Technologies

"For one whose feet are covered with shoes, is not the earth covered with leather?"

    - Hitopadesha


Leather is a hard-wearing, flexible material created by curing and drying animal skins. Forms of leather can be made using Stone Age technology (curing hides with materials like lime or animal brains), or more complex chemical processes. Leather has been in use since at least the second millenium BC, as proven by finds of leather samples over 3000 years old in archaeological digs. Since leather does not last forever under normal conditions, its invention very probably came earlier.

    Leather can be made from the skin of almost any large animal, with a variety of qualities. Depending on how it is tanned, it can be flexible or stiff, soft or rough. It is generally waterproof, fairly effective at keeping in heat, and resistant to rotting or decay. Properly oiled and maintained, it can survive desert sandstorms or frozen tundra conditions. It can even be boiled for hardness and used as a form of cheap, lightweight armor protection.

    Unlike other fabrics such as linen, cotton, and silk, leather can be made even by nomadic cultures. If the nomads kill a domestic or wild animal, and have a suitable tanning process. On the other hand, leather remains useful in farming societies, especially those with large herd animals such as cattle.

    Because it is sturdy and cannot be unraveled like normal cloth, leather can be decorated with a variety of hole-punches, stitches, and decorative studs. Decorative leather goods are a popular form of arts and crafts in many societies. Today, advances in synthetic plastics have made leather less important, and it has now become more of a fashion statement and luxury good than a major fabric in practical use.

"The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones."

    - Confucius


    There is evidence of surface mining dating back to prehistoric times. The first mining was probably for flint, which was used for knives, scrapers and arrowheads. The oldest known underground mine was in Swaziland over 40,000 years ago, to mine for ochre to use as a body pigment in ceremonies. During the Neolithic Age shafts were dug to extract flint from deeper in the earth. Gold, copper and silver were other minerals mined early in history.

"Shape clay into a vessel; it is the space within that makes it useful."

    - Laozi, Tao Te Ching


    The invention of pottery was essential to the development of agricultural societies. To get the most out of seasonal crops and domesticated animals, a tribe needed sturdy, waterproof containers in which to store and protect surplus food. The discovery of the properties of clay, and the invention of the kiln and the potter's wheel made it possible to build such containers. The earliest examples of Western pottery date back to as early as 6500 BC. Most of the examples from this period were strictly utilitarian. Although use continued to be primarily practical, decorative pottery soon became a ritualistic and aesthetic art form in cultures all over the world. Some of the most impressive examples of artistic pottery comes from the pre-Columbian cultures of South America, and from the Ming dynasty in 14th century China.

"The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

    - Mohandas Gandhi


Pastoralism is a term for the art of raising livestock. It is also used in sociology, to describe a way of life that revolves around herding and caring for domestic animals. Pastoral societies are generally most successful on poorly productive land such as large, dry stretches of desert, savannah, hills, or tundra. In this sort of terrain, dense stands of food crops cannot be grown naturally, so farming is impossible without modern irrigation. However, in such biomes there is a substantial natural supply of grasses and shrubs; humans cannot eat them, but sheep, cattle, goats, or yaks can.

    It is often but not always the case that a pastoral people 'follows their herds,' moving from one part of the land they occupy to another to ensure that they have access to the best available grazing, water supplies, and a healthy climate for their animals.

    Pastoral societies present a common alternative to agricultural societies, and were capable of functioning and thriving on equal terms with them up until the rise of modern technology. They could be particularly effective in warfare, especially when leaders took advantage of their self-sufficient, highly mobile lifestyle to create an army of self-sufficient, highly mobile soldiers. In modern times, however, the inability of small pastoral communities to manufacture modern weapons, coupled with overpopulation problems, have made it less sustainable and practical for these peoples to live in their traditional mode.

"When tillage begins, other arts follow. The farmers therefore are the founders of human civilization."

    - Daniel Webster, Remarks on Agriculture


    Agriculture is the science of cultivating soil, planting and harvesting crops. It can be argued that the mastery of agriculture was the single most important step towards creating a civilization, as agriculture allowed people to stop hunting and gathering and settle down in one place. Villages and cities would be unviable without some form of agriculture.

    Evidence of plant cultivation dates back as far as 6000 BC. Apparently, grains were some of the earliest crops cultivated. Grains are incredibly useful foodstuffs; they can be ground into flour and turned into bread, they can be fed to livestock and, perhaps most importantly, they can be stored for months without spoiling.

    Over time a number of important tools were invented to aid in cultivation and preparation of grains. The sickle was an early innovation; it allowed the grain to be harvested far quicker than by hand. Hand mills and mortar and pestles were created to grind the finished product, and pots to store it. As man learned about fertilization and irrigation, it became possible to get consistently larger yields, which lessoned the chances of famine and increased the numbers that could be fed from each field.

"Not at all similar are the race of the immortal gods and the race of men who walk upon the earth."

    - Homer, The Iliad


Mythology refers variously to the collected myths of a group of people. Myths are the stories people tell to explain nature, history and customs. Myth is a feature of every culture. Many sources for myths have been proposed, ranging from personification of nature or personification of natural phenomena, to truthful or hyperbolic accounts of historical events to explanations of existing rituals. A culture's collective mythology helps convey belonging, shared and religious experiences, behavioral models and moral and practical lessons.

