Precolonial

Science
Development of Science in Mesoamerica,
Asia, Africa and Middle East
South Asian Knowledge, Science
and Technology

In South Asia, as in other civilizations, codified, formal, physical

knowledge preceded the Indus River-Valley civilizations.
South Asia
Stone Age Man
• access to a vast array of
valid knowledge about
nature
• Oral Knowledge
South Asia
•Indus Economy
• Irrigated agriculture --> Dam

Harrow Plough
• Transport: River
• Architecture: Well-developed (city)
Kiln Burnt Bricks
• Technology: Bronze and Stone tools; flood irrigation techniques
• Weaponry: Bronze spear, arrowhead and short sword
• Other Artifacts: Seals, Terracotta Figurines, Pottery
• 4000 B.C-1800 B.C (Cities: Mohenjo-daro, Harappa)
Vedic Period

• the next phase of the South Asian cultural and

intellectual search; there is more direct
evidence of it in the form of literature

• 15th Century BC – Arrival of Aryans

Vedic Period
• Aryans
• Developments in:
• Astronomy → Calendar (lunar)
❖ 1 Cosmic cycle (Mahayuga) = 360 Solar years (4, 320, 000 yrs)
• Mathematics (Aryabhata I (sines, summation of series, indeterminate equation
1st order) Bhaskara I (Hindu-decimal system, indeterminate equations 2nd order,
cyclic quads. ))
• Medicine → Ayurveda (charaka sanhitha, susruta) Rigveda sanhitha
• Philosophy → ex. Charvakas, Upanishads, Pancha Bhootas (five elements),
Vaisheshika, Atomism
Vedic Period
• Technology
• Glass manufacture, High level pottery, use of iron, use of irrigation schemes
• Civil Engineering
• Vast masonry structures in the form of stupas
• Hydraulic Systems
• Astronomy
• Suryasiddhanta - trigonometrical functions, sine tables, equinoxes, solstices,
meridians, the measurement of time, planetary movements, eclipses,
formalization of the calendar and the use of astronomical instruments
Vedic Period
• Acoustics
• phonetic tradition incorporated both in the 'correct'
recitation of religious texts and in Panini's linguistic analysis
helped developed a distinguishing musical tone system
• octave had been divided into 22 quartertones and their
proportions measured with high accuracy
• known that overtones were responsible for differences of
timbre
 Vedic Period
• Motions
• Vaisheshikas developed an impetus theory of
motion of a body
• Biological Sciences
• Classification of plants and animals with
detailed description
• Agriculture is well-developed
• Medical texts of pathology of plants and
animals
Atomism

Atom Nyaya Jains Buddhism

Properties Vaisesika
Quality of Capable of Inherent Different
Elements combination qualities physical
bodies
Activity constant sometimes Bundles of
motion active, forces and
sometimes energy
not
Groups In Chinese Society
• high officials- the scholars (meritocratic) who had successful and fruitful
careers
• commoners
• members of the semi-servile groups
• those who were actually enslaved
• group of minor officials- scholars who were not able to make their way
upwards in the ranks of the bureaucracy
• Merchants (role of merchants)
• Feudal-Bureaucratic government
Some Chinese Expeditions and Surveys

• Meridian arc surveyed (A.D. 800) under the auspices of I-Hsing

and the Astronomer-Royal, Nankung Yueh
• An expedition to the East Indies (A.D. 800) for the purpose of
surveying the constellations of the southern Hemisphere
• Admiral Zheng He (Chinese Explorer (as far as Africa) 14th to
15th century)
• Chinese traditional
enrolling ceremony
in Hangzhou
Chinese Remarkable Achievements in
Mathematics
• decimal place-value
• a blank space for the zero
• decimal metrology
• solution of equations (Sung and Yuan)- triangle called by Pascal's name
was already old in China in A.D. 1300
• negative numbers
• indeterminate analysis
• the method of finite differences
Chinese Remarkable Achievements in Astronomy
• mapped the heavens using our modern co-ordinates

• kept records of eclipses, comets, novae and meteors

• invention of the equatorial mounting and the clock-drive

• first established (by the seventh century A.D. at least) the constant rule
(chhang tse) that the tails of comets point away from the sun.
Chinese Remarkable Achievements in Geology
and Cartography
• the first practical seismograph by Chang Heng about A.D. 130

