Plato's Doctrine Respecting the Rotation of the Earth and Aristotle's Comment

Grote, George, 1794-1871Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.5

Word count: 80K words
Chapters: 8

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Plato's Doctrine Respecting the Rotation of the Earth and Aristotle's CommentAuthor: Grote, George, 1794-1871,Language: English, Class: QB: Science: Astronomy, Release Date: Aug 7, 2012

Editor's review

This is a short scholarly piece discussing Plato's doctrine concerning the rotation of the Earth and Aristotle's comment on it; its author, George Grote, was a nineteenth-century British historian. Its value lies not in popular science but in a close-reading examination at the intersection of classical scholarship and the history of science: how the author understands formulations in ancient texts and how he assesses Aristotle's paraphrase and criticism. For readers familiar with the basic outlines of ancient Greek philosophy and the history of astronomy, this piece offers a view of a nineteenth-century scholar's argumentative style and handling of texts. It requires some background knowledge; otherwise it can easily feel dry. It is better suited as supplementary material for specialized research than as an introductory text. Reading it with two questions in mind—how the ancients described motion, and how the standpoint of a transmitter affects understanding—will make it easier to enter the author's rhythm of argument.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Specialist readers studying ancient Greek philosophy and the history of astronomy
Readers interested in textual examination of Plato and Aristotle
Scholarship-history readers curious about nineteenth-century classical argumentative style
Humanities students needing supplementary material for specialized topics

Not a good fit for

General popular-science readers without a foundation in classical philosophy and astronomy
Beginners expecting an accessible introductory text
Readers who want quick conclusions and are impatient with close textual reading

Reading tips

Supplement your knowledge of Platonic and Aristotelian cosmology first; the main text will then read much more smoothly.
Read with the question of how paraphrase and commentary affect the understanding of a doctrine; this helps grasp the main line of argument.
Read in sections and take brief notes, sorting out the author's citations and judgments concerning ancient texts.
If using it only for reference, read the conclusion first and then go back to the detailed argument to save time.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this piece suitable for beginners in astronomy?

Not really. It discusses formulations of doctrines and transmitted commentary in ancient texts and leans toward classical scholarship and intellectual history rather than modern astronomical knowledge. Readers without a background in ancient Greek philosophy will find it hard going; it is best to build a foundation first.

Is it long? How much time does it take to read?

From the bibliographic information it is a short scholarly piece of modest length. But the argument is dense: readers familiar with the background can read it through in an hour or two, while those unfamiliar may need to go back repeatedly, which lengthens the time considerably.

Why does the recommendation repeatedly stress background knowledge?

Because the core of the piece is the analysis and commentary of formulations in ancient texts, involving the intellectual contexts of Plato and Aristotle. Without the relevant background it is hard to judge the point and weight of the author's argument, and one easily sees only scattered quotations without grasping the underlying question.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Grote, George, 1794-1871 Author

George Grote (1794-1871) was a British historian known for his studies of ancient Greece. The library holds 15 of his works, including the multi-volume History of Greece (Volumes 1, 2, 3, 6, and 8), Plato and the Other Companions of Sokrates, 3rd edition (Volumes 1 and 2), and Aristotle. His writing is characterized by solid use of sources and detailed narrative, and has long been regarded as an important reference for the study of Greek history. Because public information is limited, biographical details are omitted here. The library classifies his works under "inspirational growth," a category that may not suit their scholarly nature; readers should understand them in light of the original texts.