    One theory claims that myths are distorted accounts of historical events. According to this theory, storytellers repeatedly elaborate upon historical accounts until the figures in those accounts gain the status of gods. Other theories propose that myths began as allegories for natural phenomena: Apollo represents the sun, Poseidon represents water, and so on. According to another theory, myths began as allegories for philosophical or spiritual concepts: Athena represents wise judgment, Aphrodite desire, and so on. Some thinkers claimed that myths result from the personification of inanimate objects and forces. According to these thinkers, the ancients worshiped natural phenomena, such as fire and air, gradually deifying them. According to the myth-ritual theory, myth is tied to ritual. In its most extreme form, this theory claims myths arose to explain rituals.

"You cannot direct the wind, but you can adjust your sails."

    - Unknown


    The first sails were probably just a square sheet of animal skin hung from a horizontal pole, while later woven cloths were stretched between poles. While this does allow sailing, there are several problems with these designs. First, the boat can only sail downwind, meaning movement is only possible in the direction the wind is blowing; secondly, this only allows the boat to travel at the speed of the wind. Sail design evolved slowly over the centuries, and eventually the concepts of tacking and trimming started to be understood, allowing sailing to be against the wind and faster than the wind speed. These advancements enabled the exploration and settlement of far off lands, as ships were able to return from uncharted waters.

"God has concealed in every place huge masses of silver, copper and iron, and has bestowed upon you the means of discovering them, placing upon the surface of the earth signs of the treasures hidden below; and yet do you say that you have received no benefit?"

    - Seneca, On Benefits


Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a base metal from its ore. This includes production of silver, iron, copper and other base metals from their ores. Smelting makes use of heat and a chemical reducing agent to decompose the ore, driving off other elements as gases or slag and leaving just the metal base behind. The reducing agent is commonly a source of carbon such as coke, or in earlier times charcoal.

    The carbon (or carbon monoxide derived from it) removes oxygen from the ore, leaving behind the elemental metal. The carbon is thus oxidized in two stages, producing first carbon monoxide and then carbon dioxide. As most ores are impure, it is often necessary to use flux, such as limestone, to remove the accompanying rock gangue as slag.

    In the Old World, the first metals smelted were tin and lead. After tin and lead, the next metal to be smelted appears to have been copper. How the discovery came about is a matter of much debate. Campfires are about 200 °C short of the temperature needed for that, so it has been conjectured that the first smelting of copper may have been achieved in pottery kilns. The development of copper smelting in the Andes, which is believed to have occurred independently of that in the Old World, may have occurred in the same way.

    The discovery of copper manufacture had a significant impact on the history of the Old World. Metals were hard enough to make weapons that were heavier, stronger, and more resistant to impact-related damage than their wood, bone, or stone equivalents.

"There hammer on the anvil smote, there chisel clove and graver wrote; There forged was blade and bound was hilt; The delver mined, the mason built."

    - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings


    The early dwellings of most tribal cultures were built of materials that were readily available and easy to work with, such as bricks of clay and mud. As tribes gave up their nomadic ways and settled the first cities, they soon found that they had a need for more permanent and durable structures. The skill of masonry was developed to fill this need.

    The earliest stone structures consisted of little more than rocks that were stacked atop one another to form crude walls. Artisans soon began to square off the rocks, forming them into regular shapes and stacking them. These early examples of masonry used no mortar; the weight of the stacked stones provided overall strength and stability. Without the use of mortar and knowledge of architectural techniques, masonry was used primarily for simple structures such as fortifications. However, some examples of early masonry are quite spectacular, including the Great Pyramids in Egypt, which are still standing after thousands of years.

"Give me a lever long enough, and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world."

    - Archimedes


Leverage is the general principle behind all early mechanisms that rely on mechanical advantage. The six classical simple machines are: lever, wheel and axle, pulley, inclined plane, wedge and screw.

    A simple machine uses a single applied force to do work against a single load force. Ignoring friction losses, the work done on the load is equal to the work done by the applied force. The machine can increase the amount of the output force, at the cost of a proportional decrease in the distance moved by the load. The ratio of the output to the applied force is called the mechanical advantage.

    Simple machines can be regarded as the elementary "building blocks" of which all more complicated machines (sometimes called "compound machines") are composed. For example, wheels, levers, and pulleys are all used in the mechanism of a bicycle. The mechanical advantage of a compound machine is just the product of the mechanical advantages of the simple machines of which it is composed.

    The idea of a simple machine originated with the Greek philosopher Archimedes around the 3rd century BC, who studied the Archimedean simple machines: lever, pulley, and screw. He discovered the principle of mechanical advantage in the lever. Later Greek philosophers defined the classic five simple machines (excluding the inclined plane) and were able to roughly calculate their mechanical advantage.

"The first man who, having fenced in a piece of land, said "This is mine," and found people naive enough to believe him; that man was the true founder of civil society."