• quantitative cartography with Chang Heng and Phei Hsiu

• advanced survey methods and the making of relief maps

• The basic principles of Huttonian geology were stated by Shen Kua

Chinese Remarkable Achievements in
Engineering
• efficient harness for equine animals
• mastery of iron-casting
• mechanical clockwork- verge-and-foliot escapements.
• notably iron-chain suspension bridges -the magnificent bridge
built by Li Chhun in A.D. 610.
• Hydraulic engineering on account of the necessity of control of
waterways for river conservation, irrigation, and tax-grain transport
• simple wheelbarrow
Chinese Remarkable Achievements in Other
Fields
• gunpowder
• mastery of a textile fibre
• development of paper
• block-printing and movable-type printing
• the astonishing story of porcelain
• pioneers of the techniques of inoculation
• correct conception of the cause of sea tides
• recognition of the hexagonal system of snowflake crystals
Ancient
Chinese
Seismograph
MECHANICAL
ENGINEERING IN THE
MEDIEVAL NEAR EAST
Islam

• A religion that began with Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century

• Muslim followed teachings form their sacred book, the Qur’an
• Its administrative center can be found at Medina, and its spiritual heart
at Mecca
• by 750, the Arab empire, stretched from the Pyrenees to central Asia.
• The advent of Islam brought immense political,
religious and cultural changes, but the
technological traditions were largely unaffected.
• In mechanical engineering, the Muslim adapted
the techniques of earlier civilizations to satisfy
the needs of the new society.
Purpose of Technology

• Due to increased number of population, feeding and clothing the

inhabitants placed great demand on agriculture and attribution.

Use technology:
1. for supplying irrigation water to the fields
2. for processing the crops into food stuff
Water and Water Power

❑Water- raising machines

a. Shaduf (illustrated as early as 2500 B.C.)

• most ancient water-raising machine
• a counterweighted lever from which a bucket is suspended into
a well or stream
Shaduf
Water- raising machine

Screw or Water snail machines (between the 3rd and 1st

century B.C.)
- attributed to the great mathematician,
Archimedes
- consists of a helical wooden blade rotating
within a barrel like wooden cylinder
Screw or Water snail machine
Water- raising machine

Noria
- self-acting
- a large wheel driven by the velocity of
the current
Wheel at Hama on
the river Orontes in
Syria
Water- raising machine

Saqiya
- probably the most widespread and useful of all the water
rising machines that medieval Islam inherited and improved
- it is a chain of pots driven by one or two animals by
means of pair of gears.
Saqiya
 Spiral Scoop Wheel

Water-
- raises water to the
raising ground level with a

machine
high degree of efficiency.
Types of Vertical Wheels
1. Undershot wheel
- is a paddle wheel that turns under the impulse of the
current
2. Overshot wheel
- receives water from above, often from speciall constructed
channels, it thus adds the impetus of gravity to that of the
current
Wind Mill
Where waterpower was scarce, the Muslims had to recourse to the wind.
First Wind Mill
- was invented in the 7th century in Afghanistan, where waterpower was
lacking
- the rotor turned on a vertical axis
Arabic treatise of the ninth century
- Wheels with curved blades onto which the flow was directed axially.
 Gristmilling- the grinding of corn
and other seeds to produce meal
Fulling of cloth

Crushing of metallic ores prior to

Uses of wind the extraction process
Rice husking
mills
Paper-making

Pulping of sugar cane

Fine Technology
❖Its distinguishing features derive from the use of delicate mechanisms
and controls.
Devices:
• Water clock- used in astronomical observations (ex. 2 large water clocks
in fez, Morocco)
• Astronomical instruments- aided both observation and computation
The 2 Arabic treatises
A. First is by the Banu (Arabic sons of Musa)
➢ Three brothers who lived in Baghdad in the 9th century.
➢ They were patrons of scholars and translators as well as eminent scientists and engineers in
their own right.
➢ They undertook public works and geodetic surveys and wrote number of books in
mathematical and scientific subjects
The Book of Ingenious Devices
- It contains descriptions, each with an illustration, of 100 devices, some
80 of which are trick vessels of various kinds.
Some devices:
• Hurricane lamp
• Self- trimming and self- feeding lamps
• Gas mask
The 2 Arabic treaties
B. Second was written by al Jazari at the close of the 12th century (Book of
Knowledge of Ingenious Devices)
➢ He was a servant of the Artuqid princes, vassals Saladin
➢ His work places him in the front rank of mechanical engineers from any
cultural region in pre-Renaissance times.
Some of his works
• Al- Jazari’s clocks
-all employed automata to mark the passage of
the hours
- the prime movers transmitted power to these
automata by means of pulley systems and tripping
mechanisms
Some of his works
• Candle clocks
• Elephant Clock
Concepts under his works
• The lamination of timber to minimize warping
• The static balancing of wheels
• The use of wooden templates (a kind of pattern)
• The use of paper models to establish design
• The calibration of orifices
• The ginding of the seats and plugs of valves together with emery
powder to obtain a watertight fit
• The casting of metals in closed mold boxes with sand.
Algazel/ Al-ghazali
• Incoherence of Philosophers
• Turning point (beginning of decline of Science in Islam)
• (800-1100) Arab translation of Greek texts
• Shift from Natural Philosophy to Fundamentalism
Mesoamerican Cultures: Maya, Aztec, Inca
Global History: Spiconardi
Maya Social
Structure
Maya
• Religion
• Believed each day was a living god
• Had to please the gods via sacrifice
• Piercing of bodies with needle
• Flowers & incense

