The History of Technology

Ch01.fm Page 1 Friday, September 7, 2001 11:20 PM Chapter 1 The History of Technology Why should we look to the past in order to prepare for the future? Because there is nowhere else to look. —James Burke, Connections You might find that some of the oldest technologies known to man are also some of the most familiar today. For example, a compass repre- sents as much technology as a Global Positioning System (GPS) loca- tion finder. In fact, when you get right down to it, a GPS is really just a fancy, updated compass. Surprisingly, most of the technologies on the list below, although ancient, are still in common use today. G the plow G the compass G the lateen sail G the stirrup G the water wheel G the coin G the loom G the clock 1 Ch01.fm Page 2 Friday, September 7, 2001 11:20 PM G the chimney G the piston Each of these relatively simple devices has had a profound impact on day-to-day existence as well as on the progression of mankind. You might hesitate to include a chimney as one of the greatest achievements in the history of man, but when you consider what the invention of the chimney led to, its overall importance is significant. Yet the alteration of life-style brought about by the chimney included year-round administration and increased intellectual activity, which in turn contributed to the general increase in the economic welfare of the community to a point where the increase in the construction of houses brought about a shortage of wood. The consequent need for alternative sources of energy spurred the development of a furnace which would operate efficiently on coal, and this led to the production of molten iron in large quantities, permitting the casting of cylinders (and pistons) which were huge early steam engines. Their use of air pressure led first to the investigation of gases and then petroleum as fuel for the modern automobile engine, without which, in turn, powered flight would have been impossible. James Burke, Connections As evidenced by the impact of the simple chimney, true technology goes beyond any number of inventions, ideas, gadgets, and gizmos. Technol- ogy expresses the relationships between all of these things as mankind creates, understands, and uses everyday items to make life somewhat easier. Technology is frequently a matter of terminology. From a historical perspective, some might say that technology has defined the human race, while others might champion our ability to reason. Consider, however, that many animal species, from chimpanzees to octopi, can reason. For example, if a dog or an ape or a zebra happened to wander by a bush that had just been struck by lightning on a rather cold night, they could easily “reason” that it is warmer there than anywhere else and a good place to rest for the evening. However, a horse or a dog or a raccoon cannot (as far as we know) pick up a nearby stick, light it from the burning bush, and carry it home to heat its resting place. In my opinion, this application of understanding is what has set the human race apart from any other. 2 Chapter 1 | The History of Technology Ch01.fm Page 3 Friday, September 7, 2001 11:20 PM Since the first human learned to bring fire home, or broke an oyster with a rock, or strung more than one bead together to create something “more than just the sum of its parts,” technology has been with us. In many ways, it has defined us. Ancient civilizations are often described by technologies that were created and put to use at the time. Anthro- pologists know there is a significant quality of life difference between the average Stone Age resident and the average Iron Age resident. The time span from the Stone Age to the Iron Age, ranging from 5000 B.C. to about 800 A.D., or the approximate beginning of the Dark Ages, is relatively brief compared to the millions of years of mankind’s evolution. But the last seven thousand years have played almost as great a role in our “evolution” as natural selection played in the previous mil- lion or so. You see, only after technology was invented did “civilizations” begin to form. Of course, man’s progress, at least from a historical point of view, has tended to be geared toward a military perspective, since early civilizations are generally seen as “empires.” Groups with strong political and military leaders frequently gave themselves an identity and took up arms against those who did not share that identity. They attacked and brutally massacred as many people as possible who did not share this identity—in the process, keeping any economic gains, absorbing religious cultures into their own, increasing their own population expo- nentially, and having plenty of cheap labor for building incredible works of splendor out of raw stone and other natural materials. This, understandably, has influenced how humans have evolved. But, although frequently brutally barbaric, ancient military empires bal- anced this bloodlust with incredible, if not indulgent, creations of beauty in both architecture and science, creating monuments like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Laws of Hammurabi, and the Pyra- mids. But was it only the level of savagery that allowed one civilization to dominate the next, sometimes for a few hundred years, sometimes for thousands? For example, the First Assyrian Empire, the Middle Assyr- ian Empire, and the New Assyrian Empire extended from 2000 B.C. to 612 B.C., a period of 1,328 years! Even today, without any country on the world map called Assyria, a large population of people in the world still consider themselves as culturally Assyrian. If we observed the world today from an anthropologist’s viewpoint, the “New World Empire”—generally the United States and her European 3 Ch01.fm Page 4 Friday, September 7, 2001 11:20 PM and Asian allies—would be about 55 years old. This Empire was the result of the decline and fall of the European Colonial Empire that began in 1492 and ended about 450 years later. The European Empire was preceded by the Moslem Empire, from about 600 A.D. to 1500 A.D., which was preceded by the Roman Empire, which lasted about a 1,000 years, and so on. It is fairly noticeable that large, powerful empires’ lifetimes are getting shorter and shorter. Today, empires rise and fall in a matter of decades, years, months, or even weeks. Although loss of a financial, religious, or military colossus overnight may give some people a hard time, in general, the rest of humanity is not much the worse for it. For example, the Nazi Third Reich lasted only 12 years, although it was powerful, heavily dependent on technology, and brilliant. The Nazis were a 20th century form of empire, self-pro- claimed at inception, and rarely missed upon decline. On the other hand, when the Roman Empire fell, it was seen by the “civilized” west- ern Europeans as the end of civilization itself, a concept we now can envision only as a nuclear holocaust or asteroids smashing into the earth. Fifteen hundred years ago, the nuclear holocaust was losing the war with the Vandals. My thesis is that technology was the driving force behind these empires. Of course, we can’t dismiss religion and greed, but let’s specu- late for a moment to help you understand my thesis. Early man, for example, an australpithecine, not only discovered fire, but took it home with him. Once our australpithecine returned home with his burning stick, he quickly learned that he could pass the fire on further to another stick or group of sticks. In fact, if he was diligent and located in an area abundant in easily accessible combustible material, he could stay warm every night! The australpithecine began to understand that, “Hey, if I could create my own fire, I never need to be cold again!” This, shall we say, was the metaphorical leap from Homo erec- tus to the technology-aware Homo sapiens. Let’s explore this idea a bit more. Let’s go back, say, 10,000 years. The earth was in the middle of an ice age; the few mammals that we would call “human” today lived in cool equatorial regions or in an arctic-type environment year round. Fire was not a commodity; it happened at random by an extraordinary set of circumstances that could only be fashioned by nature. Fire seemed like the Promethean gift from the gods; therefore, “possessing” the power of fire was viewed as having the power of a god. 4 Chapter 1 | The History of Technology Ch01.fm Page 5 Friday, September 7, 2001 11:20 PM One day, after thousands or even millions of years, a very lucky person rubbed two sticks together, enabling unbelievable change for man. For the sake of this tale, this “inventor” of fire was named Homer. And let’s say a small group of early men and women, say 20 or so, including Homer, lived on an open plain. Homer had been rubbing sticks together for years, and one day he spun a large stick on top of a bigger stick between the palms of his hands. Suddenly, some of the dry grass surrounding both sticks began to smolder, and to Homer’s complete astonishment, to burn! This had been rumored to happen from time to time, but was generally attributed to gods—not to Homer! Homer, at first frightened, soon called attention to his ability to make fire.

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