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This article is about the topic of technology in history. For the publication, see History of Technology (magazine). The history of technology is the history of useful tools and techniques for doing practical things. It is intimately related with the history of science, which includes how humans have acquired the background knowledge necessary to build useful things. Scientific endeavors have, especially in modern times, usually depended on specific technologies which assist humans to probe the nature of the universe in more detail than our natural senses allow.

Technological artifacts are products of an economy, a force for economic growth, and a large part of everyday life. Technological innovations affect, and are affected by, a society's cultural traditions. They also are a means to develop and project military power.

By period and geography

Early technology

Prehistoric times

Although, by definition, no writing records were made in prehistoric time, we can get some insight as to how the world, and its mechanisms, was understood or interpreted by prehistoric man by direct and indirect evidence. Direct evidence includes cave paintings that were found in Spain and France, and some other artistic works, for example the Venus of Willendorf. Other direct evidence are bones (for example trepanation), mummies and ancient tools*. Despite the relative lack of direct evidence of knowledge owned by prehistoric man, the surviving technologies of prehistory may also be used to conjecture as to the understanding of the world in that era.

Survival was the first order of business; even today, with the great tsunami of 2004, Andaman Islanders remembered the advice of their forebears, took to the high ground, and survived the tsunami, as their ancestors have since time immemorial. These peoples recounted this knowledge to the crews of the rescue aircraft who were hovering over the Andaman Islands, after the aircraft were attacked by their arrows.

Although there is no written record of technological innovation for some peoples or cultures, there is some evidence for their achievements in exploration: for example, the Malay people spread across the Malay archipelago, across the Indian ocean to Madagascar and also across the Pacific ocean, which required knowledge of the ocean currents, the winds, sailing, the movement of the stars, celestial navigation, and star maps. The star maps were not made of paper, but were lashed together with strings, sticks and shells. Their outrigger ships were ocean-worthy, thousands of years ago, well before the maritime technology of the West was capable of the age of exploration.

Before them, likely by hunting and gathering, the Indigenous Australians and the Native Americans followed the contours of the continents to populate their parts of the world - a journey of tens of thousands of kilometers, and which may have taken thousands of years.

Ancient Egypt

The Egyptians invented and used many simple machines, such as the ramp and the lever, to aid their construction processes. Egyptian paper made from papyrus and pottery was mass produced and exported to the entire Mediterranean basin. The wheel, however, did not arrive until foreign invaders introduced the chariot.

Tribal Europe

By 1000 BC - 500 BC the Germanic tribes had a bronze age civilization, while the Celts were in the iron age by the time of the Hallstatt culture. Their cultures next collided with the military and agricultural practices of the Romans, two millennia ago. But the time and resources which are needed to conduct science had to build up gradually.

Ancient Greece

The Greeks invented a large number of new technologies and greatly improved a lot of technologies invented before, the period of fastest technological progress in antiquity was the Hellenistic period.

Hero of Alexandria invented a steam engine and documented the use of many mechanic, pneumatic and other devices. Archimedes invented several machines. The Greeks were the only civilization in pre industrial times to combine scientific research with the development of new technologies. One example is the Archimedes Screw, this technology was first conceptualized in mathematics, then it was build. Other technologies with the Greek scientists invented using the scientific method include the ballistae, primitive analog computers like the Antikythera mechanism and the piston pump.*

Ancient Rome

Main article: Ancient Roman technology

The civilization of Rome included technology for:

  • intensive agriculture
  • ironworking
  • laws providing for individual ownership
  • stonemasonry
  • road-building
  • military engineering
  • civil engineering
  • spinning and weaving

Because Rome was located on a volcanic peninsula, with sand which contained suitable crystalline grains, the concrete which the Romans formulated and invented was especially durable. Some of their buildings have lasted 2000 years, to the present day.

The Romans understood hydraulics and constructed fountains and waterworks which were the hallmark of their civilization. Some Roman baths, in England for example, have lasted to this day.

The romans developed the most advanced set of technologies for their time and many of its technologies were only reinvented in the 19th century and 20th century.

Ancient India

The Indus Valley Civilization situated suitably, with a lot of resources, was a lesson in city planning and sanitation. One of the first examples of closed 'gutters', public baths, granaries etc. are seen here.

The Takshashila University was an important seat of learning in the ancient world. It was the center of education for scholars from all over Asia. Many Greek, Persian and Chinese students studied here under great scholars - Kautilya, Panini, Jivaka, Vishnu Sharma.

A panel found at Mohenjodaro, depicting a sailing craft. Vessels were of many types. Their construction is vividly described in the Yukti Kalpa Taru, an ancient Indian text on Ship-building.

Indian construction and architecture called 'Vaastu Shastra' offered details and plans based on scientific principles like Strength of Materials, ideal height of construction, presence of adequate sources of water, light hence preserving hygiene. It is one of the first building science to be so all-inclusive.

