Engineering

History
When did engineering begin?

Who were the first engineers?

What were the first engineering

designs?
The Beginnings of Engineering: 6000 - 3000 B.C.
◼Probably occurred in Asia Minor or Africa 8000 years ago

https://slideplayer.com/slide/13371866/
The Beginnings of Engineering: 6000 - 3000 B.C.

https://slideplayer.com/slide/13371866/
The Beginnings of Engineering: 6000 - 3000 B.C.

https://slideplayer.com/slide/13371866/
The Beginnings of Engineering: 6000 - 3000 B.C.

https://slideplayer.com/slide/13371866/
The Beginnings of Engineering: 6000 - 3000 B.C.

https://slideplayer.com/slide/13371866/
The Beginnings of Engineering: 6000 -
3000 B.C.
Early Achievements in this Era
◼ Methods of producing fire at will

◼ Melting certain rocklike materials to produce

copper and bronze tools

◼ Development of a system of symbols for

written communications
The Beginnings of Engineering: 6000 - 3000 B.C.

https://slideplayer.com/slide/13371866/
The Beginnings of Engineering: 6000 - 3000 B.C.

https ://kidzfeed.com/stone-age-tools/

◼Melting certain rocklike materials to produce

copper and bronze tools
The Beginnings of Engineering: 6000 - 3000 B.C.

Early Achievements in this Era

◼Development of a system of symbols for
written communications

https://study.com/academy/lesson/methods-of-communication-in-ancient-times.html https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=development+of+a+
system+of+symbols+for+written+communication&tbm
The Beginnings of Engineering: 6000 - 3000 B.C.

Major Engineering Projects or

Inventions
◼Irrigation systems to promote crop growth
◼Animal-, water-, and wind-driven gristmills

◼The wheel and axle

◼ Plow

◼ Yoke
The Beginnings of Engineering: 6000 - 3000 B.C.

https://www.sutori.com/item/this-is-an-example-of-ancient-egypt-irrigation-system-4a3c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnPvbkvkc_A
The Beginnings of Engineering: 6000 - 3000 B.C.
Major Engineering Projects or Inventions

◼ The wheel and axle

◼ Plow
◼ Yoke
https://www.grit.com/farm-and-garden/do-it-
yourself/oxen-yoke-zm0z15mazreg

http://experimentaltheology.blogspot.com/2015/07/
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/62357/who-actually-invented-wheel a-yoke-of-paradox.html
https://howardsuer.wordpress.com/2009/
11/01/how-the-chinese-plow-changed-
the-world/
The Beginnings of Engineering: 6000 - 3000 B.C.
Major Engineering Projects or Inventions

▪ Animal-, water-,
and wind-driven
machines

http://www.history.alberta.ca/energyheritage/energy/wi
nd-power/wind-power-in-early-times.aspx
https://pixels.com/featured/the-ancient-ways-of-farming- https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/89272/view/islamic-
photos-by-pharos.html waterwheel-cordoba-spain
The Beginnings of Engineering: 6000 -
3000 B.C.
Mesopotamia “cradle of civilization”

Clay tile material used for permanent documentation

◼

Clay tablets unearthed which show:

◼
◼maps of caravan routes including mountains, cities
and water
◼city plans

◼irrigation systems

◼water supply systems

◼road maps (networks)

The Beginnings of Engineering: 6000 -
3000 B.C.

◼ Outstanding contributions of mathematics

◼ Sexagesimal system

◼ divided circle into 360 degrees

◼ hour into 60 minutes

◼ minute into 60 seconds

 Engineering in Early Civilizations:
3000 - 600 B.C.
◼ Babylonian engineers:
◼Familiar with basic arithmetic and algebra computing
areas and volumes of land excavations
◼Number system based on 60 instead of 10

◼Buildings were constructed using basic engineering

principles still used today
◼Primitive arches used in hydraulic works

◼Bridges were built with stone piers carrying wooden

stringers
◼Roads were surfaced with a naturally occurring asphalt,
a construction system not used again until the nineteenth
century
 Engineering in Early Civilizations:
3000 - 600 B.C.
Egyptian Engineers
◼
Pyramid Age - 2900 B.C and lasts 1000 years
◼

◼2,300,000 building stones (2.5 tons each) used to

build the Great Pyramid of Cheops

◼Outstanding examples of engineering skills in

land measurement and building layout -transit

and level
◼ Irrigation systems
Science of the Greeks and Romans:
600 B.C. - 400 A.D.

◼ Engineering in Greece:
◼ Had its origin in Egypt
◼ Better known for the intensive development of

borrowed ideas than for creativity and invention

◼ Famous for outstanding philosophers:

◼ Socrates, Plato, Aristotle (physical scientist) and

Archimedes (mathematics)
Science of the Greeks and Romans:
600 B.C. - 400 A.D.

