GNED 117
HISTORY OF TECHNOLOGY
Prof. Tim Richardson
Toronto, Canada
|
GNED 117 HISTORY OF TECHNOLOGY |
Prof. Tim Richardson Toronto, Canada |
Detailed Course Outline
Section Two
| The
Conditions of Technology
"Among the preconditions of technology are such geographic considerations as the availability of natural resources. The importance of the geographic factor is nowhere more obvious than in the histories of both Egypt and Mesopotamia, with their reliance upon the river valleys which made agriculture possible" page 44 The presence or abscence of certain raw materials also had a profound effect upon the development of technologies in Egypt and Mesopotamia. " page 45 Mesopotamia had little natural stone easily accessible but lots of mud - it made brick structures. In Egypt "natural stone was in large quantities so the Egyptians developed the use of stone for building monumental structures" page 64~65R.J. Forbes in Technology in Western Civilization, Volume 1 Editors: Kranzberg and Pursell |
| 6 | the land of
Mesopotamia and Babylon and The Assyrians 
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Ancient
Assyria includes the land area now part of Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria.
map of Mesopotamia - http://ancientworld.simplenet.com/chapter2/mesopotamia.GIF map of Assyria - http://www.aina.org/aol/peter/map1.htm As Peter BetBasoo says on his web page about Assyria,  http://www.aina.org/aol/peter/brief.htm
Assyria is located
in north Mesopotamia and spans four countries:
"it is in Assyria where locks
and keys were first used ... the sexagesimal system of keeping
time was developed ... where paved roads were first used ... the
first postal system, the first use of iron, the first magnifying glasses,
the first libraries, the first plumbing and flush toilets, the first electric
batteries, the first guitars, the first aqueducts, the first arch,
page 25, - cuneiform writing page 26~27 - Mesopotamian and Egyptian technology (+map) from Technology in Western Civilization - given as a handout - important to note (p. 26) that differences in the geography and differences in the way they dealt with the river led to different approaches to early uses of technology between the Egyptians and Mesopotamians We will briefly discuss the First Golden Age: 2400 B.C. to 612 B.C. and focus on the Second Golden Age: 33 A.D. to 1300 A.D. Since this period has much influence on later civilizations in the region, and elsewhere eg. when Assyrians converted to Christianity, they spread far and wide. When Marco Polo visited China in the thirteenth century, he was astonished to find Assyrian priests in the Chinese royal court. When Genghis Khan swept through Asia, he brought with him an army over half of which belonged to the Assyrian Church of the East. So successful were the missionaries, the first Mongolian system of writing used the Assyrian alphabet.
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| 6 |
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Two great rivers run through Assyria, the Tigris and the Euhprates |
| 6 |  |
"Assyrians have used two languages throughout their history: ancient Assyrian (Akkadian), and Modern Assyrian (neo-syriac). Akkadian was written with the cuneiform writing system, on clay tablets, and was in use from the beginning to about 750 B.C.. By 750 B.C., a new way of writing, on parchment, leather, or papyrus, was developed, and the people who brought this method of writing with them, the Arameans, would eventually see their language, Aramaic, supplant Ancient Assyrian because of the technological breakthrough in writing." |
| Background
of Greco-Roman Technology
"By the time we first hear of the Greeks, about 900 BC, most of the early inventions that secured mankind's supremacy over the rest of the animal world had already been made: the use of fire; the domestication of animals; agriculture; the use of metal and iron for weapons, tools and utensils ... the building of houses ... the use of wheels for transport; and the art of writing. In many respects daily life during antiquity already resembled closely that which prevailed in Europe up to the invention of the steam engine: agriculture was the basis of the economy; the home was the center of production; and almost the only source of power was the muscle of man or beast" page 48~49 A.G. Drachmann in Technology in Western Civilization, Volume 1 Editors: Kranzberg and Pursell |
| "During
the 13 centuries (900 BC ~ 400 AD) which we assign to the Greco-Roman period,
Western Society changed from a conglomeration of small agricultural communities
to a worldwide state of great cities and extensive trade. These cities
demanded aqueducts and sewers and the transportation of goods by land and
sea....There still remained much unskilled labour and this was the task
of slaves ... since the owner had to feed and clothe his slaves he was
interested in getting as much work done as possible with the fewest slaves
... thus there was an incentive to save muscle power "
page 64~65 R.J. Forbes in Technology in Western Civilization, Volume 1 Editors: Kranzberg and Pursell |
| The
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Feb 14
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During this part of the
course, we will cover the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
There are several reasons why we will look at these Seven Wonders - primarily, these seven architectural constructions are the best examples of humans demonstrating an attempt to push the technology of the time to its limits - and each of these Seven Wonders contains examples of technology which we have used and refined in our modern times. Our resources for covering this material will be
.