The Yukti Kalpa Taru, compiled by Bhoja Narapati is concerned with ship-building. (The Yukti Kalpa Taru (YKT) had been translated and published by Prof. Aufrecht in his 'Catalogue of Sanskrit Manuscripts').

Ancient Indian culture has always been diverse in its choice of spices, condiments and ornamental items, hence India was the origin of palm and coconut oil, indigo and other vegetable dyes and pigments like cinnabar. Many of the dyes were used in art and sculpture. The use of perfumes demonstrates some knowledge of the application of technologies used in chemistry, particularly in distillation and purification processes.

Ancient China

According to the Scottish researcher Joseph Needham, the Chinese made a great many first-known discoveries and developments. Major technological contributions from China include early seismological detectors, matches, paper, sliding calipers, the double-action piston pump, cast iron, the iron plough, the multi-tube seed drill, the wheelbarrow, the suspension bridge, the parachute, natural gas as fuel, the magnetic compass, the relief map, the propeller, the crossbow, and gun powder.

Medieval China

The solid-fuel rocket was invented in China about 1150, about 200 years after the invention of black powder (which was its main fuel) and 500 years after the invention of the match. At the same time that the age of exploration was occurring in the West, the Chinese emperors of the Ming Dynasty also sent ships, some reaching Africa. But the enterprises were not further funded, halting further exploration and development. When Magellan's ships reached Brunei in 1521, they found a wealthy city that had been fortified by Chinese engineers, protected by a breakwater. Antonio Pigafetta noted that much of the technology of Brunei was equal to Western technology of the time. Also, there were more cannons in Brunei than on Magellan's ships, and the Chinese merchants to the Brunei court had sold them spectacles and porcelain, which were rarities in Europe. The scientific base for these technological developments appears to be quite thin, however. For example, the concept of force was not clearly formulated in Chinese texts of the period.

Other Chinese discoveries and inventions from the Medieval period, according to Joseph Needham's research, include: the paddle wheel boat, block printing and movable type, phosphorescent paint, chain drive, and the spinning wheel.

Inca

The engineering skills of the Inca were great, even by today's standards. An example is the use of pieces weighing in upwards of one ton in their stonework (e.g., Machu Picchu in Peru), placed together so that not even a blade can fit in-between the cracks. The villages used irrigation canals and drainage systems, making agriculture very efficient.

It is said that the Incas were the first inventors of hydroponics, which they used to grow crops in great number whilst reducing land usage, thus revealing the geographical ability to plan land.

Maya

The Maya civilization did not smelt metals or use the wheel; they possessed a system of writing and amazing fluency with flint-knapping including portraiture in flint.

European

The fall of the Roman Empire slowed innovation in some areas while in many other areas a huge ammount of technology was lost (such as the technology to make concrete). By the fall of Rome, heavy chain armor was in general use by the armies of Rome as the lorica segmentada armor fell out of use, and for nearly a thousand years afterward, until it was substituted by plate armor.

Medieval
See: Medieval technology

=Timekeeping
= At first, timekeeping was done by hand, by priests, and then for commerce, with watchmen to note time, as part of their duties. The tabulation of the equinoxes, the sandglass, and the water clock became more and more accurate, and finally reliable.

For ships at sea, boys were used to turn the sandglasses, and to call the hours.

The use of the pendulum, ratchets and gears allowed the towns of Europe to create mechanisms to display the time on their respective town clocks; by the time of the scientific revolution, the clocks became miniaturized enough for families to share a personal clock, or perhaps a pocket watch. At first, only kings could afford them.

Age of Exploration
The sailing ship (Nau or Carrack) enabled the Age of Exploration with the European colonization of the Americas, epitomized by Francis Bacon's New Atlantis.

Agricultural Revolution
''See British Agricultural Revolution.

Industrial Revolution
Main article: Industrial Revolution
The British Industrial Revolution is characterised by developments in the areas of textile manufacturing, metallurgy and transport driven by the development of the steam engine.

19th century
Steam-powered transportation by railway, pioneered notably by Richard Trevithick. The Portsmouth Block Mills was where manufacture of ships' pulley blocks by all-metal machines first took place and instigated the age of mass production. Machine tools used by enginers to manufacture other machines began in the first decade of the century, notably by Richard Roberts and Joseph Whitworth. Steamships were eventually completely iron-clad, and played a role in the opening of Japan and China to trade with the West. Mechanical computing was envisioned by Charles Babbage but did not come to fruition.

20th century
Radio, and possibilities in Radar. It is possible that electronic computing would have developed as rapidly without the wars of the twentieth century. Nuclear power, developed after the Manhattan project, is another important but controversial technology. Transport by rocketry: most work occurred in the U.S. (Goddard), Russia (Tsiolkovsky) and Germany (Oberth).

Recombinant DNA.

