Development of Science and Technology Throughout History 2021 2022

1.
Development of
Science & Technology
Throughout History
Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the course, the student will be able to:
 Identify the important technological discoveries that

influenced human life and communities during the Ancient,
Medieval, Renaissance and Modern times.
PERSONAL PROPERTY OF JEFFREY ROMERO-GEC108, 1ST

SEM 2020-2021 MSU-GSC
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Major References:
 Antoniadis, Christos. (2018). “Byzantine Philosophy, Technology, Science and Medicine.” Retrieved
from: https://medium.com/@christoss200/byzantine-philosophy-technology-and-medicine-
4b160952970b
 Balakrishnan, Janaki and B V Sreekantan., (2014). Nature’s Longest Threads: New Frontiers in the
Mathematics and Physics of Information in Biology, World Scientific.
 Burke, J., Bergman, J., & Asimov, I., (1985). The Impact of Science on Society. Washington, D.C.,
U.S.A: U.S.: Government Printing Office.
 Floridi, Luciano. (2014). The Fourth Revolution: How the Infosphere is Reshaping Human Reality:
Oxford University Press
 Henry, John. "Scientific Revolution ." Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World.
Retrieved August 11, 2020 from
Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-
maps/scientific-revolution
 Kennedy, Lesley. "The Prehistoric Ages: How Humans Lived Before Written Records.” Retrieved from
History.com: https://www.history.com/news/prehistoric-ages-timeline#section_1
 Kiger, Patrick. “9 Ancient Sumerian Inventions That Changed the World”.

https://www.history.com/news/sumerians-inventions-mesopotamia
 Noble, Thomas. (2016). “Europe in the Middle Ages—Technology, Culture, and Trade.” Retrieved from:
https://www.thegreatcoursesdaily.com/rise-europe-middle-ages/

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 Osler, M., Spencer, B., & Brush, S., (2019). “Scientific Revolution.” Retrieved from:
https://www.britannica.com/science/Scientific-Revolution
 Vidal-Naquet, P. (ed.). (1992). The Harper Atlas of World History. Harper Collins, New York.
 Zalta, Edward. (2017). "Scientific Revolutions", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved
from: https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2017/entries/scientific-revolutions
Additional Readings:
 Buckley, C., and Boudot E., (2017). The evolution of an ancient technology. R. Soc open
sci.4:170208. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.170208
 Kelty, Christopher. (2009). “The Impact of the Scientific Revolution: A Brief History of the
Experimental Method in the 17th Century.” Retrieved from:
https://cnx.org/contents/Obp6KDON@1/The-Impact-of-the-Scientific-Revolution-A-Brief-
History-of-the-Experimental-Method-in-the-17th-Century
 “Scientific Revolutions.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Nov 28, 2017 Retrieved from:
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/scientific-revolutions/
 The Medieval Sourcebook, located at the Fordham University Center for Medieval Studies,
includes thousands of sources including full text articles, law texts, saint's lives, maps and other
sources related to the Medieval Age. https://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html

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A Timeline of Human Development
Homo habilis (Skillful human)

Lived 1.5 to 2,4 million years ago
Also called “Handy Man”
Used stones as simple tools and ate a variety of foods
Homo erectus (Upright human)
Lived 300,000 to 1.6 million years ago
Used fire
Made stone axes and chopping tools
Homo sapiens (Wise human)

Lived 30,000 to 230,000 years ago
Could speak
Made more complicated tools
Also called “the Neanderthals”
Homo sapiens sapiens (Modern human)

Have been around for 120,000 years
Became more advanced about 40,000 years ago

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I. Early Technology
A. The Stone Age (2.5 mya – 3,000 BC)
 Because of the great span of time involved, the Stone Age is divided
into three periods: Paleolithic (or Old Stone Age), Mesolithic (or
Middle Stone Age), and Neolithic (or New Stone Age).
 These three periods refer to the gradual progress of tool-making from

the earliest coarse pebble tools to more advanced and refined tools.
 During these era an eventual transformation was seen from a culture

of hunting and gathering to farming and food production.

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A.1. Paleolithic Period (Old Stone Age) 2.5 mya-10,000 BC
• Early humans lived in caves or

simple huts or tepees and were
hunters and gatherers. They used
basic stone and bone tools, as
well as crude stone axes, for
hunting birds and wild animals.
• They cooked their prey, including

woolly mammoths, dear and bison,
using controlled fire. They also
fished and collected berries, fruit
The early humans of Paleolithic period and nuts.
that dwell in the caves are hunters and
gatherers .

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A.2. Mesolithic Period – (10,000 BC – 8,000 BC)
• Humans used small stone tools,

now also polished and sometimes
crafted with points and attached to
antlers, bone or wood to serve as
spears and arrows.
• They often lived nomadically in

camps near rivers and other bodies
of water.
• Agriculture was introduced during

this time, which led to more
People of the Mesolithic period use
permanent settlements in villages. polished pointed tools during hunting

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A.3. Neolithic Period (8,000 BC – 3,000 BC)
• Ancient humans switched from hunter/gatherer mode to

agriculture and food production. They domesticated animals and
cultivated cereal grains.
• They used polished hand axes, adzes for ploughing and tilling
the land and started to settle in the plains.
• Advancements were made not only in tools but also in farming,

home construction and art, including pottery, sewing and
weaving.

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A Neolithic period settlement with
domesticated animals
During the Neolithic period,

humans learned how to cultivate
cereals

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B. Stone Age Breakthroughs in Hunter-Gatherer Tools
o Sharpened stones (Oldowan tools): 2.6 million

years ago
These were basically stone cores with flakes removed from

them to create a sharpened edge that could be used for
cutting, chopping or scraping.
One of the earliest examples

of stone tools found in
Ethiopia
o Stone handaxe (Acheulean tools): 1.6

million years ago An Acheulan
handaxe from
Named for St. Acheul on the Somme River in France, Swakscombe,
where the first tools from this tradition were found in Kent
the mid-19th century. These tool is used for striking
flakes off longer rock cores to shape them into thinner
less rounded implements.

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• A new kind of knapping (Levallois
technique): 400,000 to 200,00 years ago
Known as the Levallois, or prepared-core technique,

it involved striking pieces off a stone core to produce
a tortoise-shell like shape, then carefully striking the
core again in such a way that a single large, sharp
flake can be broken off. The method could produce
Stone tools found in a Neanderthal numerous knife-like tools of predictable size and
flint workshop discovered in Poland shape.
• Cutting blades (Aurignacian

industry): 80,000 to 40,000 years ago
The central innovation of this type of tool making

involved detaching long rectangular flakes from
a stone core to form blades, which proved more
effective at cutting. The blades’ shape also
made them easier to attach to a handle, which
gave greater leverage and increased efficiency.
An Aurignacian blade shown from three
angles
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• Small, sharp micro blades (Magdalenian
culture): 11,000 to 17,000 years ago
characterized by small tools known as geometric

microliths, or stone blades or flakes that have been
shaped into triangles, crescents and other geometric
forms. When attached to handles made of bone or antler,
these could easily be used as projectile weapons, as well
as for woodworking and food preparation purposes.
Microliths were added to

Late Magdalenian bone tools
like these, including
harpoons and projectile
points.

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• Axes, celts, chisels (Neolithic
tools): around 12,000 years ago
These tools, including axes, adzes, celts, chisels

and gouges, were not only more pleasing to look
at; they were also more efficient to use and
easier to sharpen when they became dull.
allowed humans to clear wide swathes of
woodland to create their agricultural settlements.
Jadeite axes from the Neolithic
Period in central Europe.

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C. The Bronze Age (3,000 B.C. to 1,300 B.C.)
• Metalworking advances were made, as bronze, a copper and tin alloy,

was discovered. Now used for weapons and tools, the harder metal
replaced its stone predecessors, and helped spark innovations
including the ox-drawn plow and the wheel.
Village life in Grimspound, a late Bronze Age

settlement situated on Dartmoor in Devon,
England.

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• This time period also brought advances in architecture and art,
including the invention of the potter’s wheel, and textiles—clothing
consisted of mostly wool items such as skirts, kilts, tunics and
cloaks. Home dwellings morphed to so-called roundhouses,
consisting of a circular stone wall with a thatched or turf roof,
complete with a fireplace or hearth, and more villages and cities
began to form.
• Humans may have started smelting copper as early as 6,000 B.C. in

the Fertile Crescent, a region often called “the cradle of civilization”
and a historical area of the Middle East where agriculture and the
world’s first cities emerged.

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C.1. What Is the Fertile Crescent?
• The Fertile Crescent, often called the "Cradle of Civilization", is the

region in the Middle East which curves, like a quarter-moon shape, from
the Persian Gulf, through modern-day southern Iraq, Syria,
Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and northern Egypt.
• The region has long been recognized for its vital contributions to world
culture stemming from the civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt,
and the Levant which included the Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians,
Egyptians, and Phoenicians, all of whom were responsible for the
development of civilization.

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Virtually every area of human
knowledge was advanced by these
people, including:
Science and Technology
Writing and Literature
Religion
• Agricultural Techniques
• Mathematics and Astronomy
• Astrology and the Development of
the Zodiac
• Domestication of Animals
• Long-Distance Trade
• Medical Practices (including
dentistry)
• The Wheel
• The Concept of Time
States of the Fertile Crescent

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C.2. Mesopotamian Civilization
• Is an ancient, historical region that lies between the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers in modern-day Iraq and parts of Kuwait, Syria, Turkey and Iran.
• Part of the Fertile Crescent, Mesopotamia was home to the earliest

known human civilizations. Scholars believe the Agricultural Revolution
started here.
• The earliest occupants of Mesopotamia lived in circular dwellings made

of mud and brick along the upper reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates
river valleys.
• They began to practice agriculture by domesticating sheep and pigs

around 11,000 to 9,000 B.C. Domesticated plants, including flax, wheat,
barley and lentils, first appeared around 9,500 B.C.

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Map of Mesopotamia. Shown are Washukanni, Nineveh,
Hatra, Assur, Nuzi, Palmyra, Mari, Sippar, Babylon, Kish,
Nippur, Isin, Lagash, Uruk, Charax Spasinu and Ur, from
north to south.

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• Some of the earliest evidence of farming comes from the
archaeological site of Tell Abu Hureyra, a small village located along
the Euphrates River in modern Syria. The village was inhabited from
roughly 11,500 to 7,000 B.C. Inhabitants initially hunted gazelle and
other game before beginning to harvest wild grains around 9,700 BCE.
Several large stone tools for grinding grain have been found at the site.
• One of the oldest known Mesopotamian cities, Nineveh (near Mosul in

modern Iraq), may have been settled as early as 6,000
B.C. Sumerian civilization arose in the lower Tigris-Euphrates valley
around 5,000 B.C.
• In addition to farming and cities, ancient Mesopotamian societies

developed irrigation and aqueducts, temples, pottery, early systems of
banking and credit, property ownership and the first codes of law.

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C.2.1. The Sumerian
• Sumer was first settled by humans from 4500 to 4000 B.C., though
it is probable that some settlers arrived much earlier.
• This early population—known as the Ubaid people—was notable

for strides in the development of civilization such as farming and
raising cattle, weaving textiles, working with carpentry and pottery
and even enjoying beer.
• Villages and towns were built around Ubaid farming communities.

The people known as Sumerians were in control of the area by
3000 B.C.

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• Their culture was comprised of a group of city-states, including Eridu, Nippur,
Lagash, Kish, Ur and the very first true city, Uruk. At its peak around 2800 BC,
the city had a population between 40,000 and 80,000 people living between its
six miles of defensive walls, making it a contender for the largest city in the
world.
• Each city-state of Sumer was surrounded by a wall, with villages settled just
outside and distinguished by the worship of local deities.
Map of Ancient
Sumerian Empire

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C.2.2. Sumerian Invention
Mass-Produced Pottery
• Other ancient people made pottery by hand,

but the Sumerians were the first to develop
the turning wheel, a device which allowed
them to mass-produce it. That enabled them
to churn out large numbers of items such as
containers for workers’ rations, sort of the
ancient forerunner of Tupperware.
Bowl from the ancient

civilizations of
Mesopotamia.

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Writing
• The Sumerians were the first to develop a
writing system. Either way, it’s clear that
they were using written communication by
2800 B.C.
• But they didn’t set out to write great

literature or record their history, but rather
to keep track of the goods that they were
making and selling.
• Scribes used sharpened reeds to scratch

the symbols into wet clay, which dried to
An early writing sample form tablets. The system of writing became
from Mesopotamia using known as cuneiform, and as Kramer noted,
pictographs to create a record of it was borrowed by subsequent civilizations
food supplies. and used across the Middle East for 2,000
years.