    - Jean Jacques Rousseau, Discourse on Inequality


Property refers to the concept that a certain object, idea, or place is solely under the authority of some specific person or entity, and is not available for the use of others without the consent of that 'owner.' The most basic Neolithic societies known to us usually have concepts of individual ownership of certain items, such as tools and caches of food. This is often combined with widespread sharing of the goods, usually done for purposes of reinforcing social ties.

    Such a practice results in very cohesive societies. However, such societies often have difficulty organizing their surplus resources to commit to large-scale projects not of immediate use to any one person (such as infrastructure, ceremonial architecture, or military expeditions). Moreover, the system tends to break down in the presence of large numbers of strangers, because it relies on individuals being willing to freely share their belongings with each other. For both these reasons, the rise of cities generally went hand-in-hand with the rise of accumulated property in the hands of social elites, a trend which has persisted throughout recorded history to the present day.

"Lead them by means of virtue and regulate them through ritual, and they will have a sense of shame and moreover have standards."

    - Confucius


A ceremony is an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion. Even in the earliest societies, religious beliefs were often associated with recurring events that required the performance of ceremonies. These ceremonies could take place in smaller, secluded communities, such as in temples, or in public on squares and marketplaces.

    Ceremonies often strengthen the solidarity within a society and create a sense of belonging and loyalty to the authorities that were organising them. For that reason, they were often employed by monarchs to legitimise their rule, for example through triumphal marches, coronation ceremonies or complicated court rituals.

    This complicated ceremonial procedure meant that there was only a limited class of people capable of administering rituals. Over time, this led to the emergence of formal priesthood and organised religion.

"Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie, which we ascribe to heaven: the fated sky."

    - William Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well


People of the ancient world were fascinated and awed by the forces of nature surrounding them. Earthquakes, storms and other phenomena were generally regarded as signs from heaven. Individuals and groups arose to formulate explanations for these events, and pass the knowledge along to the tribe. The priests and priestesses of mysticism, often called oracles, claimed union with the divine through meditation and trance-like contemplation.

    Oracles across the world developed complex rites and rituals to appease and interact with gods and spirits. One of the most common forms of supernatural power invoked was divination - the ability to foretell the future using signs and portents such as dreams, the motions of the stars, the guts of sacrificial animals, the fracture lines in a tortoise's shell, visions experienced while under the influence of various drugs, and so on. Divination served the common human need to obtain information about the unknown future.

"Hoist up sail while the gale doth last. Tide and wind stay no man's pleasure."

    - Robert Southwell, Loss in Delay


Seafaring is the art of directing, maintaining, and preserving ships that travel across the ocean. The earliest human vessels such as rafts, small canoes, and reed boats would have been extremely unsafe on the open ocean. However, there is extensive evidence for the practice of seafaring stretching back to the Bronze Age, or the Neolithic in the case of Polynesian long-distance sailing canoes.

    In general, successful seafarers must make use of some source of power other than their own muscles (in the early days of navigation, a sail) to ensure they were not trapped by ocean currents. They must know how to construct reasonably sturdy craft that would resist ocean waves. They had to make use of a great knowledge of weather conditions to ensure the craft was not caught by a storm too powerful to be survived - which in premodern times weather could be predicted only by experience.

    All this represented a significant advance over the earliest Stone Age boats and their operations... and yet, all these things were necessary in order for coastal civilizations to make any serious use of maritime travel for trade or exploration.

"It is entirely seemly for a young man killed in battle to lie mangled by the bronze spear. In his death all things appear fair."

    - Homer, The Iliad


Evidence of the use of bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, dates back to Thailand in 4500 BC. Several hundred years later, bronze working was discovered in the Middle East. Artifacts from this period show that bronze was initially used for decorative purposes only. This is because tin was not readily available. It wasn't until approximately 2000 BC, when tin was regularly imported from neighboring regions, that bronze replaced copper in the construction of larger items. Bronze was harder and less brittle than copper, and it held a sharper edge. Tools, weapons, and armor made from bronze were also cheaper to produce and more durable. The period of time when bronze was the metal of choice for such items was known as the Bronze Age. The Bronze Age lasted until iron working became prevalent in approximately 1200 BC.

"And on the pedestal these words appear: 'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'"

    - Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ozymandias


    The development of masonry led to a widespread use of stone in simple structures such as fortifications, but due to the weight and cumbersome nature of stone blocks, more complex structures had to be made of simpler materials. The need for the widespread use of more durable and permanent materials eventually became apparent, forcing ancient artisans to learn new techniques. The biggest problem to overcome was finding a stable way to span the distance between two upright columns or walls using stone blocks. To solve this problem, fundamental architectural elements such as the arch and vault evolved. These basic construction techniques allowed larger and more elaborate buildings to be created from stone and mortar. Many of the buildings erected by these early builders are still standing, a testament to the sound construction techniques employed in their construction.

"If you speak the truth, have a foot in the stirrup."