Measuring technological progress

Many sociologists and anthropologists have created social theories dealing with social and cultural evolution. Some, like Lewis H. Morgan, Leslie White, and Gerhard Lenski, declare technological progress to be the primary factor driving the development of human civilisation.

Morgan's concept of three major stages of social evoluton (savagery, barbarism, and civilization) can be divided by technological milestones, like fire, the bow, and pottery in the savage era, domestication of animals, agriculture, and metalworking in the barbarian era and the alphabet and writing in the civilisation era.

Instead of specific inventions, White decided that the measure by which to judge the evolution of culture was energy. For White "the primary function of culture" is to "harness and control energy." White differentiates between five stages of human development: In the first, people use energy of their own muscles. In the second, they use energy of domesticated animals. In the third, they use the energy of plants (agricultural revolution). In the fourth, they learn to use the energy of natural resources: coal, oil, gas. In the fifth, they harness nuclear energy.

White introduced a forumula P=E*T, where E is a measure of energy consumed, and T is the measure of efficiency of technical factors utilising the energy. In his own words, "culture evolves as the amount of energy harnessed per capita per year is increased, or as the efficiency of the instrumental means of putting the energy to work is increased". Russian astronomer, Nikolai Kardashev, extrapolated his theory creating the Kardashev scale, which categorizes the energy use of advanced civilisations.

Lenski takes a more modern approach and focuses on information. The more information and knowledge (especially allowing the shaping of natural environment) a given society has, the more advanced it is. He identifies four stages of human development, based on advances in the history of communication. In the first stage, information is passed by genes. In the second, when humans gain sentience, they can learn and pass information through by experience. In the third, the humans start using signs and develop logic. In the fourth, they can create symbols, develop language and writing. Advancements in the technology of communication translates into advancements in the economic system and political system, distribution of goods, social inequality and other spheres of social life. He also differentiates societies based on their level of technology, communication and economy: 1) hunters and gatherers, 2) simple agricultural, 3) advanced agricultural, 4) industrial 5) special (like fishing societies).

Finally, from the late 1970s sociologists and anthropologists like Alvin Toffler (author of Future Shock), Daniel Bell and John Naisbitt have approached the theories of post-industrial societies, arguing that the current era of industrial society is coming to an end, and services and information are becoming more important than industry and goods. Some of the more extreme visions of the post-industrial society, especially in fiction, are strikingly similar to the visions of near and post-Singularity societies.

By type of technology

History of biotechnology

Main article: History of biotechnology

To be incorporated into main article:

History of civil engineering

Main article: History of civil engineering

To be incorporated:

History of communication

Main article: History of communication

To be incorporated:

History of computing

Main article: History of computing

History of consumer technology

Main article: History of consumer technology

To be incorporated:

History of electrical engineering

Main article: Electrical Engineering#History

To be incorporated:

History of energy technology

Main article: History of energy technology

To be incorporated:

History of materials science

Main article: History of materials science

To be incorporated:

History of medicine

Main article: History of medicine

History of military technology

Main article: History of warfare

To be incorporated into main article:

History of nuclear technology

Main article: Nuclear technology#History

History of scientific technology

Main article: History of scientific technology

History of timekeeping

Main article: Timeline of time measurement technology

To be incorporated:

History of transport technology

Main article: Historic transport

To be incorpoated into main article:

See also

Related history

Related disciplines

Related subjects

Future of science and technology (speculative)

People

Historiography of science and technology

Historians of science and technology

Journals and periodicals in the history of science and technology

Research institutes

References

  • Singer, C., Holmyard, E.J., Hall, A. R and Williams, T. I. (eds.), (1954-59 and 1978) A History of Technology,, 7 vols., Oxford, Clarendon Press,. (Vols 6 and 7, 1978, ed. T. I. Williams)
  • Kranzberg, Melvin and Pursell, Carroll W. Jr., eds. (1967)Technology in Western Civilization: Technology in the Twentieth Century New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Pacey, Arnold, (1974, 2ed 1994),The Maze of Ingenuity The MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass, 1974, 1994, cited here
  • Derry, Thomas Kingston and Williams, Trevor I., (1993) A Short History of Technology : From the Earliest Times to A.D. 1900. New York: Dover Publications.
  • Brush, S. G. (1988). The History of Modern Science: A Guide to the Second Scientific Revolution 1800-1950. Ames: Iowa State University Press.
  • Bunch, Bryan and Hellemans,Alexander, (1993) The Timetables of Technology, New York, Simon and Schuster.
  • Landa, Manuel de, War in the Age of Intelligent Machines, 2001.
  • Olby, R. C. et. al., eds. (1996). Companion to the History of Modern Science,. New York, Routledge.

External links

History of technology | History-related lists | Technology-related lists | Technology timelines | Technikgeschichte | Historia wynalazków i wynalazczości | História da tecnologia | Teknikhistoria | 技术史

 

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