Historical Antecedents in the course of Science and Technology

Introduction
Science and Technology indeed play major roles in everyday life.
o This make difficult and complicated task easier and allow people to do more with so
little effort and time.
o The developments in these fields (S&T) are not just products of people’s imagination or
a one-time thought process; these are also brought about gradual improvements to
earlier works from different time periods.
o The driving force behind this continuous progress is the desire to raise the quality of life
of people.
As responsible citizens of the world, knowing a little bit more about the nature of science as a
human activity has become a necessity.
o To merely understand the discoveries/inventions that scientists/technologists have
made is no longer enough
o Beyond the scientific research, we must see consequences affecting our way of life here
are now and even our children’s future.
While natural science is transforming human society, Ziman (1976) argued that the changes that
science produces must be assessed and the sources of its power must be questioned.
o Through the centuries, the history of science can be viewed as a continuous expansion
at the expense of religion, philosophy, and the humanities.
o Hence, the ways/processes science undertakes to produce changes/transformations
must be conscientiously scrutinized.
In an article written by Russell Bertrand, a philosopher of science, a very important aspect in the
history of science and technology is introduced and emphasized: the values and ultimate ends
which inspire and sustain our scientific undertakings.
o Reflections on this article’s theme begin our topic on science and technology from the
perspective of history.
o “THE GOOD LIFE IS ONE INSPIRED BY LOVE AND GUIDED BY KNOWLEDGE” – BERTRAND
RUSSEL
o We hope to focus more clearly on the influence of value on our scientific and
technologic pursuits.
o With this background, the students are invited to trace the history of science and
technology, considering that the impact of the advancements in these fields have
affected humans and societies.
o According to the great philosopher Bertrand Russell, science in its beginning was due to
humans who were in love with the world.
 Because they perceived the beauty of the star and the sea, of the wind and the
mountains –their thoughts dwelt upon them, and they wished to understand
them more intimately than a mere outward contemplation made possible
o But by Step by step, as science developed, the impulse of love which gave it birth has been
increasingly thwarted, while the impulse of power, which was at first a mere camp-follower, has
gradually usurped command by virtue of its unforeseen success.
Thwart: oppose (a plan, attempt, or ambition) successfully, or prevent (someone) from accomplishing
something

Usurp: take (a position of power or importance) illegally or by force; or take the play o f(someone in a
position of power) illegally.

Ancient Times
In the ancient times, people were concerned with transportation and navigation,
communication and record-keeping, mass production, security and protection, as well as health,
aesthetic, and architecture.
Transportation was significant during that time because people were trying to go to places and
discover new horizons.
They travelled
o To search for food and find better location for their settlements; and
o To trade with their surplus goods in exchange for things that they lacked.
Navigation
o Assisted them in their journeys to unfamiliar and strange areas in the world
o Allowed them to return home after they discovered new places or completed as
important trade with another group of people.
Communication was also essential in their endeavours to discover and occupy new places
o They needed a way to communicate with the natives of the areas they visited so as to
facilitate trade and prevent possible conflicts.
Record-keeping was also important since they needed to remember the places they had been to
and document the trades they made with each other.
o It was also vital to keep records of their history and culture so they could establish their
identities as they tried to relate with other cultures and civilizations.
The increase in size and number of nations connoted increased demand for food and other basic
necessities.
o This condition also implied that people must be able to produce food at a given and
space since resources were getting scarcer as more people struggled to share the basic
necessities.
o The people thus needed a form of technology that would enable them to increase food
supplies and other survival needs without them travelling more or working harder.
Weapons and armors were important as well as in the discovery of new places or the
establishment of new alliances with other tribes.
o At that time, there was always as risk of conflict when people met others with different
culture and orientations.
Conflicts were common especially if different groups to control vital resources.
o Stronger nations or communities tended to invade weaker ones so they could take
much needed resource.
o As such, the development of weapons and armors for security and protection was
considered a major achievement.
A primary challenge they faced was the conservation of life.
 o The early people might have been successful in harnessing the rich resources that the
world could provide, but their survival posed a great problem.
o conservation: preservation and protection(of something)
o Harness: control and make use of (natural resources)
Different illnesses and diseases, both natural and human-made, hampered the full potential of a
human being.
Given the predicament, science and technology, played a major role in the discovery of cures to,
if not the prevention of, illnesses.
o Hamper: hinder or impede the movement or progress of,
o Hinder: create difficulties for (someone or something), resulting in delay or obstructing
o Potential: having or showing the capacity to become or develop into something of
future
o Predicament: a difficult, unpleasant, or embarrassing situation.
Moreover, in order to integrate their needs – for better transportation, establishment of
structures for protection from human attacks and natural disasters, and construction of bigger
and stronger infrastructures – people ventured into what is now known as the field of
engineering.
o Integrate: to combine or to join
o Infrastructure: the basic physical and organizational structures and facilities (building,
roads, and power supplies) needed for the operations of a society of enterprise.
o Venture: a risky or daring journey or undertaking
o Engineering: the branch of science and technology concerned with the design of
building and use of engines, machines and structures.
The development in this field allowed humans to build structures that would address their
specific needs and wants.
Some of the structures built during the ancient times still exist today and continually awe
people.
The development in engineering also ushered in the introduction of architecture.
o Others might see architectures as a mere style, but during the ancient times, elaborate
architectural designs were signs of technological advancement of a particular
civilization.
In generations to come, architecture would be considered as a status symbol among nations of
how advanced their technology is.
It may also establish the identity of a nation.
The people were not contented on beautifying only their infrastructures and surroundings.
o Being able to prolong life with mass production of food and advancement of medical
technology, as well as raise the quality of life by making complicated and difficult task
easier, humans later on developed the technology to improve how the look.
they discovered that people looked more visually presentable and appealing by adding some
features and decorations on their body
With all these in mind, one can conclude that the developments in science and technology,
aside from affecting the lives of people, were the results of many prior antecedents.
o Out of necessity, people in the ancient times were able to discover things that would
impact the lies of the modern people.
The following discussions will tackle the different major technological advancements of the early
civilizations such as the Sumerians, Babylonians and Egyptians.
o It will continue to describe the gradual application of knowledge up to contemporary
time