    - Turkish proverb


The horse was first domesticated for transportation and warfare by tribesmen on the Asian steppes. These tribesmen used their superior mobility and speed to overwhelm the proto-civilizations just rising in southeast Europe and the Middle East. In approximately 2000 BCE, domestic horses were introduced into Mesopotamia. Within the next several centuries, horses had spread throughout much of Europe and northern Africa. It was not long before nearly every civilization had put horses to work as field animals and as a means of transportation. Horses also went on to play an important role in the military conflicts of nearly every civilization in the world, both as mounts for horsemen and cavalry, and as draft animals for pulling war chariots and heavy weapons into battle.

"All things are numbers."

    - Pythagoras


Arithmetic is a branch of mathematics that consists of the study of numbers, especially the properties of the traditional operations between them - addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Arithmetic is an elementary part of number theory, and number theory is considered to be one of the top-level divisions of modern mathematics, along with algebra, geometry, and analysis.

    The earliest written records indicate the Egyptians and Babylonians used all the elementary arithmetic operations as early as 2000 BC. The hieroglyphic system for Egyptian numerals, like the later Roman numerals, descended from tally marks used for counting. Early number systems that included positional notation were not decimal, including the sexagesimal (base 60) system for Babylonian numerals and the vigesimal (base 20) system that defined Maya numerals. Because of this place-value concept, the ability to reuse the same digits for different values contributed to simpler and more efficient methods of calculation.

    The continuous historical development of modern arithmetic starts with the Hellenistic civilization of ancient Greece, although it originated much later than the Babylonian and Egyptian examples. Prior to the works of Euclid around 300 BC, Greek studies in mathematics overlapped with philosophical and mystical beliefs. Greek numerals were used by Archimedes, Diophantus and others in a positional notation not very different from ours.

"I deem those blessed to whom, by favour of the gods, it has been granted either to do what is worth writing of, or to write what is worth reading."

    - Pliny the Younger, Letter to Tacitus


    The development of writing is considered one of the most important advances of civilization. The earliest forms of writing were simple symbols and marks, used to keep accounts and inventories. Some cultures developed pictographic symbols to tell stories and record events. Eventually, complete systems of writing were developed, capable of conveying any thought that could be expressed orally. At this point, scribes replaced the oral historian as the chief keepers of records. Writing allowed the presentation of information in a form that could be reliably transmitted from person to person and made it possible for ideas, history, and knowledge to be stored permanently and passed between cultures more reliably than through oral recitation.

"For everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven."

    - The Bible, Ecclesiastes


    Calendars played an important role in the development of human culture. Their earliest uses may have been mystical - to chart the courses of the stars and to determine the most auspicious days upon which to perform religious sacrifices - but they were also critical for determining when the best time was to plant and harvest crops.

    All that is needed to create a calendar is careful observation and record-keeping. After watching the skies for a long time, one might notice that the days gradually get shorter and then longer, and that this process takes 365 days to repeat. This would give the length of a year - the great cycle of life on the planet. Further observations on the movement of the moon and stars would provide further details.

    Perhaps the most difficult aspect of creating an accurate calendar is that a year takes 365 and a quarter days rather than exactly 365. If one does not take this into account (say, by the inclusion of an extra day every four years as currently), over the years one's calendar will get more and more out of date with the natural world.

    The earliest known Egyptian calendar was created in 4000 BC. The earliest known Sumerian calendar was invented around 1000 years later, and the first Chinese one was invented around 1400 BC. The Olmecs invented the first American calendar some time between 1200 BC and 300 AD.

"He who commands the sea has command of everything."

    - Themistocles


Shipbuilding is the art of constructing large watergoing vessels for travel on large bodies of water. As the demand for larger, safer vessels to cross the oceans of the ancient world grew, so did knowledge of ship construction. By far the preferred method for building such ships was to make them out of wood - preferably the hardest, strongest timber available, even if this had to be imported over long distances. Great strides in the art of carpentry made it possible to assemble large ships that would be strong enough to withstand the forces of the sea, but flexible enough not to break under heavy impact.

    Larger, heavier ships were generally more useful for trade because they could carry a greater volume of goods. They were also more useful for warfare. Ancient naval war revolved around deliberate ramming attacks, boarding parties and sailors firing musclepowered missile weapons at each other. A larger ship would be harder to damage by ramming, would have the tactical advantage of being 'the high ground' in combat, and could carry a larger army with which to capture enemy ships.

    Ongoing advances in shipbuilding continued steadily from the Bronze Age up to the present day in many parts of the world. Nations which enjoyed an advantage in the art at any particular time were usually able to dominate the seas for vast distances around their homeland.

"The great questions of the day will not be settled by speeches and majority decisions, but by blood and iron."

    - Otto von Bismarck


    Some examples of iron ornamentation date back to 4000 BC, but the use of iron for tools, weapons, and other practical purposes did not become common until much later. Prior to this time, bronze was the most widely used metal for such purposes. Although the term "Iron Age" denotes a period of time starting around 1000 BC, iron replaced bronze as the metal of choice at different times in different places.

    Iron is more common than copper and tin, the component metals of bronze, but iron is seldom found in a free state; it is most commonly found mixed with other minerals and elements. In order to be used, the iron must be separated from the ore. Once this technique was developed, and forges hot enough to melt the iron were developed, iron working became commonplace. Worked iron was harder, less brittle, and could hold a much sharper edge than bronze. Iron has remained an important metal throughout history, and is one of the major components in the production of steel.

