Editing History of science (section)

===Other developments===
[[Theophrastus]] wrote some of the earliest descriptions of plants and animals, establishing the first [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomy]] and looking at minerals in terms of their properties, such as [[hardness]]. [[Pliny the Elder]] produced one of the largest [[encyclopedia]]s of the natural world in 77 CE, and was a successor to Theophrastus. For example, he accurately describes the [[octahedral]] shape of the [[diamond]] and noted that diamond dust is used by [[engraver]]s to cut and polish other gems owing to its great hardness. His recognition of the importance of [[crystal]] shape is a precursor to modern [[crystallography]], while notes on other minerals presages mineralogy. He recognizes other minerals have characteristic crystal shapes, but in one example, confuses the [[crystal habit]] with the work of [[lapidaries]]. Pliny was the first to show [[amber]] was a resin from pine trees, because of trapped insects within them.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0137:book=37#note92|title=Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, BOOK XXXVII. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PRECIOUS STONES.|website=perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
 |last1=King
 |first1=Rachel
 |title=Amber: From Antiquity to Eternity
 |publisher=Reaktion Books
 |isbn=9781789145922
 |page=107
 |date=29 August 2022
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qEt7EAAAQBAJ&dq=pliny+the+elder+amber+gnats&pg=PA107}}</ref>

The development of archaeology has its roots in history and with those who were interested in the past, such as kings and queens who wanted to show past glories of their respective nations. The 5th-century-BCE [[Greek historiography|Greek historian]] [[Herodotus]] was the first scholar to systematically study the past and perhaps the first to examine artifacts.