THE DAWN OF THE FIRST CIVILIZATION

Although recorded as the longest period in the history of civilization, this period of history is the
least we know about.
o Time and circumstances left practically no historical evidence of how people lived then
and there.
o Because written records of any kind date from only about 5,000 years ago, the
chronology of events was basically a matter of deduction based mainly on
archaeological finds.
o However, with the development and availability of new scientific instruments and
techniques, archaeological excavations have provided us with data/evidences from
which a more or less accurate account of human evolution from primitive hunter-
gatherer-wanders to sophisticated city-dwellers can be described.
Facts that have been unearthed reveal than even before the primitive people of the early
civilization learned how to write, they had already developed complex skills and technologies
which served and supplied their needs for survival.
Archaeological excavations and discoveries have revealed that gradually and most
simultaneously, the first civilizations emerged independent of one another along fertile river
valleys in Mesopotamia, Egypt, China and India.
Evident, people of these first civilizations discovered, learned and developed science and
technology essentially as the consequences of their search for food and other survival needs, for
practical reasons as well as curiosity.
When our nomadic ancestors finally realized that by growing plants and domesticating animals
they need no longer to roam around in search for food, they began to settle down in places
suitable for cultivating plants and raising animals.
o Then and there, wonder and curiosity inspired these ancient people to seek answer to
their questions about the world of nature.
Fagan (1990) theorized that throughout history, individual civilizations have arisen and
collapsed, but civilization’s basic features (its people’s way of life, society, religion, customs and
tradition, government, economy, arts, literature, science and technology) do not disappear.
o As one’s people’s civilization is assimilated by its conqueror’s, its ideas, discoveries,
inventions, and practices are not only spread, but likely, modified or refined in the
process of adaptation.
In the Tigris-Euphrates Valley in the Middle East, the first civilization rose during the 3500 BCE.
Other civilizations emerged in Egypt’s Nile Valley, in the Indus Valley in what is now Pakistan
and in Huang Ho Valley in China.
These ancient civilizations sprang from widely different natural environment and circumstances.
Consequently, the people of each civilization developed a unique way of life, religion, form of
government, language and system of writing, arts and craft, advances in their applications, of
science and technology, specifically to astronomy, agriculture, medicine, mathematics,
engineering and architecture.

Evidence of Science and Technology During the Pre-Historic Times

Stone Age: Paleolithic Age (3000-1000 BCE) and Neolithic Age (9000-5000 BCE)
o Basically, human achievements in science and technology are governed by two
elements: discovery and invention.
o Defining discovery as the recognition and careful observation of new natural objects and
phenomena, Forbes (1967) considered it as a very subjective event until it leads to some
practical application shared by others either directly or indirectly.
o Invention, he explained, is a mental process wherein human various discoveries and
observation, combined and guided by experience, lead human to make some other new
ways (operations) or means (tools) of obtaining things useful or profitable.
o Fossils remains of “Peking man” dating back about 500 million years were found
accompanied by stones seemingly selected and shaped to be used as tools for survival.
o Reconstructed skull of Peking man, based on Homo erectus specimens found at
Zhoukoudian, China and dated to approximately 230,000-770,000 years ago.
o A reconstruction of Peking man by Harry Shapiro. Peking man was short, muscular and
broad-shouldered. He had a low brow which projected prominently just above the eyes
and ofcourse his skull is flat and small compared to modern humans.
o Although it has been observed that some animals particularly the primates can
“intelligently” use a stone or some other objects to break a shell and to help them
accomplish their feedings and breeding habits or to cope with unusual situations
confronting them, Forbes (1967) identified Homo sapiens as the only animal who
exhibited regularly the ability and the habit of making and shaping her/his tools to serve
his/her various needs.
o The rudiments of science and technology can therefore be traced from the beginning of
prehistoric human survival techniques, made evident in the tools/he used and exhibited
by the drawings s/she left on the walls of her/his cave dwellings.
o The first tool found were made of stone, the earliest of which were apparently pebbles
pre-shaped by nature, picked up simply from a river bed.
 As those early humans slowly learned to shape such stones by striking them
with other stones, they soon developed various stone tools of more or less
standardized shapes and sizes suited for different purposes like chopping,
cutting and digging.
o Of all the Paleolithic (“old stone”) human discoveries sometime in 100 BCE, the most
important one was fire.
o Through the percussion (striking) method (pyrites and lumps of flint rubbed against each
other, producing sparks that ignited inflammable materials like dried leaves and twigs),
s/he was able to produce heat to warm her/his body and cook her/his food.
o Striking a pyrite nodule against another piece of pyrite or chert might sound like an
unusual way to make fire, but it’s basically the same method that a lighter uses to create
a spark and start the liquid fuel burning.
o Food was at first cooked over the fire or on the top of heated stones of glowing embers.
 o Soon, s/he discovered that by using containers, various ways of cooking edible plants
and meat other than roasting could be done, such as boiling and frying.
o Baking actually evolved from the primitive way of cooking in preheated containers.
o Eventually cooking led to the invention of suitable container and other kitchen
equipment like the oven and the bellows.
o Archaeological evidence show that many later industrial processes/operation such as
metallurgy, pottery brewing, and steaming are the applications of the accumulated
practice of prehistoric cooking.
o Between 9-10,000 years ago the Neolithic (“new stone”) Revolution started and 5,000
years ago, the Neolithic revolution had generated cities and civilizations, like in both
Mesopotamia and Egypt.
o Two significant developments of the Neolithic revolution are:
 the development of agriculture and
 domestication of animals as early settlements were located near rivers
o What facilitated life to become better during the Neolithic Period is human ingenuity in:
 Making irrigation system (canals, dikes, channels, dams, reservoirs, pumps,etc.);
 Specialization of labor
 Political differentiation
 Promotion of arts and crafts
 The invention of writing
Bronze Age (3500-2500 BCE)
o Although humans began learning to use metals during 7000’s BCE, it was only in the
3500’s BCE, that people in Middle East were smelting copper and making bronze tools
and weapons (Fagan,1990)
o The Bronze Age in northern Europe happened/began during the 2500’s BCE.
o The following topics on the development of ancient civilization present some evidence
of science and technology during the Bronze Age.