"A man who builds his own pedestal had better use strong cement."

     - Anna Quindlen


    A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel (aggregate) together. Cement mixed with fine aggregate produces mortar for masonry, or with sand and gravel, produces concrete. Concrete is the most widely used material in existence and is behind only water as the planet's most-consumed resource.

    Lime (calcium oxide) was used on Crete and by the Greeks, specifically the Ancient Macedonians, and three centuries later on a large scale by Roman engineers. The huge dome of the Pantheon in Rome and the massive Baths of Caracalla are examples of ancient structures made from these concretes, many of which still stand. The vast system of Roman aqueducts also made extensive use of hydraulic cement.

    The technical knowledge for making hydraulic cement was formalized by French and British engineers in the 18th century.

"If in other sciences we should arrive at certainty without doubt and truth without error, it behooves us to place the foundations of knowledge in mathematics."

    - Roger Bacon, Opus Majus


    Rudimentary arithmetic was purely quantitative, used to keep track of quantities and measurements in trade. Building on this fundamental base, ancient civilizations began to formulate more complex mathematical concepts. As early as 1800 BC, the Egyptians had developed a system for working with fractional numbers and simple algebraic problems. They also formulated geometric formulae for finding area and volume, and came up with a constant for determining the area of a circle that was very close to the value of pi. By about the 5th century BC, the mathematicians of Greece had greatly contributed to both geometry and algebra. Around the same time, advanced mathematics was applied to other sciences and fields of study such as astronomy and mechanics. One of the earliest applications of mathematical principles was in the construction of complex weaponry such as the catapult.

"Men keep their agreements when it is an advantage to both parties not to break them; and I shall so frame my laws that it will be evident to the Athenians that it will be for their interest to observe them."

    - Solon of Athens


A contract is a voluntary arrangement between two or more parties that is enforceable by law as a binding legal agreement. A contract arises when the parties agree that there is an agreement. Formation of a contract generally requires an offer, acceptance, consideration, and a mutual intent to be bound. Some types of contracts may require formalities, such as a memorialization in writing.

    In The Laws, Plato recognized the same basic categories for cancelling agreements as exist today. Roman law identified discrete categories of contractual transaction, each with its own requirements, which needed to be fulfilled in order for promises to be enforced. More than appeared from the general rules in Ancient Greece, Roman law represented an early division between specific kinds of contract, depending on the transaction's nature.

"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested."

    - Francis Bacon, Of Studies


    The art of writing as literature, bodies of works written thematically, is at least as old in the western world as Greek culture. Surviving records of Babylonian culture refer to at least two epic tales, which infers that literature as a comprehensive body is much older, but neither survive to this day. The development of a living body of literature became indicative of an advanced culture and are always correlated with advances in science, philosophy, theology, and art.

    Literature in the western world has survived in the forms that the Greeks and Romans established, but the expense and effort of hand copying texts ensured that only the wealthy had access to literate education. Libraries, which served as storehouses of these bodies of text, also became centers for education and the proliferation of ideas.

    Unfortunately the loss of many such libraries, such as the Great Library of Alexandria in a civil war in the 3rd century AD, also heralded the loss of many of these irreplaceable texts. It wasn't until the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg that books were printed rather than transcribed. That single advance in literature opened the field up to those other than monks and the wealthy, birthing a proliferation of literature that spread across the world.

"From the solemn gloom of the temple, children run out to sit in the dust. God watches them play and forgets the priest."

    - Rabindranath Tagore, Fireflies


    A priest is a person who leads worshippers in performing religious ceremonies and rituals. The position was of extraordinary importance in early cultures, since men believed that their day-to-day survival depended upon the favor of the gods. The earliest priests were probably elderly men and women too infirm to hunt and gather, but revered for their holiness and wisdom. As the lines between the spiritual and physical were much less rigid than today, priests might also be the tribal healers or leaders.

    Many branches of Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism still employ priests, and though their secular power is greatly diminished, in recent years priests have played important roles in getting societies to adopt social changes that benefit the people. In South America, priests are famous (or infamous) for their active participation in politics, while the late Pope John Paul II, the highest-ranking Roman Catholic priest, is given credit for hurrying the demise of the Soviet Union.

"The winds and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators."

    - Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire


In the early days of seafaring, sailors operated solely through a process known as "piloting", in which the position and course of the ship was determined by referring to geographical landmarks. The need to stay in view of the shore severely limited the extent of sea voyages. Through experience, sailors learned to apply the science of astronomy to their profession, noting the positions and movement of particular stars. They realized that even when the shore was out of sight, they could steer by certain reliable stars. This crude, yet practical application of astronomy allowed the adventurous to sail into the unknown with a reasonable chance of finding their way. As a result, ship building technology quickly improved, producing larger, more stable ships designed for longer voyages.

"I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion."

    - Alexander the Great


In the early ancient world, armies mostly consisted of militia and levies that were only raised in the event of war. These armies were usually small enough and the ensuing warfare limited enough to be directly commanded by their political leaders.

