History of Science: Antiquity to 1700

Frederick Gregory
University of Florida
Ph.D., Harvard University

Frederick Gregory is Professor of History of Science at the University of Florida, where he has taught for 25 years.

Professor Gregory earned his undergraduate degree in mathematics from Wheaton College. After graduating with a seminary degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Wenham, Massachusetts, he completed his Master’s degree at the University of Wisconsin and went on to Harvard University for his Ph.D. in the history of science…

All human beings, by nature, desire to know." —Aristotle, The Metaphysics. For well over 2,000 years, much of our fundamental "desire to know" has focused on the area we now call science. In fact, our commitment to science and technology has been so profound that these now stand as probably the most powerful of all influences on human culture.

In the period 1700-1900, kings and empires rose and fell, but science conquered all, taking the world by storm. Yet, as the 1700s began, the mysteries of the universe were pondered by "natural philosophers"—the term "scientist" didn't even exist until the mid 19th century—whose explanations couldn't help but be influenced by the religious thought and political and social contexts that shaped their world.

Bob Brier is an Egyptologist and Professor of Philosophy at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Hunter College and Ph.D. in philosophy from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

From 1981–1996 he was Chairman of the Philosophy Department at C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University. He has served as Director of the National Endowment for the Humanities’ “Egyptology Today” program.

Professor Brier has twice been selected as a Fulbright Scholar and has received LIU’s David Newton Award for Teaching Excellence in recognition of his achievements as a lecturer.

In 1994, Dr. Brier became the first person in 2,000 years to mummify a human cadaver in the ancient Egyptian style. This research was the subject of a National Geographic television special, Mr. Mummy. Dr. Brier is also the host of The Learning Channel’s series The Great Egyptians.

Professor Brier is the author of Ancient Egyptian Magic (1980), Egyptian Mummies (1994), Encyclopedia of Mummies (1998), The Murder of Tutankhamen: A True Story (1998), Daily Life in Ancient Egypt (1999), and numerous scholarly articles.