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Hydraulic Engineering
• The Sumerians figured out how to collect and channel the overflow of the
Tigris and Euphrates rivers—and the rich silt that it contained—and then
use it to water and fertilize their farm fields.
• They designed complex systems of canals, with dams constructed of

reeds, palm trunks and mud whose gates could be opened or closed to
regulate the flow of water.
A Mesopotamian relief
showing the agricultural
importance of the rivers.

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The Chariot
• The Sumerians didn’t invent wheeled vehicles, but they probably developed
the first two-wheeled chariot in which a driver drove a team of animals.
• The Sumerians had such carts for transportation in the 3000s B.C., but they
were probably used for ceremonies or by the military, rather than as a means
to get around the countryside, where the rough terrain would have made
wheeled travel difficult.
Scale model of a simple two-

wheeled chariot which was invented by
the Sumerians in Mesopotamia.

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The Plow
• The Sumerians invented the plow,

a vital technology in farming.
• They even produced a manual that

gave farmers detailed instructions
on how to use various types of
plows.
• They specified the prayer that

should be recited to pay homage to
Ninkilim, the goddess of field
rodents, in order to protect the
grain from being eaten.
Imitation of a Sumerian plow.

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Textile Mills
• While other cultures in the
Middle East gathered wool and
used it to weave fabric for
clothing, the Sumerians were
the first to do weaving on an
industrial scale.
• The Sumerians’ innovation

was to turn their temples into
huge factories.
• They were the first to cross kin

lines and form larger working
organizations for making
textiles—the predecessors of
modern manufacturing
companies.
A Mesopotamian woman weaving.

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Mass-Produced Bricks
An archaeological site in Mari,

Syria (modern Tell Hariri) that
was an ancient Sumerian city
on the western bank of
Euphrates river.
• To make up for a shortage of stones and timber for building houses and temples, the
Sumerians created molds for making bricks out of clay.
• While they weren’t the first to use clay as a building material but their innovation is
their ability to produce bricks in large amounts, and put them together on a large
scale. Their buildings might not have been as durable as stone ones, but they were
able to build more of them, and create larger cities.

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Metallurgy
• The Sumerians were some of the earliest

people to use copper to make useful
items, ranging from spearheads to
chisels and razors.
• They also made art with copper, including

dramatic panels depicting fantastical
animals such as an eagle with a lion’s
head.
• Sumerian metallurgists used furnaces

heated by reeds and controlled the
temperature with a bellows that could be
The lion-headed eagle made of copper,
worked with their hands or feet.
gold, and lapis lazuli by Sumerian
civilization.

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Mathematics
Cuneiform script,
developed by the
Sumerians.
• Primitive people counted using simple methods, such as putting notches

on bones, but it was the Sumerians who developed a formal numbering
system based on units of 60. At first, they used reeds to keep track of the
units, but eventually, with the development of cuneiform, they used vertical
marks on the clay tablets. Their system helped lay the groundwork for the
mathematical calculations of civilizations that followed.
•

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C.2.3. The Akkadians
• Located in the area to the north of Sumer, Akkadia became established and a
dominant force in Mesopotamia around 3000BC.
• The Akkadian empire is thought to be the first
dynastic rulership to have existed. It took over
control of Sumer and the Levant at around
2300BC.
• The Akkadians created the first united empire
in Ancient Mesopotamia. It was a hereditary
monarchy, meaning that the country was ruled
by a King who was succeeded by his sons
upon his death.
• The Akkadian king was credited with many

administrative firsts. These include the year Map of the Akkadian Empire
name system and a unified system of weights
• The Akkadians spanned into parts of
and measures. However, he had difficulty
Syria, Iran, Jordan, Turkey, Kuwait and
controlling their empire and faced frequent
possibly even further to the south and
uprisings, especially among the Sumerian
into Cyprus. The empire would
city-states.
eventually collapse sometime after
2150bc, just a few hundred years after
it was founded.
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C.2.4. The Assyrians
• Under the Assyrian Civilization, ancient Mesopotamia expanded from the Persian Gulf
to Egypt, to its Western borders of modern-day Turkey.
• After the Akkadian empire collapsed, the Assyrians were the powerhouse of
Mesopotamia. For over 1400 years, Assyria had control of parts of Egypt, Turkey, and
modern day Iraq.
• It is thought the civilization became

wealthy enough to develop armies
and warriors through trading goods
with Anatolia (located in modern-day
Turkey).
• Of all the cultures of the ancient

Mesopotamian civilizations, Assyria is
considered to be the greatest. It
developed advanced military and
bureaucratic systems, which enabled
it to expand and control much of the
ancient world.
Map of the Assyrian Empire

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C.2.5. The Assyrian Contributions
Agricultural Technology
• The Assyrians were quite innovative when it came to agriculture, which was
necessary since they lived in an area where it was either extremely dry or
flooded most of the time.
• To make up for this, they built extensive canal systems out of mud. The canals
would collect the rainwater, helping to prevent flooding in rainy seasons. In dry
seasons, the farmers could release the stored water onto fields by digging into
them.
• This was carried out by flood defense walls, which were used along the edges
of the canals to guide the water to where it was needed.

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Jerwan aqueduct, completed in 690 BC.
• Because of the importance of agriculture to the society, canals were

built along the edges of all farms and were well kept. Water systems
were built to supply water to cities by building slopes to conduct water
from the hills to the plains.

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Assyrian Architecture
• Major architectural works in ancient Assyria did not deviate much from the Babylonians.
The Assyrians built their temples and palaces primarily from stone and typically in
a ziggurat, or platform structure.
• Unlike the Babylonians, however, the Assyrians' homes were built mostly from stone
rather than clay or mud brick. Homes were rectangular, with beams on top to support an
earthen roof.
• This structure and the lack of openings besides a door made the homes great for defense
- necessary for such a warring people.
Mud-brick ziggurats constructed by

2000 BC were in many Sumerian cities.

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C.2.6. The Babylonians
• Babylonia was a state in ancient Mesopotamia. The city of Babylon, whose ruins
are located in present-day Iraq, was founded more than 4,000 years ago as a
small port town on the Euphrates River. It grew into one of the largest cities of the
ancient world under the rule of Hammurabi.
• Hammurabi turned Babylon
into a rich, powerful and
influential city. He created
one of the world’s earliest
and most complete written
legal codes. Known as
the Code of Hammurabi, it
helped Babylon surpass
other cities in the region.
• Babylonia, however, was

short-lived. The empire fell
apart after Hammurabi’s
death and reverted back to
a small kingdom for several
centuries. Babylonia at the time of Hammurabi

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C..2.7. Contributions of the Babylonian Civilization
Babylonian mathematics
• Babylonian mathematical texts are plentiful and well edited.

Babylonian mathematics remained constant, in character and content,
for nearly two millennia. In contrast to the scarcity of sources
in Egyptian mathematics, our knowledge of Babylonian mathematics
is derived from some 400 clay tablets unearthed since the 1850s.
• Written in Cuneiform script, tablets were inscribed while the clay was
moist, and baked hard in an oven or by the heat of the sun. The
majority of recovered clay tablets date from 1800 to 1600 BC, and
cover topics which include fractions, algebra, quadratic and cubic
equations and the Pythagorean theorem. The Babylonian tablet YBC
7289 gives an approximation to accurate to five decimal places.

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Babylonian clay tablet YBC 7289 with annotations. The
diagonal displays an approximation of the square root
of 2 in four sexagesimal figures, which is about
six decimal figures.
• Babylonian numerals were written in cuneiform, using a wedge-

tipped reed stylus to make a mark on a soft clay tablet which would
be exposed in the sun to harden to create a permanent record.

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Babylonian Architecture
• Among of this artistic progress it can be identified the improvement

of use given in architecture to the arch and the dome during the
Babylonian Empire; they were already used previously but was
perfected during the Neo Babylonian Empire. This is the time of the
construction of the fabulous palaces of Nebuchadnezzar.
Rebuilt Walls of the Palace of King

Rebuilt Babylon Coliseum Stairs
Nebuchadneszzar (Present Day Iraq)
(Present Day Iraq)
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• Features of art in Babylonian
culture are closely related to
building materials available in their
environment. The stone was
scarce of course but the mud,
abundant.
• Barely existed corpulent trees to

build the beams needed to use
them effectively in the construction
of architectural structure.
• Following these limitations, the

buildings are essentially cemented
with very similar stone brick and
adobe as the Sumerians did. The
arch and the dome roof are used
mainly in the construction of large
palaces.

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• The adobe was used for terraces and thick external walls. The walls
were made of adobe or molded bricks (whose rear mounting made it
possible to build huge walls. Large ceramic reliefs made in terracotta
and stone pieces containing in some case inscriptions were used,
receiving the name of kuduroes this were stone blocks, generally in
black diorite, which were intended to delimit farms.
• The inscriptions made in this stones to describe the boundaries of the

property are intend also to throw terrifying spells for those who try to
change or alter their limited boundaries. The images of the gods or
animals representing them are carved in the relief so that they are
more imposing to the offenders who try to invade the property.
• In Babylonian architecture is observed essentially simplicity in the

design of the structures due to difficult terrain and poor materials.

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The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
• The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were the fabled gardens which adorned the capital of
the Neo-Babylonian Empire, built by its greatest king Nebuchadnezzar II (r. 605-562
BCE). One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, they are the only wonder
whose existence is disputed amongst historians.
• Some scholars claim the gardens were actually at Nineveh, capital of the Assyrian
Empire, some stick with the ancient writers and await archaeology to provide positive
proof, and still others believe they are merely a figment of the ancient imagination.
• Archaeology at Babylon itself and ancient

Babylonian texts are silent on the matter,
but ancient writers describe the gardens as
if they were at Nebuchadnezzar’s capital
and still in existence in Hellenistic times.
The exotic nature of the gardens compared
to the more familiar Greek items on the list
and the mystery surrounding their location
and disappearance have made the Hanging
Gardens of Babylon the most captivating of
all the Seven Wonders. A representation of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the fabled gardens
which possibly adorned the capital of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, built by its
greatest king Nebuchadnezzar II (r. 605-562 BCE). A 16th century CE
engraving by Dutch artist Martin Heemskerck.

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C.2.8 The Egyptians (3100 B.C. to 332 B.C.)
• For almost 30 centuries—from its unification around 3100 B.C. to its conquest by
Alexander the Great in 332 B.C.—ancient Egypt was the preeminent civilization in the
Mediterranean world.
• From the great pyramids of the Old Kingdom through the military conquests of the
New Kingdom, Egypt’s majesty has long entranced archaeologists and historians and
created a vibrant field of study all its own: Egyptology.
• The main sources of information

about ancient Egypt are the many
monuments, objects and artifacts
that have been recovered from
archaeological sites, covered with
hieroglyphs that have only recently
Map of
been deciphered. The picture that ancient
emerges is of a culture with few Egypt
equals in the beauty of its art, the
accomplishment of its architecture
or the richness of its religious
traditions.

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C.2.9 Ancient Egyptian Science & Technology
Engineering & Construction
• The great temples of ancient Egypt arose from the same technological skill
one sees on the small scale of household goods. The central value
observed in creating any of these goods or structures was a careful
attention to detail.
• The Egyptians are noted in many aspects of their culture as a very

conservative society, and this adherence to a certain way of accomplishing
tasks can clearly be seen in their construction of the pyramids and other
monuments.
• The creation of an obelisk, for example, seems to have always involved the
exact same procedure performed in precisely the same way. The quarrying
and transport of obelisks are well documented (though how the immense
monuments were raised is not) and shows a strict adherence to a standard
procedure.

