A Short History of Science – Part I – Comprehension Questions and Answers
1. What was the theory of the four humors?
In Ancient Greece, it was believed that the body was made up of four humors or liquids (corresponding to the four elements: earth, fire, water and air). They were phlegm, blood, yellow bile and black bile. If a person had too much of one humor she/he fell ill.
2. What was Copernicus' great discovery and why was it declared heretical by the Church?
Copernicus discovered that the Earth and the other planets orbit the Sun and not vice versa as it had been believed in the centuries earlier. At first the church did not have a problem with his theory. However, opinion gradually hardened because the theory was in contrast to what the Bible says and in 1616 the Copernican theory was declared heretical.
3. Which discoveries were helped by the invention of the telescope and the microscope?
The telescope led Galileo to the discovery of the rough surface of the Moon, of four small 'moons' orbiting the planet Jupiter and of many stars. The microscope led to the discovery by different scientist of red blood corpuscles, capillaries and cells.