Evidences of Science and Technology During the Ancient Times (3500 BCE -1200 CE in the Old
world

Sumerian Civilization
o Sumeria or Ancient Sumer
 Location: southernmost tip of ancient Mesopotamia (in what is now known as
southern Iraq)
o The region is believed to have been inhabited by various tribes of people from Central
Asia since 5000 BCE.
o First people to settle in ancient summer:
 Were basically farmers whose agricultural of life eventually transformed their
nuclear families into communities or tribes that occupied territories which soon
became cities: and
 The emergence of cities – developed in independent city-states.
o Sumerians are known for their high degree of cooperation with one another and their
desire for great things.
  they are not contented with the basic things that life can offer
 This desire pushed them to develop many things connected with science and
technology.
o Sumerians civilization began about 3500 BCE and prospered until about 2000 BCE.
o 3000 BCE: the Sumerians invented the world’s first writing system called cuneiform, a
set of word pictures depicted in symbols made a triangular marks.
 By using a tool with a wedge-shaped tip and symbols pressed into wet clay
tablets and then sundried, the Sumerians “wrote” their history and culture
(Brinkman, 1990).
o Hundreds of thousands of those Sumerian clay tables/tablets which survived have been
discovered.
 Clay tablets/tables that were deciphered served as the sources of information
and historical evidences of their culture and of their cultural achievements.
 Artifacts of the Sumerian knowledge and application of service and technology
reveal their proficiency.
o Sumerians used standardized measuring following their sexagesimal (using the number
60 as base) system of counting and a form of place notation.
 The circle was divided into 360 degrees and the hour into 69 minutes of 60
seconds.
o Sexagesimal (also known as base 60 or sexagenary) is a numeral system with sixty as its
base. It originated with the ancient Sumerians in the 3 rd millennium BCE, was passed
down from Babylonians, and is still used –in a modified form –for measuring time,
angles, and geographic coordinates (longitude, maps)
o As population increased, so did the demand for food.
 Sumerians were challenged to mass produce food items, but the elements in
the environment seemed uncooperative.
 It was difficult to get water from the river; thus, they could not maintain
farmlands.
 Some groups had scarce water supply, while others had problems with
flooding caused by the river.
 As a solution to this dilemma:
 They created dikes and irrigation canals to bring water to farmlands and
at the same time control the flooding of the rivers
 Their engineers must have invented and used some levelling
instruments, measuring root and maps in preparing surveys and plans.
o These rudimentary instruments are considered as one of the world’s most beneficial
engineering works.
 Through the dikes and canals, the Sumerians were able to enjoy year-long
farming and harvesting, which increased their food production.
o The Sumerians were artists and skilful builders and craftsmen.
 Engraved cylinders users, decorative inlays, bronze and copper statues, and
heads (with precious stones) of their deities and kings that filled their temples
and places were metallurgical masterpieces.
  Their magnificent palaces and temples (known as ziggurats) were built inside
independent city-states surrounded by fortified walls for protection against
invaders.
o An example of Sumerian engineering and architecture feat of the Sumerians is the Great
Ziggurat of Ur.
 The ziggurat, also called the mountain of God, was built in the same manner
that they constructed the City of Uruk.
 Without much building materials, the structure was constructed using Sun-
baked bricks.
 The ziggurat served as the sacred place their chief of god, where only their
priests were allowed to enter.
 The temple showcase not only the elaborate and intricate Sumerian
architecture but also the remarkable technology that was used to build it.
 As such, even until today, people still enjoy and marvel at the preserved Great
Ziggurat of Ur.
 Their temples were architecture prototypes of the synagogue, church and
mosque.
o Another important contribution of the Sumerians is the City or Uruk.
 It is a great wonder not only because it is considered to be the first true city in
the world but also for the way it was erected.
o There were no building stones in the location of this city and lumber was limited,
making the construction a big challenge.
 The Sumerians were able to build the city using mud or clay from the river,
which they mixed with reeds, producing Sun-baked bricks – a true engineering
feat.
 They used the bricks to make houses that protected them from the harsh
weather and to build a wall around the city that prevented wild animals and
neighboring raiders from entering.
o Beautifully made harps and lyres recovered from excavated temples, places, and royal
tombs must have been used as musical instruments during feats and celebrations.
o The very first lyrics were harp-sized, and discovered at UR. Incredibly, they pre-date the
building of the Pyramids in Egypt –they date back to c.2600 BCE. These lyres became
known as the Golden Bull Lyre and the Siler Lyre of Ur.
o Their houses were ordinarily a one-storey mud structure made of bricks with an open
court surrounded by several rooms, furnished with tables, chairs, beds with wooden
frames.
 Woolen hangings adorned their walls, reed mats or skin rugs decorated their
floors.
 Most houses (approximately 90 squares meters) had a square center room with
other around an area that provided access to the light and ventilated the
interior.
o Mostly made of clay and stone, kitchen pots and pans were in various shapes and sizes.
o The potter’s wheel is believed to be Sumerian invention.
o The Sumerians built streets within their walled
  Traffic moved either by foot or donkey.
 The Sumerians must have built the first known wheeled vehicle, made of solid
wooden wheels on axles, now regarded as the greatest mechanical invention of
all time.
o In order to facilitate faster and easier travel, the Sumerians developed the first roads.
 With this work, the flow of traffic became faster and more organized.
 They made the roads with the same technology they used in making Sun-baked
bricks that they laid down on the ground.
 They later poured bitumen, a black sticky substance similar to asphalt to
smoothen the roads.
 The invention of roads was very useful especially during the rainy season when
travelling in soft and muddy roads proved to be difficult.
o Humans evolved from being food gatherers to farm cultivators.
 However, farmers needed technology which would enable them to make farm
work easier.
o In ancient Sumer, agriculture, became a complex but systematized concern.
 So, the ancient Sumerians followed the prepared and developed farmer
almanacs used as texts in Sumerian schools.
 They irrigated their field by constructing canals.
 They grew crops and raised both for their own consumption and for trade or
export.
o Another arm technology invented by the Sumerians is the plow, which facilitated in
digging the ground where seeds are to be planted.
 As the plow breaks the ground, the farmer would just drop the seeds and farm
work would already be done.
 With the plow, farmers could cultivate larger parcels of land faster, enabling
them to mass produce food without taking so much effort and time.
o Consequently, the seed plow was invented by the ancient Sumerian farmers.
o The Sumerian invented a seed sowing machine, which could plant seeds more quickly
and evenly than sowing by hand.
o Wools from sheep were made into textiles woven into fine cloth.
 In textile manufacturing, they mastered the arts of bleaching, dyeing, mixing
pigments and preparing paints, cosmetics and perfumes.
o Having invented the sailboat, they bought their goods for sale to lands along Persian
Gulf where precious stones, ivory, and other luxury items would be obtained, sailing
aboard the Sumerian ships.
 Sailboats were essential I transportation and trading as well in fostering culture,
information and technology.
o Records of Sumerian achievement in science and technology as presented by Kramer
(1948) and Brinkman (1990) are amazing and far-reaching, particularly in mathematics,
engineering, architecture, agriculture, transportation and medicine.
 Sumerian doctors made use of assorted botanical, zoological and mineralogical
ingredients as material medica in their prescriptions.
 o The Sumerian civilization was gradually absorbed by the Semitic people who migrated to
Mesopotamia from Arabia during the 2300 BCE and founded the great empires of
Babylonia, Assyria and Persia.

