My Recommendations in Ancient Science

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Click any of the following books to buy it on Amazon and bring me a commission (I’ll also get a commission on everything else you buy there at the same time). I’ve listed each in the order I think is the best or most important reading. For some I have even written up how you’ll benefit from reading them (check my ongoing series).

To learn about ancient science, the very best places to start are these:

Tracey Rihll's book Greek Science (the best and latest short introductory history of ancient science).
Cover of Richard Carrier's book Science Education in the Early Roman Empire. Thoroughly treats the subject of who knew any science and how much, and even who was literate and what sorts of things were taught in ancient schools.
Cover of Richard Carrier's book The Scientist in the Early Roman Empire, an extensive survey of ancient science from the perspective of who ancient scientists were and what their society thought of them and their work, comparing and contrasting pagan with early Christian attitudes. Began as Dr. Carrier's PhD dissertation at Columbia University.

Early Greek Science: Thales to Aristotle, by G.E.R. Lloyd
Greek Science After Aristotle, by G.E.R. Lloyd
The Forgotten Revolution: How Science Was Born in 300 BC and Why it Had to Be Reborn, by Lucio Russo

Cover of Ancient Science Through the Golden Age of Greece by George Sarton. Click to buy.
Hellenistic Science and Culture in the Last Three Centuries B.C. by George Sarton. Click to buy.
What Did the Romans Know? An Inquiry into Science and Worldmaking by Daryn Lehoux. Click to buy.

Cover of Greek Science of the Hellenistic Era: A Sourcebook by Georgia Irby-Massie and Paul Keyser. Click to buy.
Cover of The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek and Roman Science by Liba Taub. Click to buy.
Cover of The Oxford Handbook of Engineering and Technology in the Classical World by John Peter Oleson. Click to buy.

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For specific sciences, there are many good starts, including Routledge’s Sciences in Antiquity Series:

Cover of Roger French, Ancient Natural History. Click to buy.
Cover of Gavin Hardy & Laurence Totelin, Ancient Botany. Click to buy.
Cover of Adrienne Mayor, The First Fossil Hunters: Dinosaurs, Mammoths, and Myth in Greek and Roman Times. Click to buy.

Ancient Mathematics
Ancient Medicine (now in its 3rd ed.)
Ancient Astrology

Aetna and the Moon: Explaining Nature in Ancient Greece and Rome
Cosmology in Antiquity
The Science of Harmonics in Classical Greece

Time in Antiquity
Astronomy, Weather, and Calendars in the Ancient World
Ancient Meteorology

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And for other exciting angles to pursue, these are all fascinating or useful:

The Prince of Medicine: Galen in the Roman Empire, by Susan Mattern. Click to buy!
Decoding the Heavens: Solving the Mystery of the World's First Computer, by Jo Marchant. Click to buy!
Catapult: A History, by Tracey Rihll. Click to buy!

The Lagoon: How Aristotle Invented Science
Technology and Culture in Greek and Roman Antiquity
??

The Mechanical Tradition of Hero of Alexandria
Herophilus: The Art of Medicine in Early Alexandria
Through the Pillars of Herakles: Greco-Roman Exploration of the Atlantic

Geminos’s Introduction to the Phenomena
Vitruvius: Ten Books on Architecture
Dioscorides on Pharmacy and Medicine

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I also have recommendations for understanding the Origins of Christianity and Modern Philosophy.