    During the Roman Republic and later Empire, armies became increasingly professionalised, especially after the Marian reforms. The large extent of the Roman Empire also made it impractical for their leadership to exercise direct control over the military. Similar developments also took place in the Chinese Han dynasty.

    This development conferred more military and political power to the generals entrusted with military command. While this made armies more professional and successful, it also led to a different distribution of power. In the Roman Empire, generals were often the decisive factor in choosing the next emperor or disposing of an unsuccessful sitting emperor, contributing to the empires instability. In China, competing military warlords ultimately caused the collapse of the Han dynasty.

    This sort of political power based on military authority paved the way for the idea of nobility in the feudal sense and the system of feudalism in the Middle Ages.

"A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."

    - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Wind, Sand and Stars


    Engineering is the application of scientific and mathematical principles to the design and/or manufacture of theoretical systems and physical objects. Prior to the mid-18th century, military engineers carried out all engineering functions. Their work involved the construction of roads, bridges, fortifications, and the performance of other duties relating to the military. In the late 18th century, civil engineers took over all non-military engineering functions. Other fields of engineering prior to the 20th century included mining engineers, who designed mines and methods of mining, and mechanical engineers, who dealt with the design and construction of machinery. As new technologies developed, new fields of engineering developed along with them. Today, there are engineers specifically trained in nearly every field, from electronics and computers to chemistry and atomics.

"We have art in order not to die of the truth."

    - Friedrich Nietzsche, The Will to Power


    Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy that deals with questions of art and beauty. Every culture in the world has its own Aesthetics, the study of art being nearly as old as art itself. Modern Aesthetics delves into all forms of art - theater, poetry, literature, film, etc. - but in its earliest form, aesthetics dealt largely with the visual arts.

    While clashing senses of Aesthetics have caused many squabbles in their times, one city has been the center of some of the most violent artistic struggles throughout history - Istanbul. During the ninth century, Christian killed Christian in the city then known as Constantinople as the followers of Christ attempted to decide whether religious icons should be considered blasphemous. With the conquest of the city by the Ottomans, previous artistic works deemed offensive were removed or vandalized. Inside the Hagia Sophia, mosaics of Christian religious figures were covered with plaster, that only now, several hundred years later, are finally being revealed.

"Everything is worth what its purchaser will pay for it."

    - Publilius Syrus, Sentences


    As cities grew, their internal economies became more complicated. People became specialists, some primarily producing grain, some pottery, some bricks, etc. A system of barter developed, so that one individual's wares and services could be exchanged for those of another. Gold and silver were widely used in such transactions, but the pieces needed to be weighed and tested for purity each time they changed hands.

    In 600 BC, the Lydians found a way around this problem. They began the practice of shaping electrum, an alloy of gold and silver, into pieces of predetermined weight and purity, stamped with an official symbol. This idea caught on, and within 50 years all the important trading centers of the world had adopted similar practices. The widespread use of currency created universal standards of value, allowing people from various societies to conduct business almost anywhere without being forced to bring along bulky goods for trade and barter.

"To bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, so that the strong should not harm the weak."

    - Code of Hammurabi


The earliest tribal civilizations were bonded together by mutual needs and beliefs. A tribal chieftain, who acted as an advisor and enforcer of the will of the gods, ruled these groups. No formal laws existed in these early cultures, but fear of the gods and a sense of tribal customs and morality kept order in the tribe. As societies became larger and more diverse, the need arose for established rules of conduct. The earliest known codes of laws existed in Babylon, India, and Palestine. The Twelve Tables of Rome, written in 500 BC, and its successors such as the Justinian Code, were the first codes of law to distinguish between public law, which involves the state, and private law, which concerns disputes between citizens. Roman law was the first formalized written system of laws, and went on to influence many of the legal systems of the modern world.

"I think, therefore I am."

    - Rene Descartes, Discourse on the Method


    The word "philosophy" comes from a Greek term meaning "love of wisdom." In ancient Greece, literacy and an interest in the natural world were common in a burgeoning upper class. In their leisure time, these people contemplated principles of thinking and being, logic and mathematics, and the natures of reality and existence. In ancient times, the study of philosophy was indistinguishable from the study of science, and many of the theories formulated by the early philosophers became the basis for studies in the fields of astronomy, medicine, chemistry, and physics. The teachings and writings of the ancient philosophers of Greece and the Orient also, in part, laid the groundwork for many of the world's oldest organized religions.

"As to diseases make a habit of two things - to help, or at least, to do no harm."

    - Hippocrates


    Primitive man attributed the onset of serious disease as the influence of the gods, or possession by evil spirits. Over time, however, it was found that such "possessions" could be treated through the use of elixirs made from plant extracts. Methods were also developed to clean and treat wounds, and set fractured bones. The ancient Greeks established the first schools to teach medical sciences circa 500 BC. The texts produced by the students of these schools, most notably Hippocrates, who is considered the father of medicine, based his theories of the human body on observation and reasoning rather than supernatural intervention.