Babylonian Civilization
o Ancient region bordering the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what is now known as
southern Iraq; In ancient times, Assyria was its northern boundary of the Arabian Desert
on the south and west, and the Persian Gulf on the southern border.
o Despite the confusing dates in some history books and band disagreement among
historians, recently unearthed Sumerian clay tablets, artifacts, and inscriptions strongly
identified the Sumerian civilization as the origin of foundation of what historians
generally consider as the ancient Babylonian civilization (Kramer, 1978).
o Eventually, the latter evolved as one great civilization in that region in the 3500 BCE and
flourished until the 500 BCE.
o During the reign of Hammurabi (1792-1759 BCE), the old (or the first) Babylonian Empire
achieved its greatest period, and Babylon, its capital, was the commercial and religious
center in the Tigris-Euphrates Valley.
o One of the greatest accomplishments of Hammurabi was the promulgation of his
famous law code.
 It helped to establish and maintain a period of stability (Albright, 1978) during
which the golden age of Babylonian science and scholarship was achieved.
o Stele with the Code of Hammurabi (height:225 cm; width: 79cm; thickness 47cm)
o After the Hammurabi’s death, the old empire declined steadily and came under Assyrian
rule.
o Babylon was completely destroyed in 689 BCE by King Sennacherib of Assyria.
o However, when the Semitic Chaldeans came into power, they rebuilt the ruined city and
established the Chaldean or Neo-Babylonian Empire.
o The new or second Babylonian Empire reached its greatest magnificence when
Nebuchadnezzar II was its ruler (604-562 BCE), who ordered the construction of the
famous “Hanging Gardens of Babylon” (one of the Seven Wonders of the World) and the
Ishtar Gate.
 King Nebuchadnezzar II built the gardens for his wife, Queen Amytis.
 Amytis of Media married Nebuchadnezzar II to formulate the alliance between
the Babylon and Median dynasties.
o But in 539 BCE, without a struggle, Babylon surrendered to the Persian King Cyrus the
Great (599-530 BCE).
o The great city walls of Babylon finally fell when Darius I (521-486 BCE) quelled the
Babylonian revolt.
 o Albright (1978) argues that although Babylon gradually declined during the Hellenistic
Period and was abandoned before time of Christ, the world nevertheless owes an
enormous debt to ancient civilization of Babylonia.
o The ancient Babylonians are well-known for:
 Developing elaborate irrigation system canals flanked by earth dikes;
 the system of book-keeping, a simple but adequate system of double-entry
accounting;
 their adoption of Sumerian sexagesimal system of counting in units of 60, which
served as basis of the 360-degrees circle and the 60-minutes hour;
 their measurements made use of fractions, squares and square roots;
 their models of planetary motions and other heavenly bodies proved their
ability to compute complicated mathematical problems; and
 Their detailed observation of the sky enabled them to make accurate
predictions of solar and lunar eclipses and other astronomical phenomena
(Dauben,1990)