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Egyptian Obelisk in Step Pyramid Complex at Saqqara (2670-
Karnak (1493–1482 BCE) 2650 BCE)

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• The Step Pyramid of Djoser was successfully built according to the
precepts of the vizier Imhotep and when his plans were deviated from
by Sneferu during of the Old Kingdom (c. 2613- c. 2181 BCE), the
result was the so-called 'collapsed pyramid' at Meidum.
• Sneferu returned to Imhotep's original engineering plans for his next

projects and was able to create his Bent Pyramid and Red Pyramid at
Dashur, advancing the art of pyramid building which is epitomized in the
Great Pyramid at Giza.
The Great Pyramids of Giza

(2550 to 2490 BCE)

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Agriculture & Architecture
• Ancient Egypt was an agricultural society and so naturally developed

innovations to help cultivate the land. Among the many inventions or
innovations of the ancient Egyptians was the ox-drawn plow and
improvements in irrigation. The ox-drawn plow was designed in two
gauges: heavy and light. The heavy plow went first and cut the furrows
while the lighter plow came behind turning up the earth.
• Once the field was plowed then workers with

hoes broke up the clumps of soil and sowed
the rows with seed. To press the seed into the
furrows, livestock was driven across the
field and the furrows were closed. All of this
work would have been for nothing, however, if
the seeds were denied sufficient water and so
regular irrigation of the land was extremely
important. Wooden model of a man ploughing
with oxen

49
• Egyptian irrigation techniques were so effective they were implemented by the cultures
of Greece and Rome.
• New irrigation techniques were introduced during the Second Intermediate Period by the
people known as the Hyksos, who settled in Avaris in Lower Egypt, and the Egyptians
improved upon them; notably through the expanded use of the canal.
• The yearly inundation of the Nile overflowing its banks and depositing rich soil
throughout the valley was essential to Egyptian life but irrigation canals were necessary
to carry water to outlying farms and villages as well as to maintain even saturation of
crops near the river.
Present day
irrigation
system built by
ancient
Egyptians along
the Nile river
Egyptian irrigation system

50
• Shadoofs: The ancient Egyptians also used water
wheels. The water wheels worked the shadoofs. A
shadoof was simply a counterweight system, a long pole
with a bucket on one end and a weight on the other.
Buckets were dropped into the Nile, filled with water, and
raised with water wheels. Then oxen swung the pole so
that the water could be emptied into narrow canals or
waterways that were used to irrigate the crops. It was a
clever system, and it worked very well.
A shadoof was used to raise water

above the level of the Nile.
• Nilometers: They also invented what is

called a nilometer. A nilometer was used to
predict flood levels. This instrument was a
method of marking the height of the Nile
over the years. Nilometers were spaced
along the Nile River. They acted as an early
warning system, alerting these early people
that waters were not as high as usual, so
they could prepare for a drought or for
unusually high flood waters. The nilometer on Elephantine Island, Aswan, consists
of stairs and staff gauges.

51
• Rameses II (1303-1213 B.C.)
made an outstanding
architectural marvel, the Abu
Simbel. which was precisely
designed so that, twice a year
on 21 February and 21 October,
the sun shines directly into the
sanctuary of the temple to
illuminate the statues of
Abu Simbel (1244 B.C.)
Ramesses and the god Amun.
• This kind of precision in design and construction can be seen in

temples throughout Egypt which were all built to mirror the afterlife.
The courtyard of the temple with its reflecting pool would symbolize
the Lake of Flowers in the next world and the temple itself would
stand for various other aspects of the afterlife and the final paradise
of the Field of Reeds.

52
Medicine & Dentistry
• Medicine in ancient Egypt was intimately tied to magic. The three

best-known works dealing with medical issues are the Ebers
Papyrus (c. 1550 BCE), the Edwin Smith Papyrus (c. 1600 BCE),
and the London Medical Papyrus (c. 1629 BCE) all of which, to
one degree or another, prescribe the use of spells in treating
diseases while at the same time exhibiting a significant degree of
medical knowledge.
• The Ebers Papyrus is a text of 110 pages treating ailments such

as trauma, cancer, heart disease, depression, dermatology,
gastrointestinal distress, and many others.
• The Edwin Smith Papyrus is the oldest known work on surgical

techniques and is thought to have been written for triage surgeons
in field hospitals. This work shows detailed knowledge of anatomy
and physiology.

53
• The London Medical Papyrus combines practical medical
skill with magical spells for the treatment of conditions
ranging from eye problems to miscarriages.
The London Medical Papyrus

54
D. The Iron Age (1200 B.C. and 900 B.C.)
• During the Iron Age, people across much of Europe, Asia and
parts of Africa began making tools and weapons from iron and
steel.
• The discovery of ways to heat and forge iron kicked off the Iron
Age (roughly 1,300 B.C. to 900 B.C.). At the time, the metal was
seen as more precious than gold, and wrought iron (which would
be replaced by steel with the advent of smelting iron) was easier
to manufacture than bronze.
• Along with mass production of steel tools and weapons, the age
saw even further advances in architecture, with four-room homes,
some complete with stables for animals, joining more rudimentary
hill forts, as well as royal palaces, temples and other religious
structures. Early city planning also took place, with blocks of
homes being erected along paved or cobblestone streets and
water systems put into place.
55
D.1. Persian Empire
• During the Iron Age in the Near East, nomadic pastoralists who raised sheep, goats and
cattle on the Iranian plateau began to develop a state that would become known as
Persia.
• The Persians established their empire at a time after humans had learned to make steel.
Steel weapons were sharper and stronger than earlier bronze or stone weapons.
• The ancient Persians also fought on horseback. They may have been the first civilization
to develop an armored cavalry in which horses and riders were completely covered in
steel armor.
• The First Persian Empire,

founded by Cyrus the Great
around 550 B.C., became one of
the largest empires in history, Map of Ancient
stretching from the Balkans of Persia
Eastern Europe to the Indus
Valley in India.

56
D.2. Persia: Cradle of Science & Technology
• Persia was a cradle of science in ancient times. Persian

scientists contributed to the current understanding of nature,
medicine, mathematics, and philosophy.
• Persians made important contributions to algebra and

chemistry, invented the wind-power machine, and the first
distillation of alcohol.

57
Qanat
• A water management system used for irrigation originated in pre-Achaemenid
Persia. The oldest and largest known qanat is in the Iranian city of Gonabad which,
after 2,700 years, still provides drinking and agricultural water to nearly 40,000
people.
The Persian Qanat: Aerial View, Jupar, Bagh-e

Shahzadeh (Mahan) © S.H. Rashedi
The qanat water system of ancient Persia

58
Battery
• Persian philosophers and inventors may have created the first batteries
(sometimes known as the Baghdad Battery) in the Parthian or Sassanid
eras. Some have suggested that the batteries may have been used
medicinally.
• Other scientists believe the batteries were used for electroplating--

transferring a thin layer of metal to another metal surface--a technique
still used today and the focus of a common classroom experiment.
Baghdad Battery in the National Museum of Iraq

59
Windmill
• Wind wheels were developed by the Babylonians ca. 1700 BC to pump
water for irrigation. In the 7th century, Persian engineers in Greater Iran
developed a more advanced wind-power machine, the windmill, building
upon the basic model developed by the Babylonians.
The earliest
known windmill
design dates
back 3000
years to ancient
Persia where
they were used
to grind grain View of the ancient - more than 1000 years old
and pump - Persian windmills at Nashtifan, Khorasan,
water. Iran, some of which are operational.

60
Mathematics
• The 12th century

mathematician Muhammad
Ibn Musa-al-Khwarazmi
created the Logarithm table,
developed algebra and
expanded upon Persian and
Indian arithmetic systems.
• The works of Khwarazmi

exercised a profound Muhammad Ibn Musa-al-
influence on the Khwarazmi
development of
mathematical thought in the
medieval West.

61
Medicine
• The practice and study of medicine in Iran has a long and prolific history.
Situated at the crossroads of the East and West, Persia was often involved
in developments in ancient Greek and Indian medicine; pre- and post-
Islamic Iran have been involved in medicine as well.
• For example, the first teaching hospital where medical students methodically
practiced on patients under the supervision of physicians was the Academy
of Gundishapur in the Persian Empire. The idea of xenotransplantation
dates to the days of Achaemenidae (the Achaemenian dynasty), as
evidenced by engravings of many mythologic chimeras still present in
Persepolis.
• Several documents still exist from which the definitions and treatments of
the headache in medieval Persia can be ascertained.

62
• These documents give detailed and precise clinical information on
the different types of headaches. The medieval physicians listed
various signs and symptoms, apparent causes, and hygienic and
dietary rules for prevention of headaches. The medieval writings are
both accurate and vivid, and they provide long lists of substances
used in the treatment of headaches.
• In the 10th century work of Shahnameh, Ferdowsi describes a

Caesarean section performed on Rudaba, during which a special
wine agent was prepared by a Zoroastrian priest and used to produce
unconsciousness for the operation. Although largely mythical in
content, the passage illustrates working knowledge of anesthesia in
ancient Persia.

63
Astronomy
• In 1000 AD, Biruni wrote an astronomical

encyclopedia which discussed the
possibility that the earth might rotate
Abu Arrayhan
around the sun.
Muhammad
ibn Ahmad al-
• This was before Tycho Brahe drew the first Biruni
maps of the sky, using stylized animals to
depict the constellations. In the tenth
century, the Persian astronomer Abd al-
Rahman al-Sufi cast his eyes upwards to
the awning of stars overhead and was the
first to record a galaxy out with our own.
• Gazing at the Andromeda galaxy he called

it a “little cloud” --an apt description of the
slightly wispy appearance of our galactic
neighbor. An illustration from al-Biruni's
astronomical works, explains the
different phases of the moon.
64
Physics
• Abu Ali al-Hassan ibn al-Haytham is known in the Abu Ali al-
West as Alhazen, born in 965 in Persia and dying in Hassan ibn
1039 in Egypt. He is known as the father of optics for al-Haytham
his writings on, and experiments with, lenses, mirrors,
refraction, and reflection.
• He correctly stated that vision results from light that is

reflected into the eye by an object, not emitted by the
eye itself and reflected back, as Aristotle believed.
The structure of
• He solved the problem of finding the locus of points the human
on a spherical mirror from which light will be reflected eye according
to an observer. From his studies of refraction, he to Ibn al-
determined that the atmosphere has a definite height Haytham. Note
and that twilight is caused by refraction of solar the depiction of
radiation from beneath the horizon. the optic
chiasm.

65
E. The Greek Civilization
The Ancient Greeks are

seen, in the west, as our
intellectual forefathers.
From Greece was born

philosophy, drama,
western artistic aesthetics,
geometry, natural science,
mathematics, astronomy
and architecture.
A representation of an ancient Greek City

66
E.1. Agriculture
• The prosperity of the majority of Greek city-states was based
on agriculture and the ability to produce the necessary surplus which
allowed some citizens to pursue other trades and pastimes and to create a
quantity of exported goods so that they could be exchanged for necessities
the community lacked.
• Cereals, olives, and wine were the three most produced foodstuffs suited
as they are to the Mediterranean climate. With the process of Greek
colonization in such places as Asia Minor and Magna Graecia Greek
agricultural practice and products spread around the Mediterranean.
The people who did the most agriculture work

were people in the middle class social class,
also known as the Perioeci. These people were
typically farmers or peasants.

67
emmer durum hulled barley
• The most widely cultivated crop was wheat - especially emmer (triticum
dicoccum) and durum (triticum durum) – and hulled barley (hordeum
vulgare).
• Millet was grown in areas with greater rainfall. Gruel from barley and barley-
cakes were more common than bread made from wheat. Pulses were
grown such as broad beans, chickpeas, and lentils.
• Vines to make wine and olives to produce oil completed the four main types
of crops in the Greek world. Fruit (e.g. figs, apples, pears, pomegranates,
quinces, and medlars), vegetables (e.g. cucumbers, onions, garlic, and
salads) and nuts (e.g. almonds and walnuts) were grown by many private
households.

68
• Equipment used in Greek agriculture was basic with digging, weeding,
and multiple ploughing done by hand using wooden or iron-tipped
ploughs, mattocks, and hoes (there were no spades). Richer farmers had
oxen to help plough their fields.
• Sickles were used to harvest crops, which were then winnowed using a
flat shovel and baskets. Grains were then threshed on a stone floor
which was trampled on by livestock (and which might also have dragged
sledges for the purpose too). Grapes were crushed underfoot in vats
while olives were crushed in stone presses.
olive oil
extractor
juicer
iron-tipped ploughs used in farming

69
E.2. Architecture
• Greek architects provided some of the finest and most distinctive buildings in the
entire Ancient World and some of their structures, such as temples, theatres, and
stadia, would become staple features of towns and cities from antiquity onwards.
• In addition, the Greek concern with simplicity, proportion, perspective, and

harmony in their buildings would go on to greatly influence architects in
the Roman world and provide the foundation for the classical architectural orders
which would dominate the western world from the Renaissance to the present day.
• The Greeks certainly had a preference for marble, at least for their public buildings.
Initially, though, wood would have been used for not only such basic architectural
elements as columns but the entire buildings themselves.
• Early 8th century BCE temples were so constructed and had thatch roofs. From
the late 7th century BCE, temples, in particular, slowly began to be converted into
more durable stone edifices; some even had a mix of the two materials.

