Aristotle\'s History of Animals

Guns: Artistotle's History Of Animals

Aside from philosophy and the more psychological arts, Aristotle's greatest contribution to modern science is probably his writings on zoology. Indeed, the philosopher's powers of observation were keen and in many cases startlingly accurate when the knowledge base of the time is considered. Many of his conclusions regarding the nature, habits and evolution of animals were indeed conducive to the conclusions that led to the science we know today.

In the nine books of his History of Animals then, Aristotle observes animals in their habitat, and uses dissection to discover the mysteries inside the animal body as well. He begins his description in Book I of the physical properties of the animal body, and distinguishes various genera of animals. These are the main types of animals, such as fish, birds, etc. He furthermore goes on to describe the habits, habitat and social structure of groups of animals. This is also described in terms of food processing, reproduction and the senses that animals possess.

Throughout his work, Aristotle takes considerable time to distinguish between animals and human beings. Human beings for example experience the faculty of memory differently and in a much more complex manner than do animals. Aristotle explains that animals do not recall the past at will, but assimilate their experiences to make them part of instinct. A similarity between human beings and animals is however how the sense of touch is experienced.

Aristotle was then the first to classify groups of animals into genera, although he did so in a much broader way than scientists of today. He further classifies the animals within the genera into types with and without "blood," which in the philosopher's time referred to red blood. These types were then divided according to their various species. Again, the classification according to blood is reminiscent of today's distinction between vertebrates and invertebrates. Blooded animals include five of the previously defined genera, which are viviparous quadrupeds (mammals), birds, oviparous quadrupeds (reptiles and amphibians), fishes, and whales. Aristotle did not at the time realize that whales were mammals, but did make this distinction for dolphins. Bloodless animals included cephalopods (such as the octopus); crustaceans; insects, shelled animals, and what Aristotle calls "zoophytes," or "plant-animals."

In his scientific research, Aristotle established scientific methodology today. He for example used dialectical (based on logical deduction) and empirical (practical) arguments to present his research findings. He furthermore used detailed observation and dissection in order to present clear and scientific arguments in his work. He was in fact the first scientist to make extensive use of dissection for his studies. This practice enabled Aristotle to describe phenomena such as the embryological development of a chick, to distinguish dolphins from fish and to describe the chambered stomachs of ruminants. He was also able to examine the social organization of bees, and he noticed that some sharks give birth to live young.

Indeed, Aristotle's keen interest in sea life led him to his extensive studies of dolphins, which he classified as mammals after observing their reproduction practices. Aristotle's successors however were slow to accept this fact, and it was only two thousand years later that biologists began to confirm Aristotle's observations of the dolphin. Another observation of sea life is the fact that the torpedo fish stuns its prey. Knowledge at the time was too limited for Aristotle to realize that this was done by means of an electric shock.

Aristotle's study was pioneering work at the time, since Plato, his master, and all other philosophers considered only abstract thought as worthy of their time. Aristotle himself however took great pleasure in examining the natural world around him, and described five hundred different animals in his work. The philosopher's contribution to zoology however lasted unrefuted for more or less 2,000 years.