Engineering In The Ancient World

The Greeks and Romans were considerable engineers. They made many remarkable machines, which where not betttered until the Industrial Revolution. Landels shows how these machines were developed and made. He draws together evidence from archaeological discoveries and from literary sources.

In a new edition of this highly acclaimed book, the author reveals the engineering know-how of the ancient Greeks and Romans. In fascinating detail he describes how they developed and constructed their machines, and considers how the same principles are used in modern-day engineering.

Charles Ortloff provides a new perspective on archaeological studies of the urban and agricultural water supply and distribution systems of the major ancient civilizations of South America, the Middle East, and South-East Asia, by using modern computer analysis methods to extract the true hydraulic/hydrological knowledge base available to these peoples. His many new revelations about the capabilities and innovations of ancient water engineers force us to re-evaluate what was knownand practised in the hydraulic sciences in ancient times. Given our current concerns about global warming and its effect on economic stability, it is fascinating to observe how some ancient civilizations successfully coped with major climate change events by devising defensive agricultural survivalstrategies, while others, which did not innovate, failed to survive.

Nearly every aspect of daily life in the Mediterranean world and Europe during the florescence of the Greek and Roman cultures is relevant to engineering and technology. This text highlights the accomplishments of the ancient societies, the research problems, and stimulates further progress in the history of ancient technology.

How high were the walls of Jericho? Where did Nebuchanezzar get hold of all the bitumen he needed for the millions of bricks required to build Babylon? Was the ancient Suez canal really 200km long, and did 120,000 Egyptians die in the course of its construction? The ancient historian Herodotus had answers to all these questions and filled many pages of his famous histories with descriptions of the wonders and marvels that he saw on his extensive travels through Egypt, Greece, Mesopotamia and Persia, from the hanging gardens of Babylon to the temple of Diana at Ephesus. In Engineering the Ancient World, engineering expert Dick Parry goes back over Herodotus's footsteps and compares his accounts of the extraordinary achievements of ancient engineers, builders and designers with what archaeologists and historians have since discovered. In a fascinating interplay between ancient writer and modern scientist, we learn that though we often have to take Herodotus with a pinch of salt, he was not far short of the truth. With Dick Parry to guide us through the places that Herodotus visited we can appreciate the extraordinary technological genius which brought about these impressive monuments.

This new book offers an engineer's perspective on the history of water technology and its impact on the development of civilisation. A Second Edition and translation into English of the French book "L'Hydraulique dans les Civilisations Anciennes".Water professionals, engineers, scientists, and students will find this book fascinating and invaluable

Describes the architectural and engineering feats which have been discovered and studied in Greece and Rome, in Mesoamerica, in South America, in India, in China, and at other sites.