70
• Some scholars have argued that certain decorative features of
stone column capitals and elements of the entablature evolved from
the skills of the carpenter displayed in more ancient, wooden
architectural elements.
• The stone of choice was either limestone protected by a layer of

marble dust stucco or even better, pure white marble. Also, carved
stone was often polished with chamois to provide resistance to
water and give a bright finish. The best marble came
from Naxos, Paros, and Mt. Pentelicon near Athens.
East facade of the Parthenon, Athens, 5th

century BCE.

71
Some of Ancient Greek Architectural Remains
Marble column from the Temple of Marble akroterion of

Terracotta architectural tile 6th
Artemis at Sardisca. 300 B.C. the grave monument
century B.C.
of Timotheos and
Nikonca. 350–325
B.C.

72
• One of the cultural developments of Greek thought was the
museum, originally the Temple of the Muses
Modern Remains of Temple of the Muses

73
• The museum became part of the palace, “the palace of culture,”
and later a kind of medieval college and research institute.
• The development of the concept of organized centers of learning

(the University) descend from this period.
Reconstruction of the Greek Parthenon Discussion of ideas is perceived to

happen inside the Parthenon

74
E.3. Some Notable Greeks in the field of
Thales of Miletus (c. 620 B.C.E.—c. 546
B.C.E.)
• Is considered by some to be the "first scientist“
• Thales as the first person to investigate the basic

principles, the question of the originating
substances of matter and, therefore, as the founder
of the school of natural philosophy.
• Thales was interested in almost everything,

investigating almost all areas of knowledge,
philosophy, history, science, mathematics,
engineering, geography, and politics.
• He proposed theories to explain many of the events

of nature, the primary substance, the support of the
earth, and the cause of change.

75
Democritus of Abdera (ca. 470–362 BCE)
Founder of the Atomic Theory.

Also had theories on the nature of
plants; thought plant diversity was due
to differences in the atoms of which
they were composed.
The contemplating
Democritus

76
Hippocrates (460–359 BCE)
Disciple of Democritus
Greek physician who is now considered the

“Father of Medicine.”
• Hippocrates, considered the originator of a

Greek school of healing, was the first to clearly
expound the concept that diseases had natural
causes.
• Various works attributed to him and his school is

contained in the Hippocratic Collection, which
includes The Hippocratic Oath, Aphorisms,
and various medical works. He was an expert in
diagnosis, predicting the cause of disease.

77
• Hippocrates particularly noted the influence of food and diet on health, recommending
moderation.
• In the work On Ancient Medicine, differences in individual response to food are noted
such that some can eat cheese to satiety while others do not bear it well, a diagnosis
of lactose intolerance.
• The use of drugs was not ignored and between 200 and 400 herbs were mentioned
by the school of Hippocrates.
A copy of
Hippocratic
Collection
Hippocrates, diagnosing a patient

78
“Let your food be your
medicine and your medicine
be your food…
Leave your drugs in the
chemist’s pot you can cure the
patient with food”
-Hippocrates, the “Father of

Medicine.”
-420 BC

79
Plato (427–327 BCE)
• Considered the pre-eminent Greek philosopher, known for
his Dialogues and for founding his Academy north
of Athens, traditionally considered the first university in the
western world.
• The Akademia or the Academy was established outside the

city limits of old Athens and offered a wide range of subjects
taught by experts in their field. The Academy was thought to
be the principal college in Europe that attracted scholars.
• Plato played a vital role in encouraging the Greek

intelligentsia to regard science as a theory. His Academy
taught arithmetic as part of philosophy, as Pythagoras had
done, and the first 10 years of a course at the Academy
included the study of geometry, astronomy, and music.
• Plato has been described as the “producer of

mathematicians,” and his Academy boasted some the most
conspicuous mathematicians of the ancient world such as
Eudoxus, Theaetetus, and Archytas.
•

80
Aristotle (384–323 BCE) of Macedonia
• proposed a coherent and common-sense

vision of the natural world that stood for
2,000 years
• studied and wrote on a cosmology,

physics, biology, anatomy and logic.
• placed greater emphasis on observation

than Plato, but still not experimental
• tutored Alexander the Great

81
Aristotle’s writings includes descriptive
writings in biology:
• Histories of Animals,
•Generation of Animals,
•Parts of Animals
• He developed the concept of life

force or vitalism, the idea that life is
due to a force beside the ordinary
workings of chemistry and physics.
A compilation of Aristotle’s
writing
PERSONAL PROPERTY OF JEFFREY ROMERO-GEC108, 1ST 82

Theophrastus of Eresus, city of Lesbos (371–287 BCE)
The founder of the botanical sciences and

thus
known as the “Father of Botany”
Writer of
227 treatises, (on religion, politics,
ethics, education, rhetoric,
mathematics, astronomy, logic,
meteorology,
natural history; had over 2000
disciples or students, averaging 60 per
year).

83
Two botanical works survived:
• History of Plants and Causes of Plants
History of Plants (Historia de plantes) Largely descriptive,

Distinguishes parts of plants. Nine
books:
1. parts of plants and their nature; classification;

2. propagation (especially trees);
3. wild trees;
4. geographic botany, trees related to districts;
5. timber of various trees;
6. Undershrubs;
7. herbaceous plants;
8. cereals, pulses, summer crops;
9. juices of plants.

84
Causes of Plants (De causis plantarum) More philosophic but still
full of facts. Six books:
1. Generation and propagation of plants;

2. Things which help the increase of plants;
3. Plantation of shrubs and preparation of
the soil, viticulture;
4. Goodness of seeds and their degeneration;
5. Diseases;
6. Savors and odors.
A detailed collection of
Theophrastrus writings

85
Greek natural philosophy is sometimes called
"pre-scientific", since it relied on contemplation or
observation, but not experimentation

86
F. The Romans
Roman civilization was built upon the tradition of
Greek natural philosophy
the Romans are better known for engineering than
theoretical science
Building of Roman Aqueduct 312 B.C. to Ancient Roman Colosseum

A.D. 226. A.D. 70 and 72
87
F.1. The Roman Engineering
• The Romans were
responsible, through the
application and
development of available
machines, for an
important technological
transformation: the
widespread introduction
of rotary motion.
The Roman rotary wheel 3rd Century BC

88
• This was exemplified in the use of the treadmill for powering cranes
and other heavy lifting operations, the introduction of rotary water-
raising devices for irrigation works (a scoop wheel powered by a
treadmill), and the development of the waterwheel as a prime
mover.
Construction of the Roman Watermill around1st century BC

89
• The 1st-century-BCE Roman engineer Vitruvius
gave an account of watermills, and by the end of the
Roman era many were in operation.
The present day

Roman watermill
constructed
around 1st
century BCE still
in use today
Vitruvius

90
F.3. The Roman Architecture
• The Romans copied the Greek style for most
ceremonial purposes, but in other respects they were
important innovators in building technology.
Greek Architecture Roman Architecture

91
The Roman Coloseum A.D. 70 and 72
• They made extensive use of fired

brick and tile as well as stone;
they developed a strong cement
that would set under water; and The Arch of Constantine 312 and 315 AD
they explored the architectural
possibilities of the arch, the vault,
and the dome.

92
• They then applied these techniques in amphitheatres, aqueducts, tunnels,
bridges, walls, lighthouses, and roads. Taken together, these constructional
works may fairly be regarded as the primary technological achievement of the
Romans.
Roman Theatre of Orange (1st century Tower of Hercules 2nd century AD

AD)
Pont du Gard Aqueduct 1st

century AD

93
• The Romans made good
quality pottery available
throughout their empire through
the manufacture and trade of
the standardized red ware
called terra sigillata, which terra sigillata
was produced in large
quantities at several sites in
Italy and Gaul.

94
F.3. Some Notable Romans in the field of
Cato (b. 234 BCE)

• The famous orator also
wrote a valuable
treatise (De agricultura)
which gave advice on
how to run a good
estate with notes on
wine and oil production
and various remedies
for crop diseases.
A copy of Cato’s book on

farming

95
Varro (b. 116 BCE)
• Was the most prolific scientific

author, although very little of his
work survives. One exception is
the Res Rusticae, which describes
the best ways to manage a large
estate.
• His other works on mathematics,

geography, biology, and more, live
on through his immense influence
on later authors such as Vitruvius,
Pliny, Augustine, and Martianus
Varro’s Res Capella.
Rusticae

96
Lucretius (b. c. 94 BCE)
• Wrote De rerum natura on

the major Greek works of
atomist philosophy and was
especially interested in
optics and biology.
Vitruvius (1st century BCE)

• Wrote an influential work on
architecture (De architectura) which
included surveying, town planning,
mathematics, principles of proportion,
materials, astronomy, and mechanics.

97
Galen (b. 129 CE)
Galen’s Surgery
Book
• Of Greek origin who became a

physician to emperors after starting
his career administering medical
aid to gladiators. He is an Galen treating a
invaluable source on earlier wounded soldier
medical matters,
notably Hippocrates, but was also a
successful practitioner of complex
surgeries himself.
SEM 2020-2021 MSU-GSC 98
Claudius Ptolemy (85–165 CE)
• Tweaked the Plato/Aristotle cosmology to
match observations of the planets
• Ptolemy taught that the Earth was the

center of the universe.
• People felt this was common sense, and

the geocentric theory was supported by
the Church.
• The Earth was the center of the Universe

according to Claudius Ptolemy, whose
view of the cosmos persisted for 1400
years until it was overturned — with
controversy — by findings from
Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton.

99
Ptolemaic System
Also called geocentric

system or geocentric model
proposed by Claudius
Ptolemy by assuming
that Earth is stationary and at
the center of the universe.
Ptolemy geocentric model depicts the earth as

stationary with the planets, moon, and sun moving
around it in small, circular orbits called epicycles.

100
F.4. The Ancient View of the Universe
• The Earth was:

– immovable
– the center of the universe.
• Everything revolved around the Earth.
– This view is known as geocentric
theory.
• Aristotle’s idea
• Ptolemy expanded the theory.
• Christianity taught that God had
deliberately placed the earth at the
center.
A depiction of ancient universe and
medieval structure

101
F.5. The Fall of Rome (in 476)
• Rome’s fall ended the ancient world and the Middle Ages were borne. These
“Dark Ages” brought the end to much that was Roman.
• In western Europe, population dropped, literacy virtually disappeared, and

Greek knowledge was lost.
• In eastern Europe, Greek knowledge was suppressed by orthodox Christianity

in the Byzantine Empire (which finally fell in 1453)
Sack of Rome by the Visigoths led by Vandals sacking Rome

Alaric I

102
II. Middle Ages 476 CE -14th century
• The millennium between the collapse of the Western Roman Empire

in the 5th century CE and the beginning of the colonial expansion of
western Europe in the late 15th century has been known traditionally
as the Middle Ages, and the first half of this period consists of the five
centuries of the Dark Ages (476-918 AD).
• Many of the institutions of the later empire survived the collapse and
profoundly influenced the formation of the new civilization that
developed in western Europe. The Christian church was the
outstanding institution of this type.
• Roman conceptions of law and administration also continued to exert

an influence long after the departure of the legions from the western
provinces.

103
A. The Tuetonic Tribe
• Teutonic tribes who moved into a large part of Teutonic tribe

western Europe did not come empty-handed, and in
some respects their technology was superior to that
of the Romans.
• these tribes appear to have been the first people with
sufficiently strong iron ploughshares to undertake the
systematic settlement of the forested lowlands of
northern and western Europe, the heavy soils of which
had frustrated the agricultural techniques of their
predecessors.
Land preparation before planting.
Teutonic way of cultivation using strong iron ploughshares

104
• The invaders came thus as
colonizers. They may have been
regarded as “barbarians” by the
Romanized inhabitants of western Weaving
Europe who naturally resented their fabrics during
intrusion, and the effect of their the middle
ages
invasion was certainly to disrupt
trade, industry, and town life. But
the newcomers also provided an
element of innovation and vitality.
• About 1000 CE the conditions of comparative

political stability necessary for the
reestablishment of a vigorous commercial and
urban life had been secured by the success of
Town life the kingdoms of the region in either absorbing
during the or keeping out the last of the invaders from
middle ages the East, and thereafter for 500 years the new
civilization grew in strength and began to
experiment in all aspects of human
endeavour.

