Ancient Greek Achievements

The achievements of ancient Greece had an immediate impact then and an even greater impact today. The Greeks created the ground layer for many ideas that countries still use today. The Greeks created democracy which is a form of government that many countries use or want to use. The Greeks also created drama. Today we have movies, Broadway shows and comedies. Also many ideas laid out by Greek philosophers are used in religion today. Every achievement that the Greeks made is still used today. All the ideas were expanded upon. And better things were created.

When Christopher Columbus reached the New World in 1776 he declared he was the first person to discover the world was round. Christopher was wrong. During the second century after the Common Era a man named Claudius Ptolemaios invented the astrolabe. The astrolabe was able to measure geographic longitude and the latitude of stars from any given point on Earth. This device was able to prove the world was round and that the Earth spun on an axis. This discovery led to Claudius Ptolemaios death. During the second century many people still believed the gods controlled the Earth. These people did not like to here about science and astronomy. Claudius Ptolemaios was stabbed in the heart and his astrolabe was buried. Later to be found by Dr. Scott Carroll. The significance of this is huge. In today's society we do know that the world is round and that the Earth is rotating on its axis while revolving around the sun. Many scientists are still trying to expand on these ideas by trying to find out why. Astronomers are still trying to find reasons why the Earth is stuck on its axis and why the Earth revolves around the sun. A discovery is never complete; you will always expand on what other people do.

Aristotle created the scientific method. This method is the steps a you need to take to solve an experiment. Aristotle was more interested in science then Socrates or Plato. This is because Aristotle's father was a famous doctor in Athens. Aristotle classified many plants and animals. One of Aristotle's beliefs was to take the chaotic natural world and impose a man-made order on it. When Alexander was traveling all through Western Asia he sent his messengers to Aristotle with strange plants for Aristotle to study. Aristotle also created a classification system of monarchies, oligarchies, tyrannies, democracies and republics which we still use today. When Alexander died there was a revolt against Macedonian rule. Aristotle was accused of being secretly on the side of the Macedonians. Aristotle was certainly not a democrat like Plato. Aristotle fled to the north were he spent the rest of his days. Aristotle's creation of the scientific method was very important. We still use the scientific method today.

Central heating was invented in ancient Greece. The hypocaust method was used to heat many homes. The hypocaust heating method could be used in two story homes. In order to heat your house you need to keep a fire going on your bottom floor. Your second story floor needs to be made out of mortar because mortar absorbs heat. Fire needs air so on the floor with the fire there needs to be flue channels. This was discovered by Britannica. This was not used that much in Greece though. The idea was taken and improved by the Romans and eventually every house in Rome would be using the hypocaust method. This idea died eventually and was not used again until during the Industrial Revolution of the 19^th century. The hypocaust method was very smart and would have helped many people because during the winter the cold air could make people sick and cause unnecessary deaths. Today every house and apartment has heat installed.

The achievements of Greece were very significant and if the Greeks did not discover these things the world would be completely different. The quote "Without Greek achievement the world would be much different" is true. Imagine if Claudius Ptolemaios did not discover the world was round. Everyone would be cramped into Europe and Asia. Also what would we do if Aristotle decided that the method of classification didn't serve a purpose? There would be no organization to science. Every house and apartment building has central heating. It is a federal law that there must be heat. If Britannica did not create a method of heat there would be no expanding on it so every one would still be burning wood and if we were still burning wood we would deplete our natural resources. The Greeks laid out the building blocks for today's society. Many things we use and believe in today can be traced back to the ancient Greeks. Some other things we use today were created by the Greeks for example, water pumps and crane. The Greeks invented one of the first pumps to extract water from the ground. The Greeks also had cranes that used pulleys, gears and winches. The Greeks were a very advanced society and if they didn't make these inventions the world today would be very different.

Greek achievements were the ground layer for some of the most used items in today's world. The Greeks achievements had an immediate impact then and an even greater impact today. We have come along way though expanding on all the Greeks achievements and discoveries. Imagine what the world would be like with out central heating or without the scientific method. The Greeks made it possible for us to be knowledgeable. Greek society frowned on these important discoveries though and many great Greek achievers died at young ages from unnatural causes. Today on the other hand we embrace and encourage people to make new discoveries and to use knowledge to expand on what the Greeks left behind. The world would be a very different place to live in if it wasn't for those Greek achievers.