Eudemus of Rhodes (Ευδημος) was an ancient Greek philosopher, who lived from ca. 370 until ca. 300 BC. He was the first historian of science. He was one of Aristotle's most important pupils, editing his teacher's work and making it more easily accessible.

Life

Eudemus was born on the isle of Rhodos, but spent a large part of his life in Athens, where he studied philosophy at Aristotle's Peripatetic School. Eudemus's collaboration with Aristotle was long-lasting and close, and he was generally considered to be one of Aristotle's most brilliant pupils: he and Theophrastus of Lesbos were regularly called not Aristotle's "disciples", but his "companions" (`εταιροι). In Greek mythology, Rhodos was a son of Hermes and Aphrodite. ... Athens (Greek: Αθήνα, Athína IPA: ) is the capital and largest city of Greece. ... Aristotle (Greek: AristotélÄ“s) (384 BC – March 7, 322 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. ... Peripatetic means wandering. The Peripatetics were a school of philosophy in ancient Greece. ... Theophrastus (Greek Θεόφραστος, 370 — about 285 BC), a native of Eressos in Lesbos, was the successor of Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. ...

It seems that Theophrastus was the greater genius of the two, continuing Aristotle's studies in a wide range of areas. Although Eudemus too conducted original research, his forte lay in systematizing Aristotle's philosophical legacy, and in a clever didactical presentation of his teacher's ideas. Later authors who wrote commentaries on Aristotle often could made good use of Eudemus's preliminary work. It is for this reason that, though Eudemus's writings themselves are not extant, we know many citations and testimonia regarding his work, and are thus able to build up a picture of him and his work.

Aristotle, shortly before his death in 322, designated Theophrastus to be his successor as head of the Peripatetic School. Eudemus then returned to Rhodos, where he founded his own philosophical school, continued his own philosophical research, and went on editing Aristotle's work.

Historian of science

Eudemus was the first historian of science. At the insistence of Aristotle, he wrote histories of Greek mathematics and astronomy. Though only fragments of these have survived, included in the works of later authors, yet their value is immense. It is only because later authors used Eudemus's writings that we still are informed about the early history and development of Greek science. In his historical writings Eudemus showed how the purely practically oriented knowledge and skills that earlier peoples such as the Egyptians and the Babylonians had known, were by the Greeks given a theoretical basis, and built into a coherent and comprehensive philosophical building.

• As regards his History of Arithmetics (Άριθμητικὴ ἱστορία) we only have the tiniest bit of information: there is only one testimonium, saying that Eudemus mentions the discovery by the Pythagoreans that it is possible to connect musical intervals with integer numbers.

• Eudemus's History of Geometry (Γεωμετρικὴ ἱστορία) is mentioned by many more writers, including Proclus, Simplicius, and Pappus of Alexandria. From them we know that the book treated the work by, among others, Thales of Miletus, the Pythagoreans, Oenopides of Chios, and Hippocrates of Chios. Among the topics Eudemus discussed were the discovery of geometrical theorems and constructions (systematized in Eudemus's days by Euclid in his Elements), and the classical problems of Greek geometry, such as the quadrature of the circle and the duplication of the cube.

• We know quite a lot too about Eudemus's History of Astronomy (Άστρολογικὴ ἱστορία), from sources such as Theon of Smyrna, Simplicius, Diogenes Laërtius, Clement of Alexandria, and others. Building upon those data we can reconstruct with some accuracy the astronomical discoveries that were made in Greece between 600 and 350 BC, as well as the theories that were developed in that period regarding the earth, solar and lunar eclipses, the movements of the heavenly bodies, etcetera. Philosophers and astronomers treated by Eudemus include Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Oenopides, Eudoxus, and others.