105
• The history of medieval technology is thus largely the story of the
preservation, recovery, and modification of earlier achievements. But by the
end of the period Western civilization had begun to produce some
remarkable technological innovations that were to be of the utmost
significance.
B. The Middle Ages: Art and Architecture

• Another way to show devotion to the Church was to build grand cathedrals
and other ecclesiastical structures such as monasteries. Cathedrals were the
largest buildings in medieval Europe, and they could be found at the center
of towns and cities across the continent.
• Between the 10th and 13th centuries, most European cathedrals were built in
the Romanesque style. Romanesque cathedrals are solid and substantial:
They have rounded masonry arches and barrel vaults supporting the roof,
thick stone walls and few windows. (Examples of Romanesque architecture
include the Porto Cathedral in Portugal and the Speyer Cathedral in present-
day Germany.)

106
• Around 1200, church builders began to embrace a new architectural style, known as
the Gothic. Gothic structures, such as the Abbey Church of Saint-Denis in France and
the rebuilt Canterbury Cathedral in England, have huge stained-glass windows,
pointed vaults and arches (a technology developed in the Islamic world), and spires
and flying buttresses.
• In contrast to heavy Romanesque buildings, Gothic architecture seems to be almost

weightless. Medieval religious art took other forms as well. Frescoes and mosaics
decorated church interiors, and artists painted devotional images of the Virgin Mary,
Jesus and the saints.
Romanesque cathedrals
Porto Cathedral in Portugal

107
Romanesque cathedrals
Speyer Cathedral in present-day Germany
• Also, before the invention of the printing press in the 15th century, even books were
works of art. Craftsmen in monasteries (and later in universities) created illuminated
manuscripts: handmade sacred and secular books with colored illustrations, gold
and silver lettering and other adornments. Convents were one of the few
places women could receive a higher education, and nuns wrote, translated, and
illuminated manuscripts as well.
• In the 12th century, urban booksellers began to market smaller illuminated

manuscripts, like books of hours, psalters and other prayer books, to wealthy
individuals.

108
Gothic Style Cathedrals
Abbey Church of
Saint-Denis in
France
Canterbury Cathedral in England

109
C. Population Growth in the Middle Ages
• Europe witnessed massive population growth in the High Middle Ages, from 1000 to
1300. This growth was largely due to the refinement of medieval farming technology,
such as the plow, which improved upon previous models, and resulting in increased
efficiency and output to feed more people than ever before.
• Certain indicators lend clues to this expansion. Wherever we have evidence of family
size, families appear to be larger. It does not appear that more babies are being
born, but rather that more of them are surviving and people were living longer.
• Generally speaking, this was a period of warm, dry

climate through much of Europe, when enormous
amounts of new land were brought under cultivation.
People did not bring new land under cultivation for no
reason. There were mouths to feed and diets improved.
• More and more land was given over to crops that were
rich in iron and protein so that people were simply eating
better. They were healthier; they could do more work;
they were more productive; they lived longer—the
population curve marched upward due to these gains. Although census records do not exist for most of
medieval Europe, much information about population
size can be gleaned contextually by studying families
and other records.

110
D. Technology in the Middle Ages Drives Growth
• The medieval period, on the other hand, was one that was fairly rich in technological
innovation. Stereotypes contribute to the idea of the Middle Ages as the Dark Ages, as
having descended from the heights of classical antiquity. If we were talking about
technology, we’d have to flip the polarity of that old equation and say that the Middle
Ages were rather cleverer.
• The clearest indicator we have of medieval technology, of its application and its
connection to this population increase, is in the realm of cereal production, where
medieval farmers vastly expanded it
• They laid down most of the fundamental ways: By getting maximum cereal production
out of the soil, before the advent of modern chemical fertilizers. This has been the
greatest change in modern times, not anything else—not even, for example, the use of
motor-driven tractors. Using horses rather than an ox as draft animal in farming has
increased cereal production in the middle ages.
• A horse is significantly more efficient than an ox. It does more work for the same
amount of food, perhaps even a little bit less. It is stronger, thus larger fields can be
plowed, or fields can be plowed more times, and the soil can be turned more carefully.

111
• The heavy, wheeled plow played a significant
role in changing how farming was conducted.
Once again, using horses to pull it allowed
more work to be completed. A heavy iron
plowshare can cut much more deeply into the
soil than can the older forms of the aratrum,
the Roman scratch plow, which didn’t do
much more than just disturb the surface.
The horse collar was a key invention that allowed

medieval Europeans to make use of the horse as a
draft animal, rather than the ox
• The soils of northern Europe are very good,

but they’re damp and heavy. The heavy,
wheeled plow was able to turn the soil, which
aerates it. This new plow with its iron
plowshare also called for a greater
proliferation of iron in this society leading to
more smithing. We can see connections
The heavy, wheeled plow allows for deeper plowing
between the use of the plow, the advantages and aerates the soil better, a key need in making
that it brought, and then some of the rich, wet European soil as productive as possible.
requirements that flowed from its
development.
PERSONAL PROPERTY OF JEFFREY ROMERO-GEC108, 1ST 112

• Watermills were widely used in the 11th century. In some parts of northern Europe, for
example, in the Low Countries windmills were used, but watermills were fairly common.
Water mills required complicated

gears that had to be built
and maintained which, in turn, drove
advances in engineering.
• Engineers had to make the water go past the water wheel, whether the water wanted to or
not, to do the milling at the convenience of the miller, and not by the movements of the
river naturally. A variety of technologies were spawned by the need to use more mills.
• Mills were imperative because there was an increase in grain. As more and more land
was brought under cultivation, the new technological inputs made the land that was being
plowed and farmed more productive, producing yet more grain.

113
E. New Methods of Land Use in the Middle Ages
• Farmers began to use the land more efficiently. In early European history—northern
Europe at the time of the Romans and the Greeks—agricultural communities would often
farm a particular area quite intensively for a brief period, and then move.
• For a long time, they tended

to practice what we would call
two-field agriculture. About
half of your land was plowed, In the three-field
system, land is
and about half of it was left divided into three
fallow. On that fallow land, parts and used for
you would also run your crop-rotation.
animals, so that animal
manure would provide some
enrichment to the soil. By the
High Middle Ages, after the
year 1000 to 1050, a three- • What exactly is the three-field system? You
field system widely used divide the available land of an estate into
across Europe. three roughly equal parts. One of these is left
fallow, one of these is planted in winter crops
and one of these is planted in spring crops.
You work your way through a rotation this
way.
114
• With more land under the plow, a greater variety of
crops, and greater insurance against individual
seasons of bad weather, we also see a growing
tendency towards agricultural specialization. People
in particular regions understood how to grow certain
crops very well.
• This produces a situation where if a given region

concentrates on particular kinds of crops, then those
regions rely on other places and trade to get the
things that they do not themselves produce. In turn,
they have to be able to move the goods that they do
produce to other places.
• This requires improved roads and improved

transport vehicles to move more goods, farther and
faster. Again, the use of horses as draft animals The spread of four-wheeled wagons
increased the carrying capacity for horse-
pulling wagons: They can pull heavier loads and drawn wagons, a feature that helped to boost
they can pull those loads farther. The use of large trade between communities.
four-wheeled wagons becomes widespread, instead
of two-wheeled carts, so that more can be moved in
one trip.

115
F. Mining and Heavy Industry in the Middle Ages
• By this time there were greater efficiencies in surface mining. In the Middle
Ages, deep mining was impossible because you couldn’t get the water out of
the shafts, or out of the mine galleries. Thus, most mining tended to be surface
mining, focusing on stone, called quarrying, the most prominent kind.
• Some famous churches were built were built

out of stone in the 12th and 13th centuries.
These vast stone buildings required ever
more efficient mining. As they were often built
long distances from the sources of the stone,
once again, better roads and more efficient
vehicles of transportation played a significant
role in the functioning of medieval society.
• There was a certain amount of surface

mining for iron, a necessary resource for all Notre-Dame de Paris is one of many European
the new horseshoes and heavy iron plows, cathedrals built of stone during the 12th and 13th
centuries.
not to mention the traditional mix of weapons:
Swords, armor, spear tips, arrow tips, and so
on.

116
G. Byzantine Empire
• The immediate eastern neighbour of the new civilization of medieval Europe was
Byzantium, the surviving bastion of the Roman Empire based in Constantinople
(Istanbul), which endured for 1,000 years after the collapse of the western half of the
empire.
• Apart from the influence on Western architectural style of

such Byzantine masterpieces as the great domed structure of Hagia Sophia, the
technological contribution of Byzantium itself was probably slight, but it served to
mediate between the West and other civilizations one or more stages removed, such
as the Islamic world, India, and China.
Map of the Byzantine Empire
• The Byzantines made numerous contributions to philosophy, science and medicine

while also making innovations and inventions.

117
G.1. Byzantine Science and Technology
Warfare
• The hand-trebuchet, a staff sling mounted on a
pole using a lever mechanism to propel projectiles.
It was used by Emperor Nicephorus Phocas’ army
in his campaigns to disrupt enemy lines.
• The Counterweight trebuchet, which was far more

powerful than the normal traction trebuchet. It was
used by Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and it is said
that it impressed his crusader allies during the siege of
Nicaea. Byzantine Counterweight trebuchet
• The famous Greek Fire. Invented by

Kallinikos, it was the flamethrower of the era.
Cheirosiphōn. Detail It was liquid fire used by the Byzantine navy
from the medieval to inflame the enemy ships. It played a
manuscript Codex
Vaticanus Graecus
crucial role in saving Constantinople from the
1605 Arab onslaught. Cheirosiphōn, an early
version of the flamethrower used by the
ground troops.
118
• Grenades. They appeared during the reign
of Leo III (717–741). Byzantine soldiers threw
Byzantine Greek Fire hand
ceramic jars with Greek fire. They set them grenade
alight by fire arrows or ignited them before
throwing them at the enemy.
• The Beacon System. The Byzantines used a

system of beacons to transmit messages from
the border with the Caliphate across Asia Minor
to Constantinople during the 9th century. The
system was devised during the reign of Emperor
Theophilos (829–842) by Leo the
Mathematician. The main line of beacons
stretched over some 450 miles and it functioned
through two identical water clocks placed at the
two terminal stations.
The lighting of beacon

119
G.2. Architecture
• The cross-in-square architectural Panagia Chalkeion,
form appeared first in the late 8th 11th-century Byzantine
century. It was used in the church in the northern
Greek city of
construction of churches Thessaloniki.
Karamagara Bridge, • The pointed arch bridge, which first

Cappadocia appeared in the 5th century.
• The pendentive dome, which placed a Pendentive

dome of Hagia
circular dome over a square room. The first Sophia.
(and most famous) example of a pendentive Istanbul,
dome is Hagia Sophia, designed by Isidore of Turkey
Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles.

120
G.3. Mathematics
• One of the earlier and most important work on arithmetic was the papyrus of
Akhmin (seventh century), which dealt with fractions and problems in the Egyptian
tradition.
• In the seventh and eighth centuries, young people would study arithmetic though
no texts survive from before the eleventh century. It was during the end of the
thirteenth and the first half of the fourteenth century that arithmetic was shown the
most interest.
• Both George Pachymeres and Maximos Planoudes (1260–1310) studied the work
of Diophantus of Alexandria, the “father of algebra”. On arithmetical manuals of
this period, theoretical works were often liked to astronomy with many chapters
devoted to sexagesimal calculations, while practical manuals regarding daily
problems could also be found.
• The Stoicheiosis (Elements) of Theodore Metochites is an immense astronomical

work which opens with a long arithmetical introduction while the Astronomical
Tribiblos of Theodore Meliteniotes also devoted an important part of the book on
arithmetical procedures.

121
G.4. Astronomy
• The first Byzantine book on astronomy was the Commentary to the Handy Tables of
Stephanos of Alexandria (c.617). In the eighth century, John of Damascus, in his De
Fide Orthodoxa, gave basic notions of cosmology and astronomy.
• The eleventh century was the most important for Byzantine astronomy. Aside from
books based on the Ptolemaic tradition, one can find good knowledge of Islamic
astronomy. In 1062, a Byzantine astrolabe was created for a man of Persian origins.
The texts of the eleventh and twelfth centuries reveal a very high scientific level.
• Nikephoros Gregoras, pupil of Metochites, was able to use Ptolemaic astronomical

tables to predict solar and lunar eclipses. Barlaam of Calabria was also skilled in
astronomy and able to calculate the solar eclipses of 1333 and 1337.
• During this period, Persian astronomy was introduced in Byzantium. George

Chioniades acquired knowledge of astronomy in Persia and he returned to Trebizond
and Constantinople with Persian works translated into Greek.