    Continued study of diseases over the years, combined with the dissection and study of the human body in the 13th century, pointed out flaws in early Greek theories, and led to more accurate medical texts based on detailed analysis rather than conjecture. By the 18th century, the same methods of analysis and observation used by scientists in other fields were applied to the study of medicine. This paved the way for the increasingly effective methods of treatment and surgery that have prevailed over the last 200 years.

"Nonsense is the privilege of the aristocracy. The worries of the world are for the common people."

    - George Jean Nathan


Nobility can refer to "the nobility," a class of aristocrats who inherit the right to dominate society at large. Or it can refer to the ideals of "noble" behavior, as favored by this class.

    Aristocratic elites have been with human civilization for millenia. Any person with enough resources, political influence, or military power would have a great advantage in controlling others, and could use that control to further preserve their power. Naturally, anyone blessed by such a fortunate combination of power and wealth would want to pass it on to their children, so legal systems emerged to make sure that the titles and positions of nobility would be inherited safely.

    The most common employment for aristocrats in history has been warfare. The nobility can be sure of getting plenty of food and good living conditions, so that their children grow up big and strong. They can afford expensive, carefully crafted weapons like suits of armor, high-quality bows, and fine warhorses. And their political power meant they could easily recruit fighting men from among the people they controlled, making sure they'd have trustworthy retainers to watch their back and handle the supplies while the nobles themselves went off to fight.

    The ideal of military courage and self-discipline therefore plays a great role in the idea of "nobility." A nobleman is normally expected to be brave in battle, to be prepared to fight either to defend his own interests or the interests of his ruler, and to act in the ways that his society expects of warriors.

    Noblewomen generally were not expected to fight; for females nobility had relatively fewer attractions, except of course for the freedom it granted from drudge labor like grinding grain or tending crops.

"There never was a good knife made of bad steel."

    - Benjamin Franklin


The iron alloys produced up until about the 14th century were made by heating a mixture of iron ore and charcoal in a forge, then pounding the molten metal to drive out the impurities or "slag". Occasionally, the iron mixture would absorb more carbon, creating steel rather than wrought iron. Because steel proved to be less brittle and more resistant to corrosion than iron, techniques were developed to produce steel. This was done by blowing a coal derivative called coke through molten iron. Most modern steel making utilizes the "blast furnace", developed by Henry Bessemer in 1855, to accomplish this task on a large-scale basis. The strength and other qualities of steel make it the material of choice for warships, planes, and many other vehicles.

"In the architectural structure, man's pride, man's triumph over gravitation, man's will to power, assume a visible form."

    - Friedrich Nietzsche, The Twilight of the Idols


Architecture is the discipline of designing structures with an eye to specific goals; usually aesthetic appeal, but also functional features such as defensibility. The architect's trade blends that of the ordinary engineer and the artist. On the one hand, all great architecture must be durable enough to stand natural forces and the test of time; on the other, it is often expected to be pleasant to live in and to behold.

"The life so short, the craft so long in the learning."

    - Geoffrey Chaucer, Parliament of Foules


As agricultural productivity increased and the demand for specialist goods increased, it became less practical and less desirable to keep control of these industries in the hands of rulers. The invention of currency-based trade made independent life as a merchant or professional easier, especially in urban and semi-urbanized areas. Such trade also contributed to the rising influence of the proto-middle class, and promoted long-range commerce. The availability of rare goods at trading hubs increased, and centers of production where specialist goods were made profited.

"Politics is the art of the possible."

    - Otto von Bismarck


Politics, from the Greek for "of or pertaining to citizens," is the practice of influencing people, particularly with the aim of acquiring and using power within a government. The tactics and techniques of politics vary depending on the society. In autocratic societies, the key to political success is the personal appeal to the leader and their most trusted subordinates, along with efforts to undermine rivals and make them appear to be threats to the system. In democracies, a massive range of tools and methods are used to appeal to the general public and acquire their support. Likewise, practitioners of politics in democracies also seek to undermine their opponents, generally attacking their popularity - by means both fair and foul.

    The framework that determines what political methods are allowed in a given society can be viewed as a political 'system.' For example, long-established parliamentary democracies have a system that makes violent overthrow of the government unacceptable, such that even if such a coup succeeded, it is likely that the victorious military leader would have difficulty persuading the public to obey orders. Conversely, autocratic systems generally prohibit any form of politics that would involve organizing the masses to express disapproval of state policy.

    Formal theorizing on politics dates back to the time of figures such as Plato and Confucius, and represents a major transition in the history of human civilization- because it represents serious, intellectual reflection on the question "how best shall we organize ourselves?"

"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."

    - Isaac Newton


The scholarly method or scholarship is the body of principles and practices used by scholars to make their claims about the world as valid and trustworthy as possible, and to make them known to the scholarly public. It is the methods that systemically advance the teaching, research, and practice of a given scholarly or academic field of study through rigorous inquiry. Scholarship is noted by its significance to its particular profession, and is creative, can be documented, can be replicated or elaborated, and can be and is peer-reviewed through various methods.

