In The Copernican Revolution, Thomas Kuhn states that "...only the Western civilizations which descend from Hellenic Greece have paid much attention to the appearance of the heavens in arriving at [answers to cosmological questions]" (p. 5). If we exclude ancient Babylonian and Egyptian science and philosophy, which Kuhn discusses in the text, are there other prominent examples of cultures whose speculative thought (e.g., about cosmology) evolved similarly? In other words, has Kuhn isolated something unique about the Greek tradition, or was he simply ignorant about the variety of ways that cultures have made made speculative thought answerable to empirical investigation?
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5$\begingroup$ Kuhn is controversial but pretty well-informed. Probably the closest non-Western example of "evolved similarly" is India, but "similarly" is a bit of a stretch, and they were also under Hellenistic influence (Ptolemy's Almagest), see Did Indian astronomers realize the sphericity of the earth independently of the Greeks? For contrast, see Why was China slow to recognise the sphericity of Earth? Also Is the Scientific Method uniquely Western? may be relevant. $\endgroup$– ConifoldOct 30, 2019 at 6:38
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