The Oxford Handbook of Engineering and Technology in the Classical World

by John Peter Oleson

Overview

Nearly every aspect of daily life in the Mediterranean world and Europe during the florescence of the Greek and Roman cultures is relevant to the topics of engineering and technology. This volume highlights both the accomplishments of the ancient societies and the remaining research problems, and stimulates further progress in the history of ancient technology. The subject matter of the book is the technological framework of the Greek and Roman cultures from ca. 800 B.C. through ca. A.D. 500 in the circum-Mediterranean world and Northern Europe. Each chapter discusses a technology or family of technologies from an analytical rather than descriptive point of view, providing a critical summation of our present knowledge of the Greek and Roman accomplishments in the technology concerned and the evolution of their technical capabilities over the chronological period. Each presentation reviews the issues and recent contributions, and defines the capacities and accomplishments of the technology in the context of the society that used it, the available "technological shelf," and the resources consumed. These studies introduce and synthesize the results of excavation or specialized studies. The chapters are organized in sections progressing from sources (written and representational) to primary (e.g., mining, metallurgy, agriculture) and secondary (e.g., woodworking, glass production, food preparation, textile production and leather-working) production, to technologies of social organization and interaction (e.g., roads, bridges, ships, harbors, warfare and fortification), and finally to studies of general social issues (e.g., writing, timekeeping, measurement, scientific instruments, attitudes toward technology and innovation) and the relevance of ethnographic methods to the study of classical technology. The unrivalled breadth and depth of this volume make it the definitive reference work for students and academics across the spectrum of classical studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199734856
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	12/30/2009
Series:	Oxford Handbooks Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	896
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 9.70(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

John Peter Oleson is Distinguished Professor of Greek and Roman Studies, University of Victoria, Canada.

Table of Contents

Contributors
Abbreviations and Spelling Norms Introduction Part I: Sources
1. Ancient Written Sources for Engineering and Technology (Serafina Cuomo)
2. Representations of Technical Processes (Roger Ulrich)
3. Historiography and Theoretical Approaches (Kevin Greene)
Part II: Primary, Extractive Technologies
4. Mining and Metallurgy (Paul T. Craddock)
5. Quarrying and Stoneworking (J. Clayton Fant)
6. Sources of Energy and Exploitation of Power (Örjan Wikander)
7. Greek and Roman Agriculture (Evi Margaritis and Martin K. Jones)
8. Animal Husbandry, Hunting, Fishing, and Fish Production (Geoffrey Kron)
Part III: Engineering and Complex Machines
9. Greek Engineering and Construction (Fredrick A. Cooper)
10. Roman Engineering and Construction (Lynne Lancaster)
11. Hydraulic Engineering and Water Supply (Andrew I. Wilson)
12. Tunnels and Canals (Klaus Grewe)
13. Machines in Greek and Roman Technology (Andrew I. Wilson)
Part IV: Secondary Processes and Manufacturing
14. Food Processing and Preparation (Robert I. Curtis)
15. Large-Scale Manufacturing, Standardization, and Trade (Andrew I. Wilson)
16. Metalworking and Tools (Carol Mattusch)
17. Woodworking (Roger B. Ulrich)
18. Textile Production (John P. Wild)
19. Tanning and Leather (Carol van Driel-Murray)
20. Ceramic Production (Mark Jackson and Kevin Greene)
21. Glass Production (E. Marianne Stern)
Part V: Technologies of Movement and Transport
22. Land Transport, Part 1: Roads and Bridges (Lorenzo Quilici)
23. Land Transport, Part 2: Riding, Harnesses, and Vehicles (Georges Raepsaet)
24. Sea Transport, Part 1: Ships and Navigation (Seán McGrail)
25. Sea Transport, Part 2: Harbors (David J. Blackman)
Part VI: Technologies of Death
26. Greek Warfare and Fortification (Philip de Souza)
27. Roman Warfare and Fortification (Gwyn Davies)
Part VII: Technologies of the Mind
28. Information Technologies: Writing, Book Production, and the Role of Literacy (Willy Clarysse and Katelijn Vandorpe)
29. Timekeeping (Robert Hannah)
30. Technologies of Calculation Part 1: Weights and Measures (Charlotte Wikander)
Part 2: Coinage (Andrew Meadows)
Part 3: Practical Mathematics (Karin Tybjerg)
31. Gadgets and Scientific Instruments (Örjan Wikander)
32. Inventors, Invention, and Attitudes toward Innovation (Kevin Greene)
Part VIII: Ancient Technologies in the Modern World
33. Expanding Ethnoarchaeology: Historical Evidence and Model-Building in the Study of Technological Change (Michael B. Schiffer)
Index
Contributors
Abbreviations and Spelling Norms
Introduction
Part I: Sources
1. Ancient Written Sources for Engineering and Technology, (Serafina Cuomo)
2. Representations of Technical Processes, (Roger Ulrich)
3. Historiography and Theoretical Approaches, (Kevin Greene)
Part II: Primary, Extractive Technologies
4. Mining and Metallurgy, (Paul T. Craddock)
5. Quarrying and Stoneworking, (J. Clayton Fant)
6. Sources of Energy and Exploitation of Power, (Örjan Wikander)
7. Greek and Roman Agriculture, (Evi Margaritis and Martin K. Jones)
8. Animal Husbandry, Hunting, Fishing, and Fish Production, (Geoffrey Kron)
Part III: Engineering and Complex Machines
9. Greek Engineering and Construction, (Fredrick A. Cooper)
10. Roman Engineering and Construction, (Lynne Lancaster)
11. Hydraulic Engineering and Water Supply, (Andrew I. Wilson)
12. Tunnels and Canals, (Klaus Grewe)
13. Machines in Greek and Roman Technology, (Andrew I. Wilson)
Part IV: Secondary Processes and Manufacturing
14. Food Processing and Preparation, (Robert I. Curtis)
15. Large-Scale Manufacturing, Standardization, and Trade, (Andrew I. Wilson)
16. Metalworking and Tools, (Carol Mattusch)
17. Woodworking, (Roger B. Ulrich)
18. Textile Production, (John P. Wild)
19. Tanning and Leather, (Carol van Driel-Murray)
20. Ceramic Production, (Mark Jackson and Kevin Greene)
21. Glass Production, (E. Marianne Stern)
Part V: Technologies of Movement and Transport
22. Land Transport, Part 1: Roads and Bridges, (Lorenzo Quilici)
23. Land Transport, Part 2: Riding, Harnesses, and Vehicles, (Georges Raepsaet)
24. Sea Transport, Part 1: Ships and Navigation, (Seán McGrail)
25. Sea Transport, Part 2: Harbors, (David J. Blackman)
Part VI: Technologies of Death
26. Greek Warfare and Fortification, (Philip de Souza)
27. Roman Warfare and Fortification, (Gwyn Davies)
Part VII: Technologies of the Mind
28. Information Technologies: Writing, Book Production, and the Role of Literacy, (Willy Clarysse and Katelijn Vandorpe)
29. Timekeeping, (Robert Hannah)
30. Technologies of Calculation
Part 1: Weights and Measures (Charlotte Wikander)
Part 2: Coinage (Andrew Meadows)
Part 3: Practical Mathematics (Karin Tybjerg)
31. Gadgets and Scientific Instruments, (Örjan Wikander)
32. Inventors, Invention, and Attitudes toward Innovation, (Kevin Greene)
Part VIII: Ancient Technologies in the Modern World
33. Expanding Ethnoarchaeology: Historical Evidence and Model-Building in the Study of Technological Change, (Michael B. Schiffer)
Index