Two other historical works are attributed to Eudemus, but here his authorship is not certain. First, he is said to have written a History of Theology, that discussed the Babylonian, Egyptian, and Greek ideas regarding the origins of the universe. Secondly, he is said to have been the author of a History of Lindos (Lindos is a port on Rhodos). Pythagoras Pythagoras of Samos (Greek: Πυθαγόρας; circa 582 BC – circa 507 BC) was an Ionian (Greek) mathematician and philosopher, founder of the mathematical, mystic, religious, and scientific society called Pythagoreans. ... Proclus Lycaeus (February 8, 412 – April 17, 485), surnamed The Successor or diadochos (Greek Πρόκλος ὁ Διάδοχος Próklos ho Diádokhos), was a Greek Neoplatonist philosopher, one of the last major Greek philosophers (see Damascius). ... Alternate meaning: Pope Simplicius Simplicius, a native of Cilicia, a disciple of Ammonius and of Damascius, was one of the last of the Neoplatonists. ... Pappus of Alexandria is one of the most important mathematicians of ancient Greek time, known for his work Synagoge or Collection (c. ... For the French electronics and defence contractor, see Thales Group Thales (in Greek: Θαλης) of Miletus (circa 635 BC - 543 BC), also known as Thales the Milesian, was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher and one of the Seven Sages of Greece. ... Hippocrates of Chios was an ancient Greek mathematician (geometer) and astronomer, who lived c. ... Euclid, is also referred to as Euclid of Alexandria, (Greek: , about 330 BC– about 275 BC), a Hellenistic mathematician, who lived in the city of Alexandria, Egypt, almost certainly during the reign of Ptolemy I (323 BC–283 BC), is often considered to be the father of geometry. His most... The quadrature of the circle, better known as squaring the circle, is a classical problem of mathematics, or more specifically, of geometry. ... Doubling the cube is one of the three most famous geometric problems unsolvable by straightedge and compass alone. ... Theon of Smyrna (ca. ... Diogenes Laërtius, the biographer of the Greek philosophers, is supposed by some to have received his surname from the town of Laerte in Cilicia, and by others from the Roman family of the Laërtii. ... Clement of Alexandria (Titus Flavius Clemens), was the first member of the Church of Alexandria to be more than a name, and one of its most distinguished teachers. ... The French 1999 eclipse An eclipse (Greek verb: ekleipô, to vanish, though it derives from the prefix ex-, away from, and Greek leipein, to leave) is an astronomical event that occurs when one celestial object moves into the shadow of another. ... Anaximander Possibly what Anaximanders map looked like Anaximander (Greek: Αναξίμανδρος)(c. ... Anaximenes was the name of several notable people in ancient Greece. ... Eudoxus was the name of two ancient Greeks: Eudoxus of Cnidus (c. ...

To Eudemus is also ascribed a book with miraculous stories about animals and their humanlike properties (exemplary braveness, ethical sensitivity, and the like). However, as the character of this work does not at all fit in with the serious scientific approach that is apparent from Eudemus's other works, it is generally held that Eudemus of Rhodos cannot have been the author of this book (it may have been another Eudemus—Eudemus was a fairly common name in ancient Greece).

Editor of Aristotle's work

Eudemus, Theophrastus, and other pupils of Aristotle took care that the intellectual heritage of their master after his death would remain accessible in a reliable form, by recording it in a long series of publications. These were based on Aristotle's writings, their own lecture notes, personal recollections, etcetera.

Thus one of Aristotle's writings is still called the Eudemian Ethics, probably because it was Eudemus who edited (though very lightly) this text. More important, Eudemus wrote a number of influential books that clarified Aristotle's works: Eudemian ethics focuses ethics based on enjoyment of happiness as the ultimate End. ...

• Eudemus's Physics (Φυσικά) was a compact, and more didactical version of Aristotle's homonymous work.
• Eudemus wrote two or three books dealing with logics (Analytics and Categories (possibly the same book), and On discourse (Περι λεξεως)), which probably expounded Aristotle's ideas.
• Finally, a geometrical work, On the angle (Περὶ γωνίας).

A comparison between the Eudemus fragments and their corresponding parts in the works of Aristotle shows that Eudemus was a gifted teacher: he systematizes subject matter, leaves out digressions that distract from the main theme, adds specific examples to illustrate abstract statements, formulates in catching phrases, and occasionally inserts a joke to keep the reader attentive.

References

• Ivor Bulmer-Thomas, 'Eudemus of Rhodes', in: Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Charles Coulston Gillispie, ed. (18 Volumes, New York 1970-1990) Volume IV (1971) pp. 460-465.
• F[ritz] Wehrli, 'Eudemos von Rhodos', in: Paulys Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft, G. Wissowa, ed. (51 Volumes; 1894-1980) Vol. Suppl. XI (1968) col. 652-658.

External links

• O'Connor, John J., and Edmund F. Robertson. "Eudemus of Rhodes". MacTutor History of Mathematics archive.