◼ Engineering in Greece:
◼ Use of ideas was retarded because of the belief
that verification and experimentation, which
required manual labor, were only fit for slaves.
◼ Archimedes water screw

◼ Crossbow

◼ Catapult
Science of the Greeks and Romans:
600 B.C. - 400 A.D.
◼ Roman Engineering
◼ Liberally borrowed scientific and engineering knowledge
from the conquered countries for use in warfare and in
their public works
◼ Superior in the application of ideas and techniques

◼ Hero’s Inventions:

◼Gear driven odometer on chariot

◼Steam turbine

◼Hydraulic clock

◼Fire engine
Science of the Greeks and Romans:
600 B.C. - 400 A.D.

◼ Roman Engineering
◼ Roman road systems- subbase, compact base,
topcoat 180,000 miles
◼ Aqueducts for water supply

◼ Sanitary systems

◼ Engineering principles applies to military tactics

Engineering in the Middle Ages:
1st to 16th Centuries

◼Collapse of the Roman Empire 4th and 5th centuries A.D.

was known as the Dark Ages, but was it?
◼ The word engineer began to appear. Its root lies in the
Latin word ingeniare, “to design or devise”
◼Animals and waterwheels began to replace humans as the
power source (the growth of Christianity, an aversion to
slaves as a primary source of power)
◼ Arabs were developing paper making, chemistry, and
optics
Engineering in the Middle Ages:
1st to 16th Centuries
◼ Sugar refining, soap making, and perfume distilling
became part of the culture
◼ Chinese were developing clocks, astronomical
instruments, the loom and spinning wheel, and
gunpowder
 Building Materials
Materials were chosen based on
availability and climate.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/The_historical_city_of_Babylon.jpg

Ruins of Babylon (present day Iraq). All that remains of the

famous city-state is a mound of broken mud-brick
dwellings.
Engineering in the Middle Ages:
1st to 16th Centuries
◼ Johann Gutenburg - movable type produced the first
books printed on paper
◼ Leonardo da Vinci - acclaimed as a great artist, was

also an engineer, inventor and architect

◼ Military and civil engineering feats such as catapults

bridges and buildings

◼ Sketches of future engineering devices such as:

Machine Gun Helicopter Drawbridge

Breach-loading Cannon Roller Bearings Universal Joint
Tanks
 www.wikipedia.org

Greece consists almost entirely of limestone with

many sources of fine marble. Therefore, many Greek
structures were constructed with limestone and
marble.
28
 www.wikipedia.org

View of the city of Machu Picchu constructed

from stone cut from the surrounding mountains.
Wood was
readily available
in China.
Traditional
Chinese wooden
architecture
changed little
over thousands
of years.
www.wikipedia.org

30
Methods of construction
that use locally available
resources and traditions to
address local needs.
www.wikipedia.org

www.wikipedia.org

African Hut at Bana, a

small village of
An igloo, an Inuit winter dwelling Cameroon
 www.wikipedia.org

Southern African rondavel

(or banda)
 www.wikipedia.org
www.wikipedia.org

Apache wickiup built of brush,

Traditional Nepalese house built
grass, or reed
of stone and clay
 The Pyramids

Bearing Wall

Stepped Pyramid

Great Pyramid of Khufu

Kukulkan's Pyramid https://pixy.org/5906343/
 Modern Pyramids

https://travelanddesign.ca/6-structures-designed-by-i-m-pei/

The Louvre Pyramid in Paris, France

 The Parthenon

https://greekreporter.com/2019/10/02/the-engineering-secrets-that-enabled-the-parthenon-to-survive-time-nature-and-man-video/
Arches
Keystone
The Vault
Domes
Pantheon
Great Wall of China
Road Systems
Early Bridge Designs

www.wikipedia.org
 Roman Bridges
©istockphoto.com

istockphoto.com

A Roman bridge crosses the Afrin River in

northern Syria and is still in use today.
©istockphoto.com

Roman bridge in Vaison la Romaine,

south France
 Structural Steel
istockphoto.com

Perhaps the best-known

structural steel framed
building is the Empire State
Building, completed in 1931.
 Reinforced Concrete
istockphoto.com

The Burj Khalifa (United Arab

Emirates) is the tallest man-
made structure ever built. It is
supported by a reinforced
concrete core using a special
concrete mix.
 Reinforced Concrete Bridges

www.wikipedia.org

Cedar Avenue Bridge (actually carrying Tenth Street) in Minneapolis, MN

over the Mississippi is a reinforced concrete open spandrel arch bridge.
Image Resources
www.wikipedia.org
www.istockphoto.com
Any Questions?