
Early era when humans really started to evolve
Term
plus ultra
Definition
The idea that "there is more" than what we know
Term
polis
Definition
Greek city-states, key political organizations of the time
Term
preadamism
Definition
The idea that on the day people were created, they were created in several places at once (different linneages)
Term
Presentism
Definition
Looking back on the history from a judgemental modern perspective
Term
printing
Definition
Chinese invention
Term
projection
Definition
Projecting modern methods of thought onto old things - Leonardo DaVinci wasn't a spaceman, for instance
Term
Qi
Definition
Chinese concept of life-force
Term
quintessence
Definition
The "fifth element" other than the four earthly ones, this one is what makes up the heavens and is perfect
Term
quipus / khipu
Definition
Knotted strings that the incans used to keep records and possibly even transmit messages
Term
Reification
Definition
Making things more real than they really are
Term
Ren
Definition
"Person" chinese term for humanity
Term
Renaissance science
Definition
An explosion in scientific thought pre-scientific-revolution, returning to basic questions: "how, WHY, do things work!?". See DaVinci.
Term
rubber
Definition
Mixing tree sap with juice from the morning glory vine - the native americans did it, amazed the europeans with bouncy balls!!
Term
scholasticism
Definition
Islamic emphasis on knowledge and learning
Term
scientific revolution
Definition
A movement in Europe around the 1700s that started re-questioning the methods by which we know. See Bacon, Descartes, Donne
Term
scythians
Definition
The arabic warrior guys who dipped arrows in snake venom
Term
second creation
Definition
DaVinci's idea that science is a sort of second creation of the world through reason, like art is a second creation through imagination
Term
silk
Definition
Very nice fabric in china that allowed for trading, paper money, among other things
Term
step fractures
Definition
Bad things in a stone
Term
sun dagger
Definition
The shard of light from the anasazi calendar - also a retro documentary movie on the subject
Term
tabula rasa
Definition
"Blank slate" - We project what we want to see onto this, DaVinci is an excellent example of a tabula rasa
Term
teleology
Definition
The idea that everything has an end or is working to an ultimate goal - an acorn's goal in life is to become a tree
Term
temporal compression
Definition
The concept that it seems like historical milestones are increasing in frequency - either we care more about the present, it really is getting faster, or old achievements are slowly washed away by time
Term
The Copernican System
Definition
The sun is the center
Term
The Mayan Classic period
Definition
the best time to be a mayan - from around 200 to 900 AD. By the time the europeans came over Maya was already in decline (why?! Maybe ecological/climate reasons?)
Term
the rise of uncommon sense
Definition
Modern science is the "rise of uncommon sense"
Term
The Woman’s Question
Definition
What is the meaning of being a woman? "We hold these truths..that all men [and women?] are created equal?"
Term
Three Principles of Islam
Definition
You must submit to god, all natural laws and good things are muslim, and as a muslim it's your duty to figure out science
Term
Three Scales of History
Definition
geological/nonliving (whole arm), hominid development, written human history (1/1000th of white of the fingernail)
Term
two contributions of Alchemy
Definition
Distillation, coagulation
Term
two English words from Arabic
Definition
algebra, gibberish
Term
Tycho Brahe
Definition
Believed the center of the universe was even slightly removed from the sun
Term
universal scholars
Definition
Islamic scientists who just won at life - Al Geber, Ibn Sina, etc
Term
Upper Paleolithic Transistion
Definition
The advent of art, ritual, and culture around 40000 ya to 10000 ya
Term
Vesalian revolution
Definition
Revolution in anatomy following legalization of dissection
Term
witch’s milk
Definition
Milk. Dripping. From nipples.
Term
zero
Definition
The mayans had a concept of zero
Term
Zheng He
Definition
Chinese admiral who voyaged possibly as far as Madagascar - wow!!
Term
zoon politikon
Definition
"Man is a political animal" said the greeks
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