    Originally started to reconcile the philosophy of the ancient classical philosophers with medieval theology, scholasticism is not a philosophy or theology in itself but a tool and method for learning which places emphasis on dialectical reasoning. The primary purpose of scholasticism is to find the answer to a question or to resolve a contradiction. It was once well known for its application in medieval theology but was eventually applied to classical philosophy and many other fields of study.

"Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become universal law."

    - Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals


Ethics is the philosophical study which addresses moral questions - matters of right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and injustice. This has preoccupied thinkers since ancient times, but formal discussion and contemplation of ethics as a logic-based endeavour, as distinct from traditions of religious or secular law, are mostly a product of the classical and medieval periods.

    Different cultures produce widely divergent schools of ethics, ranging from the law-oriented systems common in China to the relatively individualist virtue-ethical schools of the ancient Greeks. Ethics may be highly abstract or applied as a practical matter to questions of professional conduct and personal behavior. They may emphasize the intent of the moral actor, the fulfillment of certain laws and precepts, the consequences of the action itself, or any combination of the above.

"I will to my lord be true and faithful and love all which he loves and shun all which he shuns."

    - Anglo-Saxon Oath of Fealty


Land tenure is the idea of a fixed, legalized ownership of land with a formal relationship between the landowner and their ruler. "Tenure" comes from a root verb meaning "to hold" the land in question. Under a land tenure system, all land is the property of the sovereign by default, but this land is granted to trusted individuals in permanent, usually inherited titles. This forms the foundation of what we now know as feudalism. In exchange for a grant of land for themself and their heirs, a feudal noble might promise to supply their ruler with troops, money, food, or other goods obtained from the productivity of the land itself.

    This saved the monarch from the burden of administering the territory directly and trying to collect taxes from it, and created a large class of aristocrats who owed their fortune and power to the throne. The pattern of tenancy could be scaled up and down easily, ranging from great territories held by powerful nobles down to individual farmers on their own plots granted to them by a local warlord.

    A feudal tenure-based system has drawbacks, however. Tenants' loyalty to the sovereign is often conditional, based on complicated webs of mutual obligations and exceptions to the legal code which make it difficult to change or reform the economy. Powerful feudal nobles may defect to an enemy intact to preserve their status in the face of invasion - or even scheme to seize control of the land themselves.

"It is from their foes, not their friends, that cities learn the lesson of building high walls."

    - Aristophanes, Birds


Fortifications are structures built to aid in the defense of a point or area against attackers. Various types of fortification have existed since prehistoric times: the proto-city of Jericho was protected by a wall over three meters high as early as 9000 BCE, although this may have been as much a flood control measure as a military defense. The growth of civilization and advances in the killing power of weapons made fixed defenses ever more important.

    The basic concept of walling a city is to deter casual raiders and force even a determined army into a protracted, costly siege. Incorporating defensible features into buildings, such as narrow windows and entryways, provides cover to defenders and make it hard for attackers to push into the building safely.

    Advances in engineering during medieval times, and larger labor forces made available by advances in agriculture, allowed a great increase in the scale of defensive works. Entire provinces could be protected by walls like the famous Great Wall of China, or Hadrian's Wall in Britain. Individual points could be held with great castles and fortresses, strong enough that it would take years of siege to starve them out, as a mass assault by soldiers using normal means was guaranteed to fail.

    This goal of demanding multi-year sieges became impractical with the invention of gunpowder-based artillery, but the art of fortification remained prominent. Architects devised new ways to build defenses that would absorb and deflect cannon fire, sheltering troops from enemy guns and channeling attackers into zones where the defenders' guns could be brought to bear.

"Instrumental or mechanical science is the noblest and, above all others, the most useful."

    - Leonardo da Vinci


    A machine is an object constructed of several parts that assists in the performance of a task. The machinery technology allows construction of fairly complex machines with metal components that store, modify and transmit energy in a useful fashion. A windmill is a machine of this type, as is a printing press.

    Man has used primitive machines throughout much of history. A bow can be considered a simple machine, as can a mortar and pestle. More complex machines came into being in the Middle Ages - at least in Europe. The Persians had windmills back in the seventh century BC.

    The earliest machines consisted of gears, driveshafts, levers, pulleys, screws, winches and so forth. Some of these elements could be satisfactorily created of wood or stone, but those substances tend to be both fragile and very difficult to work with, particularly in small sizes. Once metallurgy provided stronger and more precise metal components, machines rapidly grew in sophistication and utility.

"All is interrelated. Heaven and earth, air and water. Where they are not together, there is only an incomplete piece."

    - Paracelsus


Alchemy is the study of chemical substances, in its pre-scientific form. This was often an informal art; mysticism and superstition were mixed seamlessly with pragmatic efforts to manipulate flame, metal, and liquids. Many alchemists sought out impossible goals such as the universal solvent, the elixir of youth, the secret of immortality, or means by which common metals like iron or lead might be transmuted into gold. Alchemy was fraught with frauds, cheats, and liars.

    However, alchemists made real contributions to society. Alchemists were the first to invent many of the basic techniques of processing chemicals, and the equipment needed to do so. Operating on a rough-and-ready empirical basis, they were able to develop substances such as acids, distilled alcoholic spirits, incendiaries, and gunpowder, which had great effects on their societies in both war and peace.