122
G.5. Medicine and Botany
• The ancient sources of Byzantine botanology can be found in the poems of
Nicander of Colophon (second century BC) and the Materia Medica of Dioskorides
(first century AD).
• The Byzantines had much interest in the medical use of plants. They had
institutionalized hospitals which favored the growth of medicine and pharmacy. This
was especially true for the era of the Komnenoi Dynasty (eleventh-twelfth
centuries), when the Hospital of Pantokrator included a pharmacy. The hospitals in
Byzantium were the beginnings of modern hospitals. Many of them were designed
for the poor, funded by the Church and became part of civic life.
• Separation of conjoined twins: The first known example of separating conjoined

twins happened in the Byzantine Empire in the 10th century. A pair of conjoined
twins lived in Constantinople for many years when one of them died, so the
surgeons in Constantinople decided to remove the body of the dead one. The result
was partly successful as the surviving twin lived three days before dying. The fact
that the second person survived for few days after separating him was mentioned a
century and half years later again by historians. The next recorded case of
separating conjoined twins was 1689 in Germany.

123
III. The Renaissance (14th-16th century)
• The Renaissance was a fervent period of European cultural, artistic, political
and economic “rebirth” following the Middle Ages. Generally described as
taking place from the 14th century to the 16th century, the Renaissance
promoted the rediscovery of classical philosophy, literature and art.
• Some of the greatest thinkers, authors, statesmen, scientists and artists in

human history thrived during this era, while global exploration opened up new
lands and cultures to European commerce. The Renaissance is credited with
bridging the gap between the Middle Ages and modern-day civilization.
Leonardo da Vinci's 16th Century painting of the Mona Detail of a ceiling fresco by Michelangelo, 1508–12;
Lisa is perhaps one of the most famous visual art pieces in the Sistine Chapel, Vatican City.
from the Renaissance.

124
A. Humanism
• During the 14th century, a cultural movement called humanism began to gain
momentum in Italy. Among its many principles, humanism promoted the idea that man
was the center of his own universe, and people should embrace human achievements
in education, classical arts, literature and science.
• In 1450, the invention of the Gutenberg printing press
allowed for improved communication throughout
Europe and for ideas to spread more quickly.
• As a result of this advance in communication, little-

known texts from early humanist authors such as
those by Francesco Petrarch and Giovanni
Boccaccio, which promoted the renewal of traditional
Greek and Roman culture and values, were printed
and distributed to the masses.
• Additionally, many scholars believe advances in Francesco Petrarch Poet (1304–c. 1374)
international finance and trade impacted culture in Father of Humanism
Father of the Renaissance
Europe and set the stage for the Renaissance.

125
B. Renaissance Geniuses
• Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was a painter,
architect, inventor, and student of all things scientific.
His natural genius crossed so many disciplines that
he epitomized the term “Renaissance man.”
• Today he remains best known for his art, including

two paintings that remain among the world’s most
famous and admired, Mona Lisa and The Last
Supper.
Leonardo da
Vinci's 16th
Century
painting of the
Mona Lisa
Last Supper, wall painting by Leonardo da

Vinci, c. 1495–98

126
• Michelangelo (1475–1564) was a sculptor,
painter and architect widely considered to be
one of the greatest artists of
the Renaissance — and arguably of all time.
His work demonstrated a blend of
psychological insight, physical realism and
intensity never before seen.
The Creation of
Adam (1508-12) at
Sistine Chapel
Pietà 1498-99
Statue of David (1501-04)

127
• Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536) of
Rotterdam was one of Europe's most famous and
influential scholars. A man of great intellect who
rose from meager beginnings to become one of
Europe's greatest thinkers, he defined the
humanist movement in Northern Europe. His
translation to Greek of the New Testament brought
on a theological revolution, and his views on the
Reformation tempered its more radical elements.
• Dante Alighieri (c. 1265–c. 1321) was an

Italian poet and moral philosopher best known
for the epic poem The Divine Comedy, which
comprises sections representing the three tiers
of the Christian afterlife: purgatory, heaven and
hell. This poem, a great work of medieval
literature and considered the greatest work of
literature composed in Italian, is a philosophical
Christian vision of mankind’s eternal fate.

128
• René Descartes (1596–1650) was a French scientist,
mathematician, and philosopher. Emphasized human
reasoning as the best road to understanding.
• Like Bacon, Descartes also believed that truth was only

found after a long process of studying and
investigation. Believed everything should be doubted
until proven by reason.
• Regarded as the father of modern philosophy for

defining a starting point for existence, “I think;
therefore I am.”
• Giotto di Bondone (1266-1337): Italian

painter and architect whose more
Giotto di
realistic depictions of human emotions Bondone: St.
influenced generations of artists. Francis of
Assisi
Receiving the
• Best known for his frescoes in the Stigmata
Scrovegni Chapel in Padua.

129
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543)
• Copernicus was a Polish astronomer who studied in

Italy. In 1543 Copernicus published On the Revolutions
of the Heavenly Spheres.
• In his book, Copernicus made two conclusions:
1. The universe is heliocentric, or sun-centered.

2. The Earth is merely one of several planets
revolving around the sun.
• Copernicus’ model of the solar system:
1. Sun
2. Moon
3. Mercury
4. Venus
5. Earth The Copernican Model: A Sun-
Centered Solar System
6. Mars
7. Jupiter
8. Saturn
• Notice, the sun is first, not the Earth, as
Ptolemy believed.
130
Reaction to Copernicus
• Most scholars rejected his theory because it went against Ptolemy, the Church, and
because it called for the Earth to rotate on its axis.
• Heliocentric theory was dismissed in Copernicus' era because Ptolemy's ideas

were far more accepted by the influential Roman Catholic Church, which adamantly
supported the earth-based solar system theory. Still, Copernicus' heliocentric
system proved to be more detailed and accurate, including a more efficient formula
for calculating planetary positions.
• Many scientists of the time also felt that if Ptolemy’s reasoning about the planets
was wrong, then the whole system of human knowledge could be wrong.
• In 1513, Copernicus' dedication prompted him to build his own modest observatory.
Nonetheless, his observations did, at times, lead him to form inaccurate
conclusions, including his assumption that planetary orbits occurred in perfect
circles. As German astronomer Johannes Kepler would later prove, planetary orbits
are actually elliptical in shape.

131
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
• Considered the father of modern science and

made major contributions to the fields of physics,
astronomy, cosmology, mathematics and
philosophy
• Galileo Galilei was an Italian astronomer who

built upon the scientific foundations laid by
Copernicus and Kepler.
• He also observed four moons rotating around

Jupiter – exactly the way Copernicus said the
Earth rotated around the sun.
• Galileo also discovered that objects fall at the

same speed regardless of weight.
• Galileo’s discoveries caused an uproar. Other

scholars came against him because like
Copernicus, Galileo was contradicting Ptolemy.

132
• The Church came against Galileo because it
claimed that the Earth was fixed and unmoving.
• Challenged by the church because it supported the

heliocentric theory & it went against church
teaching.
• When threatened with death before the Inquisition

in 1633, Galileo recanted his beliefs, even though
he knew the Earth moved.
• Galileo was put under house arrest, and was not Galileo was summoned before the
allowed to publish his ideas. Roman Inquisition in 1633
Galileo was right all along…
• In 1992, the Roman Catholic Church finally

repealed the ruling of the inquisition against
Galileo. The church gave a pardon to Galileo
and admitted that heliocentric theory was
correct. This pardon came 350 years after
Galileo’s death.

133
C. Renaissance Exploration
While many artists and thinkers used their talents to express new ideas, some
Europeans took to the seas to learn more about the world around them. In a period
known as the Age of Discovery, several important explorations were made.
Voyagers launched expeditions to travel the entire globe. They discovered new
shipping routes to the Americas, India and the Far East, and explorers trekked across
areas that weren’t fully mapped.
Famous journeys were taken by Ferdinand Magellan, Christopher Columbus, Amerigo

Vespucci (after whom America is named), Marco Polo, Ponce de Leon, Vasco Núñez
de Balboa, Hernando De Soto and other explorers.
“The First Voyage” A scene of Christopher

Columbus bidding farewell to the Queen of
Spain on his departure for the New World,
August 3, 1492.

134
C.1 Famous Journey and Expeditions that changed the World
A Venetian merchant and adventurer, Marco

Marco Polo (1254-1324)
Polo travelled along the Silk Road from Europe
to Asia between 1271 and 1295.
Often called the “discoverer” of the New World,
Christopher Columbus (1451-1506)
Christopher Columbus embarked on 4 voyages
across the Atlantic Ocean between 1492 and
1504.
In 1497, the Portuguese explorer set sail from
Lisbon towards India. His voyage made him the
Vasco da Gama (c. 1460-1524)
first European to reach India by sea, and
opened up the first sea route connecting Europe
to Asia.
The Venetian explorer became known for his
1497 voyage to North America under the
John Cabot (c. 1450-1498) commission of Henry VII of England.
Upon landing in what he called “New-found-
land” in present-day Canada – which he mistook
for being Asia – Cabot claimed land for England.
Regarded as the “discoverer” of Brazil, the
Pedro Álvares Cabral (c. 1467-1520)
Portuguese navigator was the first European to
reach the Brazilian coast, in 1500.

135
Around 1501-1502, the Florentine navigator Amerigo
Vespucci embarked on a follow-up expedition to
Cabral’s, exploring the Brazilian coast.
Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512) As a result of this voyage, Vespucci demonstrated that
Brazil and the West Indies were not the eastern
outskirts of Asia – as Columbus had thought – but a
separate continent, which became described as the
“New World”.
The Portuguese explorer was the first European to
Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521) cross the Pacific Ocean, and organised the Spanish
expedition to the East Indies from 1519 to 1522.
A Spanish conquistador (soldier and explorer), Hernán
Hernán Cortés (1485-1547) Cortés was best known for leading an expedition that
caused the fall of the Aztec Empire in 1521 and for
winning Mexico for the Spanish crown.
A key figure of the Elizabethan era, Sir Walter Raleigh

Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618) carried out several expeditions to the Americas between
1578 and 1618.
James Cook (1728-1779) A British Royal Navy captain, James Cook embarked on
ground-breaking expeditions that helped map the
Pacific, New Zealand and Australia.

136
D. The Reformation
• Humanism encouraged Europeans to question the role of the Roman Catholic
church during the Renaissance.
• As more people learned how to read, write and interpret ideas, they began to
closely examine and critique religion as they knew it. Also, the printing press
allowed for texts, including the Bible, to be easily reproduced and widely read by
the people, themselves, for the first time.
• In the 16th century, Martin Luther, a German monk, led the Protestant
Reformation – a revolutionary movement that caused a split in the Catholic church.
Luther questioned many of the practices of the church and whether they aligned
with the teachings of the Bible.
Martin Luther (1483–1546)

was a German monk who Martin Luther,
forever changed Christianity nailed his 95
when he nailed his '95 Theses to a
Theses' to a church door in church door
1517, sparking the Protestant 1517
Reformation.

137
E. End of the Renaissance
• By the end of the 15th century, numerous wars had plagued the Italian peninsula.
Spanish, French and German invaders battling for Italian territories caused
disruption and instability in the region.
• Also, changing trade routes led to a period of economic decline and limited the
amount of money that wealthy contributors could spend on the arts.
• Later, in a movement known as the Counter-Reformation, the Catholic church

censored artists and writers in response to the Protestant Reformation. Many
Renaissance thinkers feared being too bold, which stifled creativity.
• Furthermore, in 1545, the Council of Trent established the Roman Inquisition, which
made humanism and any views that challenged the Catholic church an act of
heresy punishable by death.
• By the early 17th century, the Renaissance movement had died out, giving way to
the Age of Enlightenment.

138
IV. The Scientific Revolution (17th-18th Century)
• The scientific revolution was the emergence of modern science during the early
modern period, when developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy,
biology (including human anatomy), and chemistry transformed societal views about
nature.
• The change to the medieval idea of science occurred for four reasons: collaboration,
the derivation of new experimental methods, the ability to build on the legacy of
existing scientific philosophy, and institutions that enabled academic publishing.
• Under the scientific method, which was defined and applied in the 17th century,
natural and artificial circumstances were abandoned and a research tradition of
systematic experimentation was slowly accepted throughout the scientific
community.
• During the scientific revolution, changing perceptions about the role of the scientist
in respect to nature, and the value of experimental or observed evidence, led to a
scientific methodology in which empiricism played a large, but not absolute, role.