Egyptian Civilization
o Geographically situated in the north-eastern part of African continent, Egypt is a desert
country thriving on an agriculture economy.
o The long Nile River that flows north from Central Africa flood annually provides Egypt
with a fertile delta.
o Ancient Egypt was divided into two parts: Lower Egypt in the north occupied about
241.14 km of broad flat land in the Nile delta and Upper Egypt in the south was roughly
twice the size.
o Since rain was spare in both regions, agriculture was supported mainly by extensive
irrigation system and by taking advantage of the Nile’s annual inundations.
o Protected from outside invaders and separated from other civilizations by desert, the
ancient civilization which developed and flourished in the valley along the banks of the
River Nile was uniquely Egypt (Greaves et al., 1990; Chisholm and Millard, 1991).
o Early settlers – revealed on some 6000 BCE rock carvings discovered on the cliffs of the
Nile Valley
 Were depicted as animal hunters, with weapons and traps.
o At the beginning of the Neolithic period, sketches of cattle and goats appeared,
reflecting the changes in lifestyles from nomadic hunters to farmland settlers, and the
floods which caused damage.
o Around 4000 BCE larger villages were built on higher grounds.
 The construction of canals and dikes was through cooperative effort united the
villages.
o The history of Egypt actually began even before it was ruled by the dynasties.
 The period between c. 5000-3100 BCE is known as the Predynastic Period in the
Nile Valley during which three primitive cultures were identified to have evolved
one after the other.
o The people of those cultures were evidently skilled craftsmen.
  Artifacts found in the sites where they were first discovered includes tools,
weapons, and utensils made of metal, as well as pottery in various shapes and
sizes artistically done.
 they knew how to manipulate metals and the use of copper (and later bronze)
tools and weapons
 Their weavers used horizontal looms to weave their lines.
o The earlier houses made of mud and reeds were later replaced by Sun-dried mud brick
houses.
o In the early villages, temples and boats are made of reed were found.
o Large monuments were constructed as burial places for their kings.
o Between c. 3330-3100 BCE, the first examples of Egyptians writing appeared.
 They wrote with ink and brushes on paper made of papyrus reeds.
 They used ink made in solid blocks to be mixed with water.
o The Egyptian writing was in the form of pictorial symbols know as hieroglyphics,
representing individual objects or actions.
o In 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt with the intention of making it a part of the
French Republic.
 During the French’s Three-year occupation, thousands of Egyptian artefacts,
many of which were covered with hieroglyphics, were brought to France.
o One of those was the Rosetta Stone found in the Nile Delta by the French soldiers in
1899, with inscriptions in three languages: hieroglyphics, demotic (the simplified
common script of ancient Egypt), and ancient Greek (the language for government that
was set up by alexander the Great and maintained in Egypt).
o A French linguist, Jean Francois Champollion (1790-1832) suspected that the three
inscriptions might all contain the same text.
o After fourteen years of comparing the three inscriptions, Champollion at last succeeded
in deciphering, the hieroglyphs in 1822. Champollion’s accomplishment is regarded as
the most significant event in Egyptology: It gave us the key with which to discover Egypt
ancient civilization.
o As early as 3000 BCE, ancient Egyptian studied the heavens to record time, calculate
distances/directions, forecast the seasons and predict the annual flooding of the Nile
River.
 Their interest in astronomy was focused on the stars as known in their
astronomical drawing of the constellations.
o The earliest Egyptian calendar was based on their observations of the regular
disappearance and reappearance of Sirius, the brightest star in their horizon, which
coincided with the annual rise and fall of the Nile River.
o Another calendar was based on the phases of the Moon, consisting of 29 and ½ days.
o The first 365-day calendar was possibly devised by Imhotep very early in the Old
Kingdom.
o When Julius Caesar (1.2 BCE – 44 CE) ruled Egypt, he was so impressed by the Egyptian
calendar that he brought it to Rome and adapted it.
o Known in the Roman Empire as the Julian calendar, and it was used until Gregorian
calendar (its revised version containing the actual 365 and ¼ days in a year, the same
 calendar we are using today) was introduced in the 1600 CE (Chisholm and Millard,
1991).
o Pope Gregory XIII (latin: Gregorius; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo
Boncompagni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13
May 1572 to his death in 1585. He is best known for commissioning and being the
namesake for the Gregorian calendar, which remains the internationally accepted civil
calendar to this day.
o Aloysius Lilius (c. 1510-1576), also variously referred to as Luigi Lilio, Luigi Giglio, was an
Italian doctor, astronomer, and philosopher.
o the Egyptians the first to divide the day into 24 hours (12 hours of a day time and 12
hours of night time).
o They calculated the time by means of a water clock, a conical earthen vessel with hours
equally marked off on the inside and spout at the bottom.
 At carefully measured intervals, water dripped out of the spout.
 As the water dripped out its level fell, the number of marks exposed indicated
the time.
o During the Archaic Period (c. 3100-2686 BCE), population increased significantly so that
towns were built, surrounded for defense by thick mud-brick walls.
o To take full advantage of the annual Nile floods, farms were divided into small
rectangular plots by a series of ditches and irrigation canals.
 The canals were used to store the floodwater, which was supplied to the field as
the need arose.
 The canals and ditches had outer system that could be opened or closed.
 An ancient Egyptian irrigation still functional today
 An irrigation canal and ditches within the farm plot (in an Egyptian garden/field)
o Boundary lines specifying the limits of their fields were drawn by surveyors using
geometry to obtain exact measurements and marked with boundary stones designed to
stay in place during floods.
o Along the Nile’s bank gauges were installed for checking the water levels.
o To provide for their family’s basic needs, the ancient Egyptians were resourceful.
 Harvested wheat and barley were made into bread and beer.
o Using the potter’s wheel, they made clay earthenware, like: pots, stoves, cups, bowls,
and storage jars for grains, wine, and beer.
o Drinking cups made of bronze, silver or gold were for the nobles.
o Food was broiled, baked, stewed, fried, grilled, or roasted on tripods or clays stoves;
traps, hoops-and-lines, nets and spears were used to catch fish.
o They extracted cooking oil from linseed, saffron, and sesame.
o Breeds of ducks, geese, pigeons, pigs, goats, cattle and sheep were domesticated as that
source of food and clothing.
o The ancient Egyptians were particularly clean and well-groomed.
 Their hair was usually kept short
 Nobles, men and women, wore wigs (straight, plaited or curled) made of real
hair.
 o They used a variety of preparations for the hair; henna (a vegetable dye) to color the
hair and different mixtures to prevent baldness, dandruff, and gray hair (Chisholm and
Millard, 1991).
o To remove unwanted body hair, they use razors and tweezers.
o Women entertainers perform at a celebration in Ancient Egypt; the dancers are naked
and the musician wears a typical pleated garment as well as the cone of perfumed fat
on top of her wig that melts slowly into a mix precious odors; both groups wear
extensive jewelry, wigs and cosmetics; neither wear shoes
o Both sexes wore perfume and eye make-up
 The women’s make-up box contained in cosmetic jars for red ochre (a type of
clay, ground fine, mixed with water, and applied as blush-on to the cheeks and
lips) and black eye paint (put on with a small stick).
 Highly polished copper or silver, elegantly, shaped with a long handle, served as
mirrors.
o Almost everyone in ancient Egypt wore jewelry. While the rich wore beautiful necklaces,
bracelets, anklets, earrings, pendants and rings made of silver or gold inlaid with
precious stones; while the poor could afford only pieces made of copper.
o On special or formal occasions, they wore sandals made of reeds or leather.
o For relaxation at home, they played various games.
 In royal tombs, gaming boards made of gold, ivory, or ebony were found.
 Likewise, a number of toys, some with elaborate moving parts, made of ivory or
wood, have been discovered in children’s grave (Chisholm and Millard, 1991).
 A gaming board of Ancient Egypt and a wall painting form the 3300 year old
tomb of Queen Nefertari shows her playing senet against an invisible opponent.
o Craftsmen and women of ancient Egypt were highly respected and well-paid members
of the community.
 They were skilful in different crafts and trades.
o Women were engaged in weaving and making perfume; while men became experts in
carpentry, pottery, glass-making, lost-max casting, metal working, leather working,
paper-making and boat building.
o The Egyptians basically invented paper, like this ancient papyrus scroll, but not that
many people could write in their beautiful hieroglyphics. From the Book of the Dead of
the Priest of Horus, Imhotep (Imuthes), ca. 332-200 BCE.

Cretan (Minoan) Civilization

o In the island of Crete, there developed one ancient civilization which was first heard of
from the Greek legends, which described the magnificence of the kingdom said to be
ruled by King Minos.
o Around 3000 BCE, the Minoans of Crete began the creation of brilliant and sophisticated
Bronze Age Culture which was discovered just at the end of the last century.
o During the 1899 – 1906 excavations undertaken by Arthur Evans (Kishlansky et al.,
1991; Greaves et al., 1990), he found the ruins of the hitherto unknown Cretan
 Civilization which he later called the Minoan Civilization of Crete, in memory of King
Minos
o Sir Arthur Evans: discover of the ancient civilization in Crete and archaeological Knossos,
with restored rooms in the background, Crete.
o Knossos, capital of Crete, the grandest site of Bronze Age palaces, was built sometime
between c. 2100 – 1575 BCE.
o The quality and quantity of artifacts Evans discovered in later excavations revealed the
prosperity and power of King Minos as well as the sophistication of the Minoans’ artistic
skills evident in the realism of their carved statues, ceramics, frescoes, jewels, and
inscriptions.
o In their large urban centers, the royal residences contained chapels, storerooms and
workshops.
o Courtyard, public halls and religious shrines were common town features.
o Public constructions had drainage system and pavilions designed to provide summer
shade and winter insulation.
o Skilled in shipbuilding, the Minoans controlled the seas and enjoyed the comforts of life.
o Archaeologists found signs of destruction which left Knossos and other Minoans centers
in ruins.
o Re-construction of the Minoans knowledge of mathematics, engineering and
architecture applied scientifically and artistically.
o From the hundreds of clay tables gathered from the ruins, it was known that the
Minoans spoke and wrote a language of their own.
 Unfortunately, the Minoans script system of writing, known as Linear a, has not
yet been fully deciphered.