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| Feb 14
Class 6 Did video of the 7 Wonders
of the World
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| Feb 21
Class 7 Continue with video of
the 7 Wonders of the World
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| Feb 21
Class 7 |
Greek
period
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Greek
"Greek carpenters became expert in the timber-frame construction of buildings. About 400 B.C. the Greeks began to translate timber construction into stone for public buildings. Because stone beams are weak in tension, Greek stone buildings feature a large number of supporting columns. In this post and beam construction, Greek stone masons fitted the joints with great care and also used iron pieces to secure the joints. Page 45 text
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| Feb 21
Class 7 |
Euclid
Greek
Euclid
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Euclid
325-265 B.C.
Famous Greek Mathematician. "Euclid of Alexandria is the most prominent mathematician of antiquity and considered by some to be the leading mathematics teacher of all time. However little is known of Euclid's life except that he taught at Alexandria in Egypt. " It is suggested that he was one of the teachers of Archimedes, or that one of his students taught Archimedes http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Euclid.html "Euclid's most famous work is his treatise on mathematics The Elements. The book was a compilation of knowledge that became the centre of mathematical teaching for 2000 years. Probably no results in The Elements were first proved by Euclid but the organisation of the material and its exposition are certainly due to him. In fact there is ample evidence that Euclid is using earlier textbooks as he writes the Elements since he introduces quite a number of definitions which are never used such as that of an oblong, a rhombus, and a rhomboid. The Elements begins with definitions and five postulates. The first three postulates are postulates of construction, for example the first postulate states that it is possible to draw a straight line between any two points." |
| Feb
21
Class 7 Feb 21
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Greek
period
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Archimedes 287-212 B.C. 
www.blupete.com/Literature/Biographies/Science/Archimedes.htm "Archimedes will ever be known because of his two contributions to science. The Archimedean principle: "a body plunged in a fluid loses as much weight as is equal to the weight of an equal volume of the fluid." Archimedes' Screw: which is an instrument for raising water, formed by winding a tube into the form of a screw around a long cylinder. Incidently, it was Archimedes who said that if he were given a lever long enough and a point to stand upon he could move the world." -Archimedes
Screw
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| Feb 21
Class 7 |
Greek
period  |
Greek Empire 1000 B.C.
~ 300 B.C.
Map http://hsa.brown.edu/~maicar/MapGreece.html Greek technology - iron making, use of writing (Phoenician writing 1800 B.C.), advances in astronomy, mathematics, engineering (levers and gears) and medicine - buildings, ships, amphitheaters - leading Greek scientists/philosophers: Ptolomey, Aristotle and Archimedes The Greek Mythology Web Site from Brown University http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/ |
| Feb 21
Class 7 Feb 21
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Greek
period
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The Ancient City of Athens
Sites and Monuments www.indiana.edu/~kglowack/athens/sites.html 
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| Feb 21
Class 7 Feb 21
Feb 21
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Parthenon | The three main types of
columns used in Greek temples and other public buildings.
http://homer.reed.edu/Parthenon.html#Orders The reason for mentioning this in GNED 117 is that these types of columns were used by architects even in the 1900's A.D. and can still be seen on public buildings today in North America and Europe.
From a web site of Professor
Minott Kerr
"Greek temples appear to
be deceptively simple affairs. In its restored state, the Parthenon, like
most Greek temples, would consist of a three step platform which carries
a colonnade around its entire periphery. The columns enclose an oblong
interior chamber known as the naos. In more complex temples, the naos is
divided into two rooms...On the east or front is a main room called the
cella...The cella is the most important part of a Greek temple, as it contains
the cult statue of the temple's patron deity...we can view the temple as
really a decorated shed designed to shelter this cult statue...The interior
was never intended to hold large numbers of people. The main religious
rites, sacrifices, never took place on the inside but rather outside the
temple, at altars usually located in front of the east or entrance facade."
to read additional information
from Professor Kerr's lecture, go to
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| Greek
period |
Alexander the Great 356
B.C. ~ 323 B.C.