139
• As the scientific revolution was not marked by any single change, many new
ideas contributed. Some of them were revolutions in their own fields.
• Science came to play a leading role in Enlightenment discourse and thought.

Many Enlightenment writers and thinkers had backgrounds in the sciences, and
associated scientific advancement with the overthrow of religion and traditional
authority in favor of the development of free speech and thought.
The change to the medieval idea of science occurred for four reasons:
1. Seventeenth century scientists and philosophers were able to collaborate with members of
the mathematical and astronomical communities to effect advances in all fields.
2. Scientists realized the inadequacy of medieval experimental methods for their work and so
felt the need to devise new methods (some of which we use today).
3. Academics had access to a legacy of European, Greek, and Middle Eastern scientific
philosophy that they could use as a starting point (either by disproving or building on the
theorems).
4. Institutions (for example, the British Royal Society) helped validate science as a field by
providing an outlet for the publication of scientists’ work.

140
A. New Methods
• Under the scientific method that was defined and applied in the 17th century,
natural and artificial circumstances were abandoned, and a research tradition of
systematic experimentation was slowly accepted throughout the scientific
community.
• During the scientific revolution, changing perceptions about the role of the
scientist in respect to nature, the value of evidence, experimental or observed,
led towards a scientific methodology in which empiricism played a large, but not
absolute, role.
• The term British empiricism came into use to describe philosophical differences
perceived between two of its founders—Francis Bacon, described as empiricist,
and René Descartes, who was described as a rationalist. Bacon’s works
established and popularized inductive methodologies for scientific inquiry, often
called the Baconian method, or sometimes simply the scientific method.
• His demand for a planned procedure of investigating all things natural marked a
new turn in the rhetorical and theoretical framework for science, much of which
still surrounds conceptions of proper methodology today.

141
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
• Francis Bacon was an English philosopher who wrote
Advancement of Learning.
• Bacon popularized the scientific method and used it

with philosophy and knowledge.
• Bacon argued that truth could not be known at the

beginning of a question, but only at the end after a
long process of investigation.
• Urged scientists to experiment & draw conclusions.

Not rely on medieval scholars.
• Called empiricism
Empiricism: A theory stating that knowledge

comes only, or primarily, from sensory
experience. It emphasizes evidence, especially
the kind of evidence gathered through
experimentation and by use of the scientific
method.

142
A.1 The Scientific Method
• By the early 1600s, a new approach to science had emerged, known as the
Scientific Method.
• Scientific Method – painstaking method used to confirm findings and to

prove or disprove a hypothesis.
• Scientists observed nature, made hypotheses, or educated guesses, and then
tested these hypotheses through experiments. Unlike earlier approaches, the
scientific method did not rely on the classical thinkers or the Church, but
depended upon a step-by-step process of observation and experimentation.
The Scientific Method • Scientists soon discovered that

the movements of bodies in
1. State the problem nature closely followed what
2. Collect information could be predicted by
3. Form a hypothesis mathematics.
4. Test the hypothesis
5. Record & analyze data
• The scientific method set Europe
6. State a conclusion
7. Repeat steps 1 – 6 on the road to rapid
technological progress.

143
B. New Ideas
Many new ideas contributed to what is called the scientific revolution. Some of them were
revolutions in their own fields. These include:
• The heliocentric model that involved the radical displacement of the earth to an orbit
around the sun (as opposed to being seen as the center of the universe). Copernicus’
1543 work on the heliocentric model of the solar system tried to demonstrate that the
sun was the center of the universe. The discoveries of Johannes Kepler and
Galileo gave the theory credibility and the work culminated in Isaac
Newton’s Principia, which formulated the laws of motion and universal gravitation that
dominated scientists’ view of the physical universe for the next three centuries.
• Studying human anatomy based upon the dissection of human corpses, rather than
the animal dissections, as practiced for centuries.
• Discovering and studying magnetism and electricity, and thus, electric properties of
various materials.

144
• Modernization of disciplines (making them more as what they are today),
including dentistry, physiology, chemistry, or optics.
• Invention of tools that deepened the understating of sciences, including

mechanical calculator, steam digester (the forerunner of the steam engine),
refracting and reflecting telescopes, vacuum pump, or mercury barometer.
C. The Emergence of Modern Astronomy

• While astronomy is the oldest of the natural sciences, dating back to antiquity, its
development during the period of the scientific revolution entirely transformed the
views of society about nature.
• The publication of the seminal work in the field of astronomy, Nicolaus Copernicus
‘ De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly
Spheres) published in 1543, is, in fact, often seen as marking the beginning of the
time when scientific disciplines, including astronomy, began to apply modern
empirical research methods, and gradually transformed into the modern sciences
as we know them today.

145
Tycho Brahe (1546-1601)
• From 1543 until about 1700, few astronomers
were convinced by the Copernican system. Forty-
five years after the publication of De
Revolutionibus, the astronomer Tycho Brahe went
so far as to construct a cosmology precisely
equivalent to that of Copernicus, but with Earth
held fixed in the center of the celestial sphere
instead of the sun.
• However, Tycho challenged the Aristotelian

model when he observed a comet that went
through the region of the planets.
• This region was said to only have uniform circular

motion on solid spheres, which meant that it would
be impossible for a comet to enter into the area.
Brahe set up an astronomical observatory.
• Every night for years he carefully observed the

sky, accumulating data about the movement of the
stars and planets.

146
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)
• After Brahe ’ s death, his assistant, the German

astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler,
used Brahe’s data to calculate the orbits of the
planets revolving around the sun.
• In 1596, he published his first book, the Mysterium

cosmographicum, which was the first to openly
endorse Copernican cosmology by an astronomer
since the 1540s.
• Expanded on Copernicus’ ideas and proved that

planets revolved around the sun elliptically not in
circular orbits as Copernicus and Ptolemy claimed.
• Kepler’s finding help explain the paths followed by

man-made satellites today.

147
D. Uniting Astronomy and Physics
Isaac Newton (1643-1727)
• Isaac Newton developed further ties between physics
and astronomy through his law of universal
gravitation.
• Realizing that the same force that attracted objects to

the surface of Earth held the moon in orbit around the
Earth, Newton was able to explain, in one theoretical
framework, all known gravitational phenomena and
formulated the laws of motion:
1. A body at rest stays at rest

2. Acceleration is caused by force
3. For every action there is an equal opposite
reaction
• He discovered laws of light and color
• He invented calculus: a method of mathematical

analysis.

148
E. Medicine
Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564)
• In 1543 Andreas Vesalius published On the

Structure of the Human Body.
• Vesalius ’ book was the first accurate and

detailed book on human anatomy.
• Through his publication he demonstrated the

mistakes in the Galenic model.
• His anatomical teachings were based upon the

dissection of human corpses, rather than the
animal dissections that Galen had used as a
guide.

149
• Vesalius’ work emphasized the priority of
dissection and what has come to be called the
“anatomical” view of the body, seeing human
Galen and his
internal functioning as an essentially corporeal colleagues
structure filled with organs arranged in three- dissecting a
dimensional space. human corpse
Human anatomy drawing of Vesalius

(On the Structure of the Human Body, 1543)
Human anatomy drawing before Vesalius

150
William Harvey (1578-1657)
• Venal valves had already

been discovered, but
here Harvey shows that
venal blood flows only
toward the heart. He
ligatured an arm to make
obvious the veins and
their valves, then pressed
blood away from the
heart and showed that
the vein would remain
• An English physician and empty because it was
the first to describe blocked by the valve.
completely and in detail
the systemic circulation
and properties of blood
being pumped to the brain Harvey’s depiction of
systemic circulation
and body by the heart.

151
Ambroise Paré (1510-1590)
• A French surgeon who is considered one of

the fathers of surgery and modern forensic
pathology, and a pioneer in surgical
techniques and battlefield medicine,
especially in the treatment of wounds.
• He developed a new and more effective

ointment for preventing infection and
introduce a technique for closing wounds and
stitches.
Paré performing an operation at an Cauterizing Instruments of Ambroise Paré

injured soldier

152
• Herman Boerhaave (1668-1738), a Dutch botanist, chemist, Christian
humanist and physician of European fame, is regarded as the founder of clinical
teaching and of the modern academic hospital. He is sometimes referred to as
“the father of physiology.”
• Santorio Santorio (1561-1636), Venetian physician who introduced the

quantitative approach into medicine.
• Albrecht von Haller (1708-1777), a pupil of Santorio, best known for

demonstrating the relation of symptoms to lesions and, in addition, he was the
first to isolate the chemical urea from urine. He was the first physician that put
thermometer measurements to clinical practice.
• Pierre Fauchard (1678-1761), started dentistry science as we know it today, and

he has been named “the father of modern dentistry.” He is widely known for
writing the first complete scientific description of dentistry, Le Chirurgien
Dentiste (“The Surgeon Dentist”), published in 1728. The book described basic
oral anatomy and function, signs and symptoms of oral pathology, operative
methods for removing decay and restoring teeth, periodontal disease (pyorrhea),
orthodontics, replacement of missing teeth, and tooth transplantation.

153
F. Other Scientific Advances
Gregor Mendel (1822-1884)

 ModernGenetics. When he wrote “Experiments on
Plant Hybridization”, he paved the way for biology
students to study genetic traits in peas. During his
experiments, Gregor found that a specific trait would
be dominant over other traits in the same species.
This became to be recognized as the Mendelian
inheritance.
Robert Hooke (1635–1703)

 Coined the term “cell”
Born on 1635 in the Isle of Wight, England, Robert
Hooke received his higher education at Oxford
University where he studied physics and chemistry.
His work included the application what is known
today as Hooke’s law, his use of microscopy, and
for the discovery of the “cell” in 1665 using cork
and a microscope.

154
Robert Boyle (1627-1691)
 In the 1600s Robert Boyle distinguished between

individual elements and chemical compounds.
 Boyle also explained the effect of temperature and

pressure on gases.
 Founder of modern chemistry.
Joseph Priestley (1733-1804)

 Regarded by many as the one who discovered oxygen.
 He published six volumes of ‘Experiments and

Observations on Different Kinds of Air’ between 1772
and 1790. In this work, he wrote about the experiments
he made using different kinds of air. It was these
experiments that established his reputation as a
chemist.

155
Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794)
 Identified the significance of this gas in the process of
combustion.
 He stated that during the process of combustion, not only is

a substantial quantity of air used, but there is also a visible
gain in the mass of the substance.
 His contribution to the field of chemistry, in particular, is

extremely indispensable, and forms the basis of several
present day scientific theories.
Henry Cavendish (1731-1810)

 British scientist of the eighteenth century who is credited
with discovery of the element hydrogen. His scientific
experiments were instrumental in reformation of chemistry
and heralded a new era in the field of theoretical
chemistry.
 He is also renowned as one of the first scientists who

propounded the theory of Conservation of mass and heat.

156
Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778)
 The father of modern biological classification systems.
 Published a series of scientific masterpieces, outlaying his

system for dividing animal and plant kingdoms into a nested
series of categories and sub-categories.
 First printed in 1735, the book “Systema Naturae” was the

complete description of how Linnaeus had classified more
than 7,000 species of plants and 4,000 species of animals.
Charles Darwin (1809–1882)

 Proposed the “Theory of Evolution”, After attending the
University of Cambridge and taking up medicine at the
University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Darwin was
considered a naturalist.
 As a biologist, he proposed the concept that “all species of

life” came from a single source. His theory of evolution
marked the beginning of the discussion on natural
selection.

157
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723)
 The Father of Microbiology. Antoine

Philips van Leeuwenhoek was born in
Delft, Netherlands in 1632. His interest in
lensmaking and curiosity led him to be the
first to observe single cell organisms. He is
considered a biologist and microscopist
which has earned him the distinction of
being the father of microbiology.
Edward Jenner (1749–1823)
 Creating the first effective vaccine for smallpox

Edward Jenner is considered as the “father of
immunology” mainly because of his pioneering work
on the smallpox vaccine and the use of vaccination.
Born in Berkeley, England in 1749, he specialized in
microbiology at the University of St. Andrews and
the University of London.