Greek Civilization
- Greece is an archipelago in the southern part of Europe.
- Known as the birthplace of western philosophy, some of the major achievements of the
Greeks include in-depth works on philosophy and mathematics.
- More than coliseums and the Olympics, the Greek civilization has contributed much to the
world especially in the fields of science and technology.

1. Birth of Science from Philosophy

- Around 1100 BCE, one major turning point in the history of world civilization took place in the
Mediterranean region: the transition from Bronze Age to the Iron Age, which was followed by
centuries of cultural development in Greece that ultimately served as the foundation of
Western civilization (Greaves et al., 1990).
- Of all ancient people, their scientific heritage left by the Greeks is considered the greatest.
 Their wise men were the first to systematically separate scientific idea from
superstition and stressed the logical development of general principles or theories
about natural phenomena (Duaben, 1990).
- Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the pre-Socratic science, that is, prior to the time of
time of the philosopher Socrates (470-399 BCE), was the breadth and depth of the questions
 they asked concerning the nature of physical world which they passionately sought to answer
philosophically (Greaves et al., 1990).
- “The unexamined life is not worth living” – Socrates
- Thales of Miletus (624-547 BCE), commonly called the Father of Philosophy, taught that nature
is composed of or convertible into water. According to Thales, everything composes a water,
any substance
- Anaxagoras (500-428 BCE) argues that matter is composed of countless tiny particles, each
made of dominant substances, such as water mixed with other random substances. (tiny
articles are called ATOMS now, the Greek word “atomos” means uncut the smallest particle or
division of matter, atomos was clarified further by Democritus)
- For Empedocles (493-433 BCE), nature was a mixture of four elements: earth, fire, air and water
which continuously combine and separate under the influence of the basic forces governing all
matter: attraction and repulsion.
- The Father of Greek Medicine, Hippocrates, about 400 BCE, was known to be the first to regard
medicine as a science apart from religion.
 He taught that disease have natural causes and that somehow the human body is
capable of healing or repairing itself.
 He wrote case studies of various illnesses which reflected his great concern with the
practical details of curing invalids.
 The Hippocratic Oath that prescribes the physician’s ethical responsibility is still made by
today’s medical doctors.
- The Greek physician Galen (c. 129-199 BCE) Laid down the first medical theories based on
scientific experiments at the time that he was practicing medicine in Rome.
 By dissecting animal corpses, Galen made the first steps for the advancement of the
science of anatomy and his work remained the basic text on the subject until the 16 th
century in the West.
- Although better known as one of the greatest philosophers during the 300’s BCE, Aristotle (384-
322 BCE) was likewise engrossed in many areas of science.
- A lot of information about the variety, structure, and behavior of animals and plants he
gathered, described and classified proved the importance of critical observation and systematic
means to identify and classify organism.

2. Mathematics and Experimentation

- The Greeks were the first people to separate mathematics from purely uses by developing
systematic methods of reasoning based on mathematical measurements proving the truth of
mathematical statement.
- Based on the earlier accumulated works of Thales Pythagoras, Euclid, and other Greeks
mathematicians, geometry has been perfected by 300 BCE as a single logical system.
- By studying mathematics, the Greeks believed that humans could achieve certain and eternal
knowledge (Dauben 1990), having realized that once a principle of geometry is proved; it
remained true for all time.
- The application of scientific concepts with mathematical calculations for practical purpose also
occupied the interest of some Greek scientist during the 200’s BCE.
 - Archimedes (287-212 BCE) did performed experiments which led him to discover the laws of
the lever and the pulley that resulted in the invention of machines which could easily move
loads (Dauben, 1990).
- Recognized as the greatest figure in Hellenistic science (Greaves, et al., 1990), he excelled in
geometry and calculus but his greatest work was done in theoretical mathematics.
- He introduced the system of expressing extremely large numbers and the solution of various
problems relating to cube
- His legendary reputation was based in how he put into practical use his theoretical knowledge.
 He invented the science of hydrostatics, the measurements and use of water-power.
 He developed pulleys and the water screw, which pumped out ships and drained the
Nile delta’s flooded fields.
 To demonstrate the movements of the Sun and planets around the stationary Earth, he
made a planetarium powdered by water.
- The water screw, popularly known as the Archimedes’ screw and also known as the screw
pump. Archimedean screw, or Egyptians screw is a machine used for transferring water from a
low-lying body of water into irrigation ditches. Water is pumped by turning a screw-shaped
surface inside a pipe. Archimedes screw are also used for materials such as powders and grains.
Although commonly attributed to Archimedes, there is some evidence that the device had been
used in Ancient Egypt long before his time.
- The archetypal absentminded scientist, Archimedes most famous displays of forgetfulness was
made when he allegedly discovered the concept of buoyancy.
- Upon stepping into his bathtub, he noticed the water he displayed.
- The sudden realization excited him so much that he leaped out and ran naked through the
streets, shouting “Eureka!” meaning “I got it!”.

3. Early Astronomy
- The sky maps which the ancient Greek astronomers left contained surprisingly accurate
locations and measurements of the heavenly bodies they observed.
- They designed various mathematical model and mechanical systems to explain the planetary
positions and movements based on geometrical determinations and logistical deductions.
- In the 100’s CE, Ptolemy, one of the greatest astronomers of ancient times, wrote the
Almagest, wherein he presented his ideas and summarized those of the earlier Greek
astronomers about the universe that Ptolemy postulated with precise geometrical
measurements and logical deductions became the official model of the universe for more than
1,400 years.

4. Alarm Clock
- One of the most utilized gadgets today that was invented by the ancient Greeks is the alarm
clock.
- Although the alarm clock during that time did not resemble the present-day alarm clock, the
purpose was just the same – to tell an individual when to stop or when to start.
- The ancient Greek’s alarm clocks used large complicated mechanism to time the alarm
 they made use of water (or sometimes small stones or sand) that dropped into drums
which sounded the alarm
 - Plato was believed to have utilized an alarm clock to signal the start of his lecture
 His version used four water vessels lined up vertically.
 The upper vessel supplied the water which dropped to the vessel below it, which was set
to be filled in a given time
 After it was full, water was siphoned off at a faster rate into the third vessel, which would
cause the expulsion of contained air, creating a whistling noise. Afterwards, this vessel
would empty toward the bottom vessel for storage and reuse.

