A Strange and Curious Process | On The Parts of Animals | Episode 3 | Episode 4
Council...thank you for your attention. The next time period that
I visited was what the humans called '360 A.D.'. The
person that predominates this time period is named Aristotle. He was the son of a physician and a student of a great
philosophist but we will focus on his fascination with animals. He did much to promote human's understanding of them,
although many of his theories were not fully accepted until after his death.
Aristotle was of the opinion that animals were more than just the sum of their parts. He believed that everything needed to be studied and understood. Dissection was a large part of his personal studies and he learned much with this method. The area in which he studied was rich in 'sea life' - those creatures that make their homes in the water. These included crustaceans, mollusks, sharks, fish, whales and dolphins. He was one of the first to differentiate sea dwelling mammals from fish because of their ability to breathe air.
I watched him while he studied for quite some time. He was very much a watcher. He enjoyed sitting for hours just taking notes and making sketches. If an animal approached him, he would sit quietly and watch it's behavior and note it. If he was lucky enough to find a creature that had died, he would pull out his dissection kit and begin work. The work was messy and at times unpleasant but he saw it as a necessary process. He understood that in order to fully understand the creature he had to look inside. Sometimes he would trap creatures and study them - at first, while they were alive and then after they had died. I did not interact with this human but I do believe that he truely enjoyed his studies and his time by the sea.
One of the first structures that he mentions in his book "On The Parts of Animals" are teeth. He notices that form follows function
and that the males of most species, unlike our kind, are larger and need to defend their 'territories' or home spaces. Fish are also in his discussion of teeth. He states, "All fishes have teeth of the serrated form, with the single exception of the fish known as the Scarus. In many of them there are teeth even on the tongue and on the roof of the mouth. The reason for this is that, living as they do in the water, they cannot but allow this fluid to pass into the mouth with the food. The fluid thus admitted they must necessarily discharge again without delay. For were they not to do so, but to retain it for a time while triturating the food, the water would run into their digestive cavities. Their teeth therefore are all sharp, being adapted only for cutting, and are numerous and set in many parts, that their abundance may serve in lieu of any grinding faculty, to mince the food into small bits. They are also curved, because these are almost the only weapons which fishes possess."
While some of this theories were later debunked by other scholars, many of his works were reveared by his collegues. Particularly by a man named Charles Darwin. Darwin worked much later in time than Aristotle but he did say that Aristotle was one of his greatest influences. Again, thank you council for your attention. Let us take a short break and then resume with a study of the time period that humans call 'medieval times'.
person that predominates this time period is named Aristotle. He was the son of a physician and a student of a great
philosophist but we will focus on his fascination with animals. He did much to promote human's understanding of them,
although many of his theories were not fully accepted until after his death.
Aristotle was of the opinion that animals were more than just the sum of their parts. He believed that everything needed to be studied and understood. Dissection was a large part of his personal studies and he learned much with this method. The area in which he studied was rich in 'sea life' - those creatures that make their homes in the water. These included crustaceans, mollusks, sharks, fish, whales and dolphins. He was one of the first to differentiate sea dwelling mammals from fish because of their ability to breathe air.
I watched him while he studied for quite some time. He was very much a watcher. He enjoyed sitting for hours just taking notes and making sketches. If an animal approached him, he would sit quietly and watch it's behavior and note it. If he was lucky enough to find a creature that had died, he would pull out his dissection kit and begin work. The work was messy and at times unpleasant but he saw it as a necessary process. He understood that in order to fully understand the creature he had to look inside. Sometimes he would trap creatures and study them - at first, while they were alive and then after they had died. I did not interact with this human but I do believe that he truely enjoyed his studies and his time by the sea.
One of the first structures that he mentions in his book "On The Parts of Animals" are teeth. He notices that form follows function
and that the males of most species, unlike our kind, are larger and need to defend their 'territories' or home spaces. Fish are also in his discussion of teeth. He states, "All fishes have teeth of the serrated form, with the single exception of the fish known as the Scarus. In many of them there are teeth even on the tongue and on the roof of the mouth. The reason for this is that, living as they do in the water, they cannot but allow this fluid to pass into the mouth with the food. The fluid thus admitted they must necessarily discharge again without delay. For were they not to do so, but to retain it for a time while triturating the food, the water would run into their digestive cavities. Their teeth therefore are all sharp, being adapted only for cutting, and are numerous and set in many parts, that their abundance may serve in lieu of any grinding faculty, to mince the food into small bits. They are also curved, because these are almost the only weapons which fishes possess."
While some of this theories were later debunked by other scholars, many of his works were reveared by his collegues. Particularly by a man named Charles Darwin. Darwin worked much later in time than Aristotle but he did say that Aristotle was one of his greatest influences. Again, thank you council for your attention. Let us take a short break and then resume with a study of the time period that humans call 'medieval times'.
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Primary
Source:
Aristotle, "On The Parts of Animals", 350 B.C.
Secondary Source:
O'Connor, J.J., and E.F. Robertson. Aristotle. (Scotland: University of St. Andrews), 1999.
Author's Note:
Wohdego and his time-traveling mission is my creation. I think that the way that we have studied our world would have been particularly interesting to alien observers. The council that he is speaking to is also my creation. I made up the part about Aristotle's research methods. I like to think that he was mindful and methodical in his research. I know that he studied sea creatures in depth so I chose to include that particular passage about fish and their teeth to show how mindful he really was.
Aristotle, "On The Parts of Animals", 350 B.C.
Secondary Source:
O'Connor, J.J., and E.F. Robertson. Aristotle. (Scotland: University of St. Andrews), 1999.
Author's Note:
Wohdego and his time-traveling mission is my creation. I think that the way that we have studied our world would have been particularly interesting to alien observers. The council that he is speaking to is also my creation. I made up the part about Aristotle's research methods. I like to think that he was mindful and methodical in his research. I know that he studied sea creatures in depth so I chose to include that particular passage about fish and their teeth to show how mindful he really was.
Image
Information:
Depiction of Aristotle and Plato in Rapheal's fresco "School of Athens"
Click here for a copy of the original image.
Depiction of Aristotle and Plato in Rapheal's fresco "School of Athens"
Click here for a copy of the original image.