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Home , Archimedes, Hipparchus, History of technology, The Sand Reckoner

CLA 46 Dr. Patrick Hunt Spring Quarter 2014 Stanford Continuing Studies http://www.patrickhunt.net

Great Inventors Of the Ancient World Preliminary Syllabus & Course Outline

A Note from the Instructor:

Homo faber is a description of as makers. has been a long process of adapting to circumstances with ingenuity, and while there has been gradual progress, sometimes technology takes a downturn when literacy and numeracy are lost over or when humans forget how to maintain or make things work due to cataclysmic change. Reconstructing is at a reminder that progress is not always guaranteed, as when Classical crumbled in the West, but the of technology is a fascinating one.

Global revolutions in technology occur in cycles, often when necessity pushes great minds to innovate or adapt existing , as happened when humans first started using stone tools and gradually improved them, often incrementally, over tens of thousands of years. In this third course examining the greats of the ancient world, we take a close look at and their inventors (some of whom might be more legendary than actually known), such as vizier Imhotep of early dynastic , who is said to have built the first , and King Gudea of Lagash, who is credited with developing the Mesopotamian canals. Other somewhat better-known figures are Glaucus of Chios, a metallurgist sculptor who possibly invented welding; pioneering Aristarchus of ; genius of Siracusa; of , who made celestial depicting the ; of , who invented hydraulic water organs; and , who made steam engines. Some ancient inventors are also anonymous, such as the creator of the Battery in ancient Parthia. Then there are the fascinating but quasi-mythical inventors such as flying pioneer Daedalus and Hyperbius of Corinth, who, according to legend, invented the potter’s . As the course moves along, we will also see how these mechanical innovators came up with inventions that changed the arc of history, improved human lives, and made an indelible mark on their own .

Course Requirements:

Students attend lectures and complete assigned readings from assigned or recommended texts, and supplemental texts as provided. Most students will take the course for No Grade Requested (NGR, just show up for class & enjoy the lectures). If taken for grade and credit (as MLA or prospective students must fulfill), a brief 10 page critical will be completed with topic having prior instructor consent. Students attending for credit must attend each session.

Required and Recommended Course Texts:

Brian Fagan, ed. Seventy Great Inventions of the Ancient World. Thames & Hudson, 2004 (required). This book will be at the Stanford bookstore.

Henry Hodges. Technology in the Ancient World. Penguin / Barnes and Noble, 1992 ed. (recommended). This book can be found at Amazon.com (many used copies)

Note: There are also supplemental online readings assigned for many class sessions. CLA 46 Course Outline:

4/2 Introduction to Homo Faber: Lithic Stone Technology, onward Reading: Fagan, 10-20 (Intro., ) and chs. 1-6 Stone to Bone Tools, 21-33; Hodges, Intro., ch.1, 3-20; P. Hunt, “” from Seven Stones: A of Stone (to be provided as attachment)

4/9 Egyptian and Minoan Foundations: The Myths of Imhotep and Daedalus Reading: Fagan, Stone , Wheel, chs. 14 & 32, 66-70, 134-37; Hodges, Hunting to Farming, ch. 2, 21-52

4/16 Gudea of Lagash and Mesopotamian Irrigation: Canals and Persian Qanats Reading: Fagan, Irrigation, ch. 22, 97-100; Hodges, Early Farming, ch. 3, 53-89; P. Hunt, “Gudea of Lagash”, Great Lives From History: Ancient World, 2004 (to be provided as attachment); Angela Chapman, “Gudea and the Gods: Intersecting and Prophecy” Studia Antiqua 6.1 (2008) 41-9”(to be provided)

4/23 Glaukos of Chios and Hyperbius of Corinth Reading: Fagan, chs. 8-10, , , , , 37-48; Hodges, ch. 4, Ships and , 90-133; , History I.25 (to be provided) Pliny, VII.57 “Inventors of Various Things” (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D7%3Achapter%3D 57)

4/30 The Baghdad Battery and the of Reading: Fagan, Sailing and Oared Vessels, chs. 39-40, 159-65; Hodges, ch 5, and Sea-Going Ships, 134-67; P. James “Baghdad Battery” (to be provided)

5/7 and Hipparchus of Rhodes Reading: Hodges, Greek & Roman Engineers and Machinery, ch. 8, 208-41; J. J. O’Connor and E. F. Robertson. “Aristarchus of Samos, 310-230 BC”; “Hipparchus of Rhodes, 190-20 BC, University of St. Andrews, (http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Aristarchus.html) (http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Hipparchus.html)

5/14 Archimedes of Siracusa Reading: Archimedes, , Math Dept. (http://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/navigation/ideas/reckoner.shtml); “Archimedes ,” Kenyon College Dept.

(http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Fluids/Archimedes_Screw/Archimedes_Screw.html) ;

5/21 Heron of Alexandria, Ctesibus of Alexandria Reading: Hodges, ch. 6, , Roads and Transportation, 168-207 J. J. O’Connor and E. F. Robertson. “Heron of Alexandria, ca. 10-75 CE” U. St. Andrews (http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Heron.html)

5/28 The Barbegal Mill and Roman Reading: Fagan, Mills and , ch. 23, 101-04 “France: Barbegal water Mills” World 54 (2012) (http://www.world-archaeology.com/features/france-barbegal-watermills.htm)

6/4 The Antikythera Reading: “: The Clockwork ”, Economist, Sci. & Tech. 2002 (http://www.economist.com/node/1337165) (http://www.antikythera-mechanism.gr/project/publications/scientific-american-2009)

Note: instructor reserves right to amend schedule and readings