The Encyclopedia of Ancient Natural Scientists: The Greek Tradition and its Many Heirs (review)

Following up on their sourcebook Greek Science of the Hellenistic Era (2002), Keyser and Irby-Massie now add the monumental Encyclopedia of Ancient Natural Scientists to the increasing body of literature on ancient Mediterranean science. One hundred and twenty-one scholars have contributed 2,043 entries, most of which are about "scientists" or anonymous texts; 276 of which are new (that is, not found in the Real-Encyclopädie or the Neue Pauly). As the editors point out, the Brill's New Pauly will cover about 40 percent of the entries collected here. Although most authors and texts discussed are Greek or Roman/Latin, the reader is also introduced to, among others, Arabic, Armenian, Babylonian, Egyptian, Hebrew, Pahlavi, Sanskrit, and Syriac writers. This is a very important work of reference.

The editors have cheerfully opted for an inclusive approach, thus avoiding the anachronisms that easily come with the modern notion of "science." One finds here, beyond medicine, astronomy, mechanics, pharmacology, and mathematics, also alchemy, astrology, geography, ethnology, paradoxography, and physiognomy, as well as sculptors, architects, and grammatikoi if they comment on authors like Aratus or Nicander, and even the occasional theologian. Sometimes, inclusions appear questionable: do artifacts such as the Antikythera device, which adorns the cover, belong in a collection of scientists? Or someone who writes a short poem on a hot spring (Hilarius of Arles)? Or "a good doctor who wrote bad verse—on unspecified topics" (635)? What about mere readers, such as the many Romans drawing on Greek scientific writing? Again, the Encyclopedia includes them: thus we find entries on Ennius, Vergil, Lucan, and Claudian. Of course, the notion of what is "ancient" cannot be easily defined: most entries discuss people active between the sixth century b.c. and the seventh century a.d., although there are some earlier and many later entries. Even fictional authors are included, like Orpheus and Hermes Trismegistos (though both only as pseudo-authors,), Zarathustra and Pythagoras. There are, however, still some surprise entries: e.g., the Dissoi logoi, Hieron of Soloi, Poseidippos of Pella, Sallust, Satyros of Kallatis. I missed entries on Apollonius of Rhodes and Victoria medica (a gynecologist whom Theodorus Priscianus' Gynaecia mentions, ed., V. Rose [Leipzig 1894] 224 f.).

Unavoidably, articles differ widely in style, scope, and engagement. Overall, the Encyclopedia treats less prominent authors more kindly. Many of the entries on fifth- to third-century celebrities of science are disappointing (but then, more detailed information on those authors is easy to come by in other resources). Especially useful, on the other hand, are the entries on the different writings in the Hippocratic corpus, on pharmacy, and alchemy. The discussions of anonymous texts and texts preserved in papyri will also be much appreciated.

Owing to the wealth of facts collected, the Encyclopedia provides a kaleidoscopic image of ancient Mediterranean science, fractured in hundreds of snapshots that become synoptic only when used with the more than two hundred pages of indices. This is where the truly encyclopedic spirit of the Encyclopedia shows: a fifty-five-page gazetteer discusses all places and regions named, including political history and secondary literature; a twenty-four-page glossary explains all terms that might be foreign to the reader (see also the even longer index of medicinal plants at the end, in itself a tool much needed). In both cases, references to the entries enable a reverse use. You can now find ancient recipes that contain, say, Butcher's-broom (Ruscus aculeatus), plus a precise discussion of the plant and a full bibliography. Similarly, a fifty-two-page time line lists all individuals included in chronological order, that is, provides the time-equivalent to the gazetteer, enabling geographic–synchronic as well as diachronic study of the material. Moreover, there are most useful lists of entries according to topics, enabling exhaustive topic-centered study. Lists follow that...