HIST/ENGR 108

Technology in Pre-modern Civilizations

Instructor: Dr. Tofigh Heidarzadeh
e-mail: theidar@ucr.edu

This course reviews the major technological achievements in some premodern civilizations, namely in ancient China, Greece, Rome, medieval
Europe and some Middle Eastern societies. We will review the interaction
between science, technology and society, and in some occasions will
study some specific developments in detail to depict the mutual influence
of science and technology.
Students grades will be based on their performance on two i exams (midterm and final) and four tests.
Requirements:

1. Attendance & participation in the discussions.

2. Reading of all required assignments.
4. Taking of all exams, and satisfactory completion of all written
assignments.

About the periodization of

history
Examples: Cold War Era
Medieval Period
Modern Era
What

is Modern and
what is Pre-Modern?

The Scientific Revolution

~

1500 - ~1700

New

approach to understand
nature,
Mathematization of nature,
Natural laws,
Experimental philosophy,
Instrumentation,
New sciences,

The Industrial Revolution

Late 18th century to mid 19th century

A major shift from agriculture and

trade to the mechanization of
production, the elaboration of the
factory system, and the development
of global market system to support
industrial production.

Iron, coal, and steam became the

emblematic resources of the society.

What is Science?

- What is Applied Science?

- What is Technology?
- What is the relationship
between pure science, applied
science, and technology?
Sources:

Feibleman, James K., Pure Science, Applied Science, Technology, Engineering: An Attempt at Definitions, Technology and

Culture, Vol. 2, no. 4 (1961), pp. 305-317

Lindberg, David C., The Beginning of Western Science (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press,
1992), pp.1-2.

First View:

Science is a pattern of behavior

by which humans gain control
over the environment.

In this view, science is

associated with craft tradition
and technology.

Prehistoric people can be regarded

as the founders of science because
they learned how to melt metals or
developed agriculture

Second view:

Science is a body of
theoretical knowledge, and
a systematic way to
discover natural laws.

This definition,
distinguishes between
science and technology.

Technology of car
making should be
distinguished
from the Internal
Combustion
Engine
Thermodynamics,
aerodynamics,
and mechanics

If we accept the second

definition, then:
We can define science
based on the form of its
statements: universal laws
mostly expressed in the
language of mathematics.
F=ma

E=mc2
F=G M1M2/ r2

We can also define science by its

methodology and epistemology:
Science is associated with specific sets
of procedures and approaches to
explore and discover the secrets of
nature.
These

procedures are mostly

experimental, starting from collecting
various data, categorizing them,
finding a relationship between them,
making a hypothesis, performing
experiments to validate the
hypothesis, etc.

 In

this definition, science is a body

of knowledge, such as physics or
biology, that we study in modern
universities.

But what a bout astrology, alchemy, and

other unscientific approaches to discover
nature?

For our study of the history of science and

technology we need to acknowledge a very
broad definition of science and technology!

Science serves two human purposes: to

know and to do.

Applied science: use of pure science for

some practical human purpose.

A time lag between the discovery of a

theory and its application to practice in not
uncommon:

Faradays discovery of the dynamo and its

general manufacture and use in industry.

 Discovery

of conic section by
Apollonius of Perga in the 3rd century
BC, and their application in astronomy
and engineering in the 17th century.

Riemanns non-Euclidean geometry

(early 19th century) and its application by
Einstein in his theory of relativity in the
20th century.

From Theory to Practice:

Three kinds of pursuits:

Pure Science: Pure theoretical sciences are
concerned with the discovery of natural law and
the description of nature.
Applied science, in which are included all

applications of the experimental pure sciences.

These are concerned with the improvement of
human means and ends.
The intermediate or modus operandi level, which

is represented by the scientist with an interest in

the solution of the problems presented by the task
of getting from theory to practice. Example: from
E=mc2 and radioactivity to the atomic bomb.

Technology
There has been a misunderstanding of
the distinction between applied science
and technology.

Applied science is guided by hypothesis

deduced from theory,
Application of scientific knowledge into a

physical environment

Technology employs trial-and-error or skilled

approaches derived from concrete experience.

Technology begins as the attempt to

satisfy a practical need without the use
of science.
Finding an answer for a practical problem

There could be technology without

science; for millennia there was.

Examples?

But surely there could be no applied

science without pure science.

Speaking historically, the achievements of

technology are those which developed
without benefit of science;

they arose empirically either by accident

or as a matter of common experience.

The use of certain biochemicals in the

practice of medicine antedates the
development of science: notably,
ephedrine, cocaine, curare, and quinine.
This is true also of the pre-scientific forms
of certain industrial processes, such as
cheese-making, fermentation, and
tanning.

From Practice to Theory

In the course of pursuing practical ends abstract

principles of science hitherto unsuspected are
often discovered.

The mathematical theory of probability was

developed because some professional gamblers
wished to know the odds in games of chance.

Electromagnetics stimulated the development of

differential equations, and hydrodynamics function
theory.

Carnot founded the pure science of

thermodynamics as a result of the effort to improve
the efficiency of steam and other heat engines.

Aerodynamics and atomic physics were certainly

advanced more swiftly because of the requirements
of war.