Nội dung

The History of Science and Technology and Social Development # 3 The Great Hydraulic Civilizations Bronze Age + Early Iron Age Neolithic societies never really reach the complexity of Kingdoms It is the advent of complex hydraulic technologies (water management systems) that will lead to an urban revolution Hydro = water This happens in six places Between 3100 BCE and 2000 BCE Egypt 3100 BCE M e s o p o t a m i a 3 0 0 0 B C 3000 BCE 2 6 2000 BCE 2000 BCE What do all these places have in common? • They are all hydraulically distressed regions. They either have to much water or to little water. • Managing water created a centralized society, people had to work together and develop complex political problems to overcome these geographic problems. • Large scale hydraulic engineering projects was a key element in the formation of large, highly centralized bureaucratic states. • The managing of these technological systems created bureaucracy Basic characteristics of a civilization used by historians. • 1) An urban focus- cities. • 2) A distinct religious structure. • 3) New political and military structuresbureaucracy. • 4) A new social structure based on economic power. • 5) New forms of artistic and intellectual activitymonumental architecture. • 6) Development of writing. Mesopotamia= the land between the rivers- Tigris and Euphrates Rivers 3000 BCE- present day Iraq Ur, Uruk, Sumer- great walled cities- 50,000- 200,000 people (3,500 BCE) Sumerians (2,500 BCE) (later Babylonians- very culturally stable) • All these city-states were based on irrigation agriculture – main canals were upwards to 75ft wide (22 meters) – they ran many KM with many connecting canals All these civilizations developed centralized political authority and complex bureaucracies to collect, store and redistribute agricultural surplus- they developed monumental architecture, pyramids of brick called zigguratsdeveloped writing (cuneiform); mathematics and very sophisticated astronomy Ancient Egypt Note the proximity between Mesopotamia & Egypt= What effect? Civilizations in the Americas- Maya, Olmec, Toltec, Aztec, tended to stall technologically and collapse into obscurity leaving no continuous development. Why? One theory is that trade and exchange of ideas difficult crossing climate zones vertically- much easier and likely in shared climate zones stretching horizontally- this tended to isolate civilizations in the Americas- with crossfertilization of ideas- eventually collapse The Egyptians build a highly advanced culture on the banks of the river Nile. The Egyptians practice medicine, even surgery. Much of the Egyptian culture seemed to focus on death, religion, monumental building- concerned with after life. Elaborate preservation of the dead built medical knowledge. Egyptian book of the dead. Monumental Building, such as the Pyramids, were also “engines” to centralize the state. They were multilayered technological systems(astronomical observatory too) The technological development that made all this possible was the development of writing. 2nd hunter style of art (cave paintings) Some of these cave images seem to depict early forms of religion- these images may depict shaman. “Technoforms” begin to appear in cave art. The meaning of these symbols is unknown. These “technoforms” become increasingly complex. Drawings of animals become symbols for the animals. The development of cuneiform (Mesopotamian civilization). Cuneiform could be “pressed” onto clay tablets. This made a permanent written record of the Mesopotamian civilizations. At first, writing was used for the bureaucracy that served a centralized state. Writing for more complex things, history, poetry, fiction, came much latter. Mathematics • Sumerians and Babylonians developed a seigesimal system(60 based system) 60 minutes is an hour- 60 seconds in a minute – 360 degree in a circle etc…… all for practical use (engineering, budgets, etc..) all to serve the state not for abstract theoretical pursuits…… Astronomy • Side by side relationship with what we call science and magic, astronomy and astrology (chemistry& metallurgy = alchemy) problem for us, but to these people no separation between magic and science• Egyptian Pharaoh god-king- Astronomy was for calendar making- important agrarian peoples – and predicted future – this information generation was the right of the state- it maintained royal and priestly power (they stayed in power by controlling information- which is a traditional definition of a state) All of these achievements- all this new data- was to serve and support the state – all had practical ends (even art) filled the needs of these highly centralized states All of this new data was coped with by creating encyclopedic tables or lists Containing lists of words, numbers, plants, gods, animals, stones, cities, rulers, occupants, etc…. Called “the science of lists” No real formal system of logic or analytical thought The End