Alexandria in Egypt, founded by Alexander the Great Alexandria became, within a century of its founding, the greatest city in the world and a centre of Greek scholarship and science After the death of Alexander The Great in 323 BC, the Greek Empire deteriorated and the Romans became the dominant society and military power in the Mediterranean |
| Roman Engineering
from http://myron.sjsu.edu/romeweb/ENGINEER/art1.htm " Many early civilizations were known for the creativity of their people in the arts and literature, and others for the skill of their craftsmen in metal, wood and stone. The Chinese, Egyptians, and Greeks made great strides in discovering the principles of pure mathematics and science. The Romans were a civilization of engineers and builders. In the applying of pure knowledge to practical uses, their engineers are unsurpassed until one reaches modern times. Engineers traveled with their armies building roads and bridges. In fact, a knowledge of engineering was almost a requirement for advancing through the ranks. After they conquered new territory and created a new province, their engineers laid out cities to a standard plan and provided them with excellent roads and a clean water supply." |
aquadeuct
| Class 8
Feb 28 Class 8
Class 8
Class 8
Class 8
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Greek ~ Roman period 
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Roman Empire 600 B.C.
~ 400 A.D.
 timeline
covering 214 B.C.
~ 383 A.D.
http://www.danshistory.com/rome4.html
http://myron.sjsu.edu/romeweb/ENGINEER/art4.htm
- civil engineering projects such as aqueducts
and coliseums
a page on Roman architecture
that includes comments on the
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| Class 8
Feb 28 Class 8
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Greek ~ Roman period |
Colosseum "Reaching four stories high (approxiamately 157 feet) and shaped in an enormous oval, the Colosseum could seat about 50,000 spectators on marble and wooden benches. Although the overall structure measured 620 feet long and 510 feet wide, its center arena calculated to be 285 feet long and 180 feet wide. To seperate the spectators from the entertainment, a wall about 15 feet high was included. Under the arena, a maze of corridors, cells, and equipment was built. It also held trap doors and hidden elevators to allow animals and men to go up or down. " - other pages on the colosseum colosseum fast facts http://www.thehistorynet.com/HistoricTraveler/grandtour/0996_fact.htm |
| Class 8
Feb 28 |
Greek ~ Roman period
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Transportation and voyaging
by sea in Roman times.
"Long, sleek, fast warships were propelled by staggered banks of oarsmen and used a sail as a means of propulsion only to get to the scene of the battle. They were narrow and crowded, sailed during daylight hours only, and were beached at night with their crews cooking their meals and camping on shore." http://myron.sjsu.edu/romeweb/transprt/shiptrav.htm
other page on Roman Naval
Warfare
Roman Emperor Hadrian A.D 117 - 138 - Hadrian was Emperor at height of the Roman Empire and it was during his reign that many of the roads and buildings were constructed http://myron.sjsu.edu/romeweb/empcont/e066.htm One of Rome's most significant contributions to modern technology is in the category of war and military strategy. This topic will be discussed later in the course in the section dealing with Military Technology |
| Class 8
Feb 28 Class 8
Class 8
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Roman Plumbing Roman
Roman
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"Plumbing Defined: While
early pipe and conduit was made from wood or earthenware, later refinement
to lead made skilled workers in lead indispensable. The Latin term
"plumbus" means "lead," as was also the weight at the end of a line
for perpendicular alignment. The plumber was a worker in lead who, in today's
connotation, repairs or fits the apparatus of water distribution
in and to a building. The Roman artisan plumbed pipe, soldered, installed
and repaired; he worked on roofs and gutters, down to sewers
and drains; in essence, everything involving supply and waste. In
fact, this general job description of plumbers' work lasted into
the 20th century."
http://www.theplumber.com/eng.html 
This picture is of the elaborate buildings in England at a place called "Bath", which were originally public bathing structures built by the Romans. The buildings still stand today "At the height of its power
the Roman Empire had conquered most of Europe, including about 1,600
By the time the Romans reached Britain in 43 A.D., the curative powers of the hot baths were already part of English legend. Back in 863 B.C., the waters had supposedly healed the leprosy of its Celtic discoverer, Prince Bladud (the father of King Lear, who was to be immortalized by Shakespeare). Bladud founded the city of Bath, and dedicated the springs to the goddess Minerva. The Roman name of Aquae Sulis means "Waters of Minerva." Aquae Sulis was at a strategic crossroads for the Roman troops, and the natural hot springs made it a logical setting for the baths of the Emperor Claudius. In addition, the springs produced a constant supply of soothing mineral waters, heated by Nature to a temperature of 46.5 C. Important too was that available sources of building stone and lead were close by. Following Roman custom, Claudius
developed Aquae Sulis in the image of the great baths back home, but scaled
in size to its smaller location. At that, the complex must have comprised
approximately 23 acres. "
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