158
Claude Bernard (1813–1878)
 Blind experimental method for objective results

Born in Saint Julien, France in 1813, Claude
Bernard has been considered “one of the greatest
of all men of science.” He fostered the use of blind
experiments in order to produce objective results.
He also believed that vivisection, the use of surgery
on a living thing for knowledge, was useful in the
study and practice of medicine.
Louis Pasteur (1822–1895)
 Created the process of pasteurization for treating

milk and wine. As one of the founders of medical
microbiology, Louis Pasteur’s education in the
field of chemistry and microbiology may be
credited with his success. His germ theory of
disease became the catalyst to his process we
know as pasteurization.

159
Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859)
 Humboldtian science. Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich

Alexander von Humboldt was born in 1769. He was
an explorer, geographer, and naturalist. His work in
biogeography paved the way to the idea that the
land in Africa, South America, and those along the
Atlantic Ocean were once joined together. He
believed in the approach of combining the different
branches of the physical sciences, such as biology,
geology, and meteorology, this we know today as
Humboldtian science.
Joseph Lister (1827–1912)
 Using antiseptics for cleaning and sterilizing

wounds. Joseph Lister was born in 1827 in the city
of Upton, Essex, England where he attended the
University of London, and later in Scotland at the
University of Edinburgh and University of Glasgow.
He became a surgeon and pioneered the work of
antiseptic or sterile surgery. He used carbolic acid to
cleanse wounds and to sterilize instruments used
for surgery.

160
Robert Brown (1773–1858)
 Discovered the cell nucleus. Specializing in
botany, Scottish born Robert Brown introduced the
model that help describe random movements of
cells which is known as particle theory, or more
aptly, Brownian motion. Among his contributions to
the world of science was his description in detail of
the cell nucleus in all living things.
Marie Curie (1867-1934)

 Made history in 1903 as the first woman to receive a
Nobel Prize in Physics. Not only that, she received
the same prestigious award in Chemistry in 1911.
She has collaborated lots of scientific work with her
husband Pierre. Marie Curie, who explored much on
radioactivity, is most remembered for her discovery
of radium and polonium. She also conducted her
own experiments on uranium rays which eventually
led her to coin the term radioactivity.

161
Ada Lovelace (1815-1852)
 Lovelace wrote instructions for solving a complex

math problem, should the machine ever see the
light of day. Many historians would later deem those
instructions the first computer program, and
Lovelace the first programmer.
Nikola Tesla (1856-1943)

 A brilliant scientist who developed the alternating-current electrical
system and discovered the rotating magnetic field. He also invented
the Tesla coil, still being used in radio technology today. He did not
have any formal scientific education but that did not stop him from
delving into science, so he tinkered in machinery.
 He worked with Thomas Edison, improving the latter’s ideas; but they
eventually fell apart because of the differences and clash in methods
and ideas. He established his own laboratory wherein he experiment
with early X-ray technology, electrical resonance, arc lamps and
others. Tesla was a magnificent man of science but unable to take
his gift to his advantage, because he was said to be a terrible
businessman and never saw the commercial value behind his ideas.

162
Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
 In 1905, Einsteein published his four most important
papers One of them described the relationship between
matter and energy, neatly summarized E = mc2. Other
papers that year were on Brownian motion, suggesting
the existence of molecules and atoms, and the
photoelectric effect, showing that light is made of
particles later called photons. His fourth paper, about
special relativity, explained that space and time are
interwoven, a shocking idea now considered a
foundational principle of astronomy. Einstein expanded
on relativity in 1916 with his theory of gravitation: general
relativity.
Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958)
 Franklin was also a brilliant chemist and a master of X-

ray crystallography, an imaging technique that reveals
the molecular structure of matter based on the pattern of
scattered X-ray beams. Her early research into the
microstructures of carbon and graphite are still cited, but
her work with DNA was the most significant — and it
may have won three men a Nobel.

163
 The defining feature of the scientific revolution lies in how much scientific
thought changed during a period of only a century, and in how quickly differing
thoughts of different natural philosophers condensed to form a cohesive
experimental method that chemists, biologists, and physicists can easily utilize
today.
 The sudden emergence of new information during the Scientific Revolution

called into question religious beliefs, moral principles, and the traditional
scheme of nature. It also strained old institutions and practices, necessitating
new ways of communicating and disseminating information.
 Prominent innovations included scientific societies: which were created to

discuss and validate new discoveries;
 Scientific papers: which were developed as tools to communicate new

information comprehensibly and test the discoveries and hypothesesmade by
their authors.

164
Activity 1: “A picture is worth a thousands words: Using
Infographics to illustrate S&T development
through the ages”
 The history of S&T stretch back from the ancient times were our primitive ancestors had
lived in nomadic way as “hunters and gatherers”. Following through the course of
technological development the way they live had arguably changed. They learn to
cultivate the lands, plant crops, domesticate animals and use the existing resources
around them. Through these changes that society develops, influx of knowlegde and
ways flooded the early settlements and thus creating civilizations. The development of
S&T has come a long way, in the modern era there is an explosion of information and
these information has been utilize to create advancements in different fields.
 The task of presenting how S&T develops through the ages and putting it in one frame
studded with relevat images and information is way more challenging. Information
graphics (Infographics) reveal the hidden, explain the complex and illuminate the
obscure. Constructing visual representation of information is not mere translation of what
can be read to what can be seen. It entails filtering the information, establishing
relationships, discerning patterns and representing them in a manner that enables the
reader of that information construct meaningful knowledge.

165
WHAT IS AN INFOGRAPHIC?
Infographics are traditionally viewed as visual elements such as charts, maps, or diagrams that aid
comprehension of a given text-based content. Infographic makes minimal use of text and can be a
powerful tool for displaying data, explaining concepts, simplifying presentations, mapping
relationships, showing trends and providing essential insights. The use of compelling images on
an infographic can make what is an abstract idea that much easier to understand (hence
infographics popularity in marketing and instruction). Infographics simplify large data sets providing
a high-level view and making them easier to digest at first glance. They help convey data in a
compact and shareable form.
Instruction:
1. Create an infographic that depicts the development of S&T through

the ages. Infographic must include images and written descriptions. All
information must be in a visual and concise way.
2. Collect and organize all the content and data you'll use in the
infographic.
3. When collecting your information, make sure you know what story you
want to tell.
4. Choose an infographic template appropriate for your gathered
information. The important thing is to choose a template that specifically
works for the type of content you want to present.
For more information please visit this website: https://visme.co/blog/infographic-examples-for-students/

166
How to create
an Infographic 1
Outline?
For more information please

visit: https://www.easel.ly/i
ntroduction-to-
infographics

167
1.The Visual Article: A long piece of writing made more visual
2.The Flowchart: Answers a specific question by giving readers choices
3.The Timeline: Tells a story through the use of chronological data
4.The List: Supports a claim or view through steps, rules, or reasons
5.Number Love: Lots and lots of charts, graphs, and stats
For more information: 6.Versus Comparison: Studies two things in a head-to-head comparison
https://www.schrockguid
7.Data Viz: Pulls lots of complex data into a clean, unique design
e.net/infographics-as-an-
assessment.html 8.The Map: Shows cultural/behavioral/other trends by location

168
1. Useful Bait: Works well with
most of the data; Easy to read
and good usability
2. Versus/ Comparison: Works
well with a lot of information;
Design(visual) is very
important; Informations have to
be very interesting
3. Heavy Data (numbers porn):
Works well with marketing
strategy; TImeline for project;
Can extend to a flowchart
4. Road Map: Good for
storyline/journey; Can be used
as a timeline too
5. Timeline: Can be a
comparison; Good for timeline
and journey too; From simple to
complex (depends on your
data)
6. Visualized Article: Needs
strong title; Works well with
heavy content; Easy to read
and understand

169
Submission:
• Infographic output submission is on October 9, 2020 (11:59 PM)

• Late submission: minus 1 per whole hour.
• Email the finished output to: instructor’s email address
Rubrics for Grading (Activity 1)

30 Exemplary Admirable Acceptable Attempted
Criteria
points 10-8 7-5 6-4 3-1
 Factual information is  Most information can be  Some errors in  Numerous errors in
Research and Content
accurate confirmed information information

 Addresses topic  Addresses topic  Barely addresses topic  Does not adequately
completely and in depth  Content is mostly  Content is somewhat address topic
10
 Content is readily understandable understandable  Content is confusing
understandable
 Logical sequencing of  Somewhat logical  Sequencing is poorly  Sequencing is

information sequencing planned confusing
 Original and creative  Original work  Little originality  Inconsistent
 All sources are correctly  Most sources are  Some sources are information is
Organization
cited correctly cited incorrectly cited presented

10  Other people’s ideas
presented as own
 Sources are not
cited
 Graphics effectively  Visuals and images are  Use of visuals and  Use of visuals and
Graphic Design
entice audience; attractive; adequately images is limited; images is confusing

10 accurately convey conveys message message is conveyed or absent; message
message is confusing

170
171

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1.

At the end of the course, the student will be able to:

 Identify the important technological discoveries that

PERSONAL PROPERTY OF JEFFREY ROMERO-GEC108, 1ST

 Kiger, Patrick. “9 Ancient Sumerian Inventions That Changed the World”.

PERSONAL PROPERTY OF JEFFREY ROMERO-GEC108, 1ST

PERSONAL PROPERTY OF JEFFREY ROMERO-GEC108, 1ST

Homo habilis (Skillful human)

Homo sapiens (Wise human)

Homo sapiens sapiens (Modern human)

PERSONAL PROPERTY OF JEFFREY ROMERO-GEC108, 1ST

 These three periods refer to the gradual progress of tool-making from

 During these era an eventual transformation was seen from a culture

PERSONAL PROPERTY OF JEFFREY ROMERO-GEC108, 1ST

• Early humans lived in caves or

• They cooked their prey, including

PERSONAL PROPERTY OF JEFFREY ROMERO-GEC108, 1ST

• Humans used small stone tools,

• They often lived nomadically in

• Agriculture was introduced during

PERSONAL PROPERTY OF JEFFREY ROMERO-GEC108, 1ST

• Ancient humans switched from hunter/gatherer mode to

• Advancements were made not only in tools but also in farming,

PERSONAL PROPERTY OF JEFFREY ROMERO-GEC108, 1ST

During the Neolithic period,

PERSONAL PROPERTY OF JEFFREY ROMERO-GEC108, 1ST

o Sharpened stones (Oldowan tools): 2.6 million

These were basically stone cores with flakes removed from

One of the earliest examples

o Stone handaxe (Acheulean tools): 1.6

PERSONAL PROPERTY OF JEFFREY ROMERO-GEC108, 1ST

Known as the Levallois, or prepared-core technique,

• Cutting blades (Aurignacian

The central innovation of this type of tool making

characterized by small tools known as geometric

Microliths were added to

PERSONAL PROPERTY OF JEFFREY ROMERO-GEC108, 1ST

These tools, including axes, adzes, celts, chisels

PERSONAL PROPERTY OF JEFFREY ROMERO-GEC108, 1ST

• Metalworking advances were made, as bronze, a copper and tin alloy,

Village life in Grimspound, a late Bronze Age

PERSONAL PROPERTY OF JEFFREY ROMERO-GEC108, 1ST

• Humans may have started smelting copper as early as 6,000 B.C. in

PERSONAL PROPERTY OF JEFFREY ROMERO-GEC108, 1ST

• The Fertile Crescent, often called the "Cradle of Civilization", is the

PERSONAL PROPERTY OF JEFFREY ROMERO-GEC108, 1ST

PERSONAL PROPERTY OF JEFFREY ROMERO-GEC108, 1ST

• Part of the Fertile Crescent, Mesopotamia was home to the earliest

• The earliest occupants of Mesopotamia lived in circular dwellings made

• They began to practice agriculture by domesticating sheep and pigs

PERSONAL PROPERTY OF JEFFREY ROMERO-GEC108, 1ST

PERSONAL PROPERTY OF JEFFREY ROMERO-GEC108, 1ST

• One of the oldest known Mesopotamian cities, Nineveh (near Mosul in

• In addition to farming and cities, ancient Mesopotamian societies

PERSONAL PROPERTY OF JEFFREY ROMERO-GEC108, 1ST

• This early population—known as the Ubaid people—was notable

• Villages and towns were built around Ubaid farming communities.

PERSONAL PROPERTY OF JEFFREY ROMERO-GEC108, 1ST

PERSONAL PROPERTY OF JEFFREY ROMERO-GEC108, 1ST

• Other ancient people made pottery by hand,

Bowl from the ancient

PERSONAL PROPERTY OF JEFFREY ROMERO-GEC108, 1ST

• But they didn’t set out to write great

• Scribes used sharpened reeds to scratch