
Technology and Science in Ancient Civilizations
Richard G. Olson(Editor)
Praeger Publishers Inc
Published on 21. December 2009
Book
Hardback
276 pages
978-0-275-98936-1 (ISBN)
Description
Why did the Greeks excel in geometry, but lag begin the Mesopotamians in arithmetic? How were the great pyramids of Egypt and the Han tombs in China constructed? What did the complex system of canals and dykes in the Tigris and Euphrates river valley have to do with the deforestation of Lebanon's famed cedar forests? This work presents a cross-cultural comparison of the ways in which the ancients learned about and preserved their knowledge of the natural world, and the ways in which they developed technologies that enabled them to adapt to and shape their surroundings. Covering the major ancient civilizations - those of Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, Greece, the Indus Valley, and Meso-America - Olson explores how language and numbering systems influenced the social structure, how seemingly beneficial construction projects affected a civilization's rise or decline, how religion and magic shaped both medicine and agriculture, and how trade and the resulting cultural interactions transformed the making of both everyday household items and items intended as art. Along the way, Olson delves into how scientific knowledge and its technological applications changed the daily lives of the ancients.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Interest Age: From 7 to 17 years
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
581 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-275-98936-1 (9780275989361)
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Richard G. Olson
Technology and Science in Ancient Civilizations
E-Book
12/2009
1st Edition
Praeger Publishers Inc
€66.49
Available for download
Person
RICHARD G. OLSON professor of History and W.W. Keith Fellow in Humanities at Harvey Mudd College adn professor of History at Claremont Graduate School, is the author of Science Deified and Science Define (U. California Press, 1982 vol. 1, 1990 vol. 2). He is also the series editor for Greenwood's Science and Religion series.
Content
List of Figures
Series Foreword by Bella Vivante
Acknowledgments
1. On Definitions, Approaches, and Periodization
2. Technologies of Computation: Mathematics and Measurement
3. Technologies of Communication: Written Language, Educational Institutions, and the Character of Natural Knowledge
4. From Technologies of Divination to the Science of Astronomy
5. Calendars, Time Keeping, and the Increasing Complexity of Astronomy
6. Empirical and Religious Medical Practices
7. Philosophical Medicine, Cosmology, and Natural Philosophy
8. Construction Technologies: Materials, Tools, and Fixed Structures
9. Producing and Processing Food and Clothing
10. Minerals, Metals, Pigments, Glazes, and the Origins of Alchemy
Bibliography
Index
Series Foreword by Bella Vivante
Acknowledgments
1. On Definitions, Approaches, and Periodization
2. Technologies of Computation: Mathematics and Measurement
3. Technologies of Communication: Written Language, Educational Institutions, and the Character of Natural Knowledge
4. From Technologies of Divination to the Science of Astronomy
5. Calendars, Time Keeping, and the Increasing Complexity of Astronomy
6. Empirical and Religious Medical Practices
7. Philosophical Medicine, Cosmology, and Natural Philosophy
8. Construction Technologies: Materials, Tools, and Fixed Structures
9. Producing and Processing Food and Clothing
10. Minerals, Metals, Pigments, Glazes, and the Origins of Alchemy
Bibliography
Index