| ISBN |
9780275989361 (alk. paper) |
| 0275989364 (alk. paper) |
| 9780313065231 (ebook) |
| 0313065233 (ebook) |
| Name |
Olson, Richard, 1940- |
| Title |
Technology and science in ancient civilizations / Richard G. Olson. |
| Published |
Santa Barbara, Calif. : Praeger, c2010. |
| Description |
x, 262 p. : ill. ; 25 cm. |
| Notes |
Includes index. |
| Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Contents |
Series Foreword / Bella Vivante -- 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. |
| Summary |
Why did the Greeks excel in geometry, but lagged behind 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. |
| Subjects |
Civilization, Ancient |
| Technology and civilization |
| Science and civilization |
| Series |
Praeger series on the ancient world |
| Links to Related Works |
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