5. Watermill
- Watermills were also considered as one of the most important contributions of the Greek
civilization to the world.
- The watermill or the water wheel is an ancient device that use flowing or falling water to create
power by means of paddles mounted around a wheel. The force of the water moves the
paddles and the consequent rotation of the wheel is transmitted to machinery via the shaft of
the wheel.
- Watermills were commonly used in agricultural processes like milling of grains which was a
necessary form of food processing during that time
 Because milling was made possible by the use of watermills, the mass production of rice,
cereals, flours and the like became common.
- Watermills were considered better than mills powered by farm animals because they required
less effort by farm animals because they required less effort and time operate since the farmer
did not have to raise animals.
 These inly required access to rivers of flowing water where a mechanism of a large
wheel with small “buckets” of water attached to it could be installed.

Roman Civilization
 The Roman Empire was perceived to be the strongest political and social entity in the west.
o The Roman Empire, it was considered to be the cradle of politics (because it is where
the democracy started and was practice) and governance during that period.
o Because the Roman Empire was so large, other civilizations looked up to it as their
model in terms of legislation and codified laws.
o Aside from their contributions in politics, a lot of discoveries and inventions still relevant
today can be attributed to the Roman Empire.
Contribution of Roman Empire
1. Newspaper
- One of the major contribution of the Romans is the newspaper.
- The first newspaper, known as gazettes (a simple journal), contained announcements of
Roman Empire to the people.
o Made before the invention of paper, these gazettes were engraved in metal or
stone tablets and then publicly displayed.
- When paper was invented, it became easier for the Romans to “publish” matters that
needed the attention of the Roman citizens.
- In fact, with the advent of paper, minutes of the proceedings of the Roman senate were
done in shorthand.
 o These documents were edited and published on the same day that they were
recorded.
o This way, the Romans enjoyed easy access to government information the same
way we benefit from present-day newspapers.
2. Bound Books or Codex
- With the invention of paper, it became easier for civilizations to write down everything that
happened in their time.
- Record-keeping was much easier since paper did not easily break, was lightweight, and did
not occupy much space.
o As a result, civilizations became fond of record-keeping, especially documenting
historical events and newly legislated laws.
- Aside from Romans writing down information about history and politics, literature also
changed form from clay tablets to parchments of paper.
- According to sources, Julius Caesar started the tradition of stacking up papyrus to form
pages of a book.
- Later on, they were able to provide covers to protect the papyrus.
o The earlier covers were made of wax but were later on replaced by animal skin
which proved to be stronger and longer-lasting.
o With the papyrus pages bound together and covered by animal skin, the ancient
Roman Empire was able to produce the first books or codex.
3. Roman Architecture
- Roman architecture is one of the most visual contributions of the ancient Roman Empire to
the world.
o Roman architecture was considered a continuation of Greek architecture, hence,
the resemblance.
- However, Roman architecture was still regarded as pioneering since Romans were able to
adapt new building and engineering technology on architectural designs established in the
past.
o In this manner, they were able to preserve great and elaborate architectural designs
because they could produce sturdier and stronger infrastructures.
- The Romans were also able to creatively redesign old architectural patterns to adapt to the
new trends at that time.
o This development in the field of engineering and architecture was fully supported
and funded by the Roman government so they were able to implement major
projects such as large churches (cathedrals and basilicas), aqueducts, coliseums,
Amphitheater and even residential houses.
- The quality of these majestic Roman structures can be seen by the way they withstood time
and the harsh elements of the environment.
- Roman architecture and engineering had lasting influence on later styles, particularly its
design and used of columns, arches, and domes widely copied since the 18 th century in
European and American public buildings.
- Whereas the beauty of Greek buildings was generally meant to be seen from the outside,
Roman buildings where consciously made to impress the beholder of their grandeur from
the inside by being enclosed.
 - Hadrian (117 -138 CE), perhaps the most gifted and cultivated of all emperors, designed the
Pantheon.
o Constructed in c.126 CE, it stands as one of the world’s greatest domed buildings.
o Its imposing portico (or porch) contained 16 monolithic granite columns leading into
a central rotunda covered by a huge concrete roof.
o A central oculus (or eye, called “skylight”) located at the dome’s top served as its
central light source.
 As the Sun travels across the sky, its rays shining through follow its course
around the inside of the Pantheon.
o One of Rome’s most famous monuments was built during the reign of Vespasian (69
– 79 CE) by converting an artificial lake made for Nero (54-68 CE) into the
Colosseum.
 The Colosseum became Rome’s stage for individual gladiatorial contests,
which held 50,000 spectators.
o Chariot races and gladiatorial fights where held at Rome’s principal stadium, the
Circus Maximus, which accommodated some 300,000 people.
o Ingenuity in public works can be seen in the Roman huge system of pipe aqueduct
through which millions of gallons of water flowed continuously in Rome’s public
fountains and baths well as in the homes of the rich.
o The installation of public toilets throughout the empire was one of Vespasian’s
contributions to Western culture.
 Until now, a public urinal in Italy is called vespasiano.
4. Roman Numerals
- Although other number systems had already been established before the Roman numeral,
these old systems could not keep up with high calculation requirements due to the
increasing rate of communication and trade among nations.
- Since the Roman Empire was expanding, it had to deal with many nations to maintain its
power.
o For this reason, the Romans devised their own number system specifically to
address the need for a standard counting method that would meet their increasing
communication and trade concerns.
- Although the Roman numeral is no longer widely used today due to inherent limitations,
quite a number of enthusiasts would still use it over more popular number systems, like the
Hindu-Arabic system, due to its aesthetic and historical value.
5. Networks of Roads
- The Empire’s network of roads linking Rome to its farthest provinces provided it with a
reliable communication system essential for running an efficient government.
- Engineers in the Roman armies surveyed and laid the roads for supplies and reinforcements
everywhere they went for conquest.
o Once they had conquered a territory, a network of roads and communication
system was laid.
- The building of the Roman roads stretching thousands of miles connected Rome to other
parts of Italy since the 4th century.
o This remain today as the most visible extent and achievement of the empire.
 6. Legal System
- Perhaps Rome’s greatest contribution to the world is the creation of the legal system.
- Aside from building the magnificent Hagia Sophia (Church of Wisdom) as the Byzantine’s
principal Christian religious center in the 500’s CE, Justinian I (581-565 CE), a successor of
Constantine the Great in Constantinople (the “Eastern Roman Empire” or the “Byzantine
Empire”) is with the lasting contribution to human civilization – the body of civil law or
commonly referred to as the code (or Roman Law}.
- The code is the most significant single body of legal documents as the chief means by which
the great Roman heritage was preserved and transmitted to its vast conquered territories,
which consequently became the basis of making a legal system in any place.
Chinese Civilization
- The Chinese civilization is considered to be the oldest civilization in Asia, if not the world.
o Also known as the middle kingdom, China is located on Far East of Asia.
- It was famous among other ancient civilization because of its silk trade.
- Not a great amount was written in ancient China partly due to its distance from the other
civilizations.
- Despite its less popular status among the early civilizations, one cannot discredit the
significant contributions of Chinese civilization to the world.