• Human Sacrifice
• Sacrificed prisoners of war, slaves, and children
• Victim painted blue, had chest cut open, and heart
removed

• Drug Use
• Smoked a strong tobacco w/hallucinogenic effects
• Drank fermented water, honey, and tree bark drink
Maya
• Farm, Trade, and Agriculture
• Slash-and-burn farming  clear
land by burning current vegetation
and planting new crops in the
ashes
• No Formal Currency…Used the
cocoa beans as $
• Counterfeit cocoa beans
• Some merchants would remove
the cocoa from the bean and refill
it with wax
Maya

• Achievements
• Hieroglyphic symbols
• Concept of zero & counting system
• Calendar
• Only .0002 days short; extremely
accurate
Mesoamerican
Ballgame
Aztec
• Tenochtitlan
• A group of people first known as
the Mexicas, later the Aztecs, found
the city of Tenochtitlan (modern
day Mexico City) in 1315.
• Tenochtitlan became an urban
center that was larger than
European capitals
• Dubbed the “Venice of the New
World”
 Aztec
• Religion
• As an agricultural people, the Aztec depended heavily on
the forces of nature and worshiped them as gods
• The Aztec believed that the benevolent gods must be
kept strong to prevent the evil gods from destroying the
world
• Human Sacrifice
• Victims of sacrifice were usually prisoners of war,
although Aztec warriors would sometimes volunteer for
the more important sacrificial rituals
• The god Tlaloc was believed to prefer children as
sacrificial victims
Aztec
• Agriculture
• Tenochtitlan was constructed
on swamp land not suited for
farming
• Chinampas  “floating
gardens;” artificial islands made
of soil and reed mats that were
placed in Lake Texcoco
Aztec
• Spanish Conquest
• In 1519 Spanish explorer Hernán
Cortés and more than 500 Spaniards
landed in eastern Mexico in search of
land and gold
• Kidnaps Aztec leader Montezuma for a
gold ransom
• Conquered all of the Aztec by 1525
• 1/3 of population killed
• Mostly from small pox
• Survivors forced into labor mining for gold
or working on the estates of the Spaniards
 Inca
• Government
• The Emperor owned all people, land, &
resources
• Government had complete control over the
economy
• Farmers worked on cooperative farms
• Early form of socialism/communism
• Massive bureaucracy
• For every 10,000 people there were 1,331
government officials
• Mita  special tax, but in the form of labor NOT
money
• All able bodied citizens required to work for
the government for a set number of days per
year
Inca
• Religion
• Worshipping of sun played a major
role in the religion
• Emperor seen as the son of the sun god
• Human Sacrifice?
• Only on the rarest occasion; usually
children or virginal women who dedicated
lives to worshipping the sun
• Most of sacrifices were guinea pigs and
llamas
Inca
• Achievements
• Massive Road System
• Connected all the people of the
Incan Empire
• All roads led to the Capital of Cuzco
• Machu Picchu
• Served as religious city and fortress
during the Spanish conquest
• Could only be reached by bridges
over rivers 1,950 feet in the air
Machu Picchu
Inca
• Achievements
• Terrace farming
• What other cultures that we
have studied this year have
used this method?
• Quipus  series of knotted
strings used by Incan officials
for keeping records
• Incans did not have a writing
system or advanced calendar
Inca
• Spanish Conquest
• Conquered by Pizarro in
1532