Ancient Civilizations achievements in Science

and Technology.

1. Greek Civilization

 Watermill - A mill for grinding grain that is powered by water.

The Greeks invented the waterwheel used to power the mill and
the toothed gears used to transfer the power to the mill.
 Alarm Clock - The Greek philosopher Plato may have
invented the first alarm clock in history. He used a water clock to trigger a sound like an organ at
a certain time.

 Central Heating - The Greeks invented a type of central heating where they would transfer hot
air from fires to empty spaces under the floors of temples.
 Crane - The Greeks invented the crane to help lift heavy
items such as blocks for constructing buildings.

 Archimedes' Screw - Invented by Archimedes, the Archimedes' screw was an efficient way to
move water up a hill.
2. Roman Civilization.

 Concrete - Many ancient Roman structures

like the Pantheon, the Colosseum and the
Roman Forum are still standing today
thanks to the development of Roman cement
and concrete. The Romans first began
building with concrete over 2,100 years ago
and used it throughout the Mediterranean
basin in everything from aqueducts and
buildings to bridges and monuments. Roman
concrete was considerably weaker than its
modern counterpart, but it has proved
remarkably durable thanks to its unique
recipe, which used slaked lime and a volcanic
ash known as pozzolana to create a sticky
paste. Combined with volcanic rocks called
tuff, this ancient cement formed a concrete
that could effectively endure chemical decay.
 Newspaper - The Romans were known to contribute to public discourse through the use of
official texts detailing military, legal and civil issues. Known as Acta Diurna, or “daily acts,”
these early newspapers were written on metal or stone and then posted in heavily trafficked areas
like the Roman Forum. Acta are believed to have first appeared around 131 B.C. and typically
included details of Roman military victories, lists of games and gladiatorial bouts, birth and death
notices and even human interest stories.

 Bound Books - For most of human history,

literature took the form of unwieldy clay
tablets and scrolls. The Romans streamlined
the medium by creating the codex, a stack of
bound pages that is recognized as the earliest
incarnation of the book. The first codices
were made of bound wax tablets, but these
were later replaced by animal skin parchment
that more clearly resembled pages. Ancient historians note that Julius Caesar created an early
version of a codex by stacking pages of papyrus to form a primitive notebook, but bound codices
did not become popular in Rome until the first century or thereabouts.
  The Julian Calendar - The modern Gregorian calendar is modeled very closely on a Roman
version that dates back more than 2,000 years. Early Roman calendars were likely cribbed from
Greek models that operated around the lunar cycle. But because the Romans considered even
numbers unlucky, they eventually altered their calendar to ensure that each month had an odd
number of days. This practice continued until 46 B.C., when Julius Caesar and the astronomer
Sosigenes instituted the Julian system to align the calendar with the solar year. Caesar lengthened
the number of days in a year from 355 to the now-familiar 365 and eventually included the 12
months as we know them today. The Julian calendar was almost perfect, but it miscalculated the
solar year by 11 minutes. These few minutes ultimately threw the calendar off by several days.
This led to the adoption of the nearly identical Gregorian calendar in 1582, which fixed the
discrepancy by altering the schedule of leap
years.
 Surgery - The Romans invented many
surgical tools and pioneered the use of the
cesarean section, but their most valuable
contributions to medicine came on the
battlefield. Under the leadership of
Augustus, they established a military
medical corps that was one of the first
dedicated field surgery units. These specially
trained medics saved countless lives through
the use of Roman medical innovations like
hemostatic tourniquets and arterial surgical
clamps to curb blood loss.

3. Chinese Civilization.

 Silk - Silk was a soft and light material much desired

by the wealthy throughout the world. It became such a valuable export that the trade route
running from Europe to China became known as the Silk Road. The Chinese learned how to
make silk from the cocoons of silkworms. They managed to keep the process for making silk a
secret for hundreds of years.
 Printing - Wood block printing was invented in AD 868 and then moveable type around 200
years later. This was actually hundreds of years before the invention of the printing press by
Gutenberg in Europe.
 The Compass - The Chinese invented the magnetic
compass to help determine the correct direction. They
used this in city planning at first, but it became very
important to map makers and for the navigation of ships.

 Gunpowder - Gunpowder was

invented in the 9th century by
chemists trying to find the Elixir of
Immortality. Not long after, engineers
figured out how to use gunpowder for
military uses such as bombs, guns,
mines, and even rockets. They also
invented fireworks and made great
beautiful displays of fireworks for celebrations.
 Boat Rudder - The rudder was invented as a way to steer large ships. This enabled the Chinese
to build huge ships as early as 200 AD, well before they were ever built in Europe.