1. Silk
- One of the things that connected Far East China to the world is silk.
- Although silk is naturally produced by silk worms, the Chinese were the ones who developed
the technology to harvest the silk and process it to produce paper and clothing.
- By c. 2500 BCE, the Lung Shan people learned the technology of silk-production.
- Aside from this, the Lung Shan people being one of the earliest farming societies in ancient
China:
o Used potter’s wheel to make beautiful pieces of pottery;
o Baked strong bricks in ovens, and used them to build their homes;
o worked together on flood control and irrigation projects;
o had great engineering skills; and
o Identified the social of their deceased by the type and number of precious jade
objects and ceramics in their burial mounds.
- Silk production resulted in the creation of a product for trade.
o The silk trade opened China to the outside world, making way for culture, economic,
and scientific exchanges.
o It bridged the gap between the western world and the middle kingdom.

2. Bronze Production
- The bronze works of ancient China produced under the Shang Dynasty (1766 – 1122 BCE)
were technically perfect and sophisticated beauty and style, the result of a long story of
experimental progress in combining varying proportions in copper, tin, lead and zinc until
the ideal mix was attained (Greaves et al., 1990).
- The outstanding cultural contribution of the Shang included the creation of magnificent
bronze vessels, some of them with removable lid; the discovery of lacquer; the development
 of the horse-drawn war chariots; silk production; and the establishment of a system of
writing.

3. Tea Production
- Tea is a beverage produced by pouring hot or boiling water over crushed or shredded dried
tea leaves.
o It was believed that the first tea was drunk by Chinese emperor.
- Tea did not catch on quickly in imperial China.
o While the plant is native to China, it was a foreign religion – Buddhism – that
elevated the cured leaves steeped in hot water to the status of national beverage.
- Buddhist monks are prohibited from eating after noon.
o Fore refreshment during long hours of meditation, tea – a stimulant – quickly caught
on in the Buddhist community of monks and nuns known as the sangha.
o From there, it gained a following among the Buddhists.
- By 1000 CE, the market demand for tea was impressive.
o The tea bush is hardy plant not far removed from a wild shrub, and it does not
require much care.
o Moreover, tea leaves can be harvested five times or more.
- Tea bushes do like abundant rain and good drainage.
o The hilly train of South China is ideal and thus tea-harvesting was an ideal cottage
industry.
- Ultimately, tea harvesting became synonymous with “women’s wok”.
o The classic gender-based division of labor – “men plow and women weave” – was
being altered by market forces.
- It’s idealized, but clearly indicative of the symbolic and real importance of women to the tea
industry.
- And there’s a point to be made here about the physical and occupational mobility of women
in imperial China.
o As demand for tea increased, women increasingly migrated to where the work was.
o In doing so, they stepped out of the household to become migrant wage laborers in
one of Imperial China’s most important industries.
- Tea production was developed when an unknown Chinese inventor created a machine that
was able to shred tea leaves into strips.
o This machine was don using a wheel-based mechanism with sharp edges attached to
a wooden or ceramic pot.
o Because of this invention, the Chinese were able to increase their production of tea
and the trade with other nations.
- China thus became known for its tea exports aside from its silk products.
- Tea production developed by the ancient Chinese may have resulted in making tea as one of
the most popular beverages in the world today.

4. Effective Governance
- Since the dawn of their civilization, the ancient Chinese were particularly concerned with
practical knowledge of a high order which led them to attain an efficient system of
 government that permitted and encouraged their scholars to deal with the practical
problems of the state, such as health, housing, agriculture, education and commerce.
- The mathematical system which they had developed served well the bureaucracy’s business
and taxation.
- Strengthened by their government’s support and inspired by their sense of duty, the
scholars applied their intellectual skills in the fields of astronomy, mathematics, engineering,
medicine, alchemy, geology, geography, and technology (Williams, 1993).

5. Civil Service Examination

- The civil service was started during Han Dynasty in 207 BC. Emperor Gaozu (or Liu Bang)
knew that he could not run the entire empire by himself.
- He decided that highly educated ministers and government administrators would help the
empire to become strong and organized.
o Thus, began the civil service that would run the Chinese government for over 2000
years.
- In order to become a civil servant, people had to take the civil service examinations.
o The better they did in the tests, the higher position they could get in the civil
service.
- The examinations were very difficult.
o Many people would study for years in order to pass the tests. A lot of the tests
covered the philosophy of Confucius and required lots of memorization.

Confucian philosophy for the Chinese government and the society

Both the Chinese government and society are grounded in the Confucian philosophy that there
is a basic order in the Universe and a natural harmony linking humans, nature and the cosmos (heaven);
likewise holding to the belief that wo/man is by nature a social being, and that the natural order of the
Universe must be reflected in human relations.
The family unit was seen as the primary social unit, relationships within the family were
fundamental to all others and comprised three of the “five relationship” that were the models for all
others: sovereign-subject; husband-wife; parent-child; older brother-younger brother; friend-friend. In
this hierarchy of social relations, each role had clearly defined duties; reciprocity or mutual responsibility
between subordinate and superior was fundamental to the Confucian concept of human relations. The
virtue of filial piety, or devotion of the child to his parents, was the foundation for all the other said
relationships. When extended to all human beings, it nurtured the highest virtue, humaneness (“ren” or
“jen”), or the sense of relatedness to other persons.
In traditional China it was assumed by adherent of all of thought hat government would be
monarchical and that the state had its model in the family. The ruler was understood to be at once the
Son of Heaven, and the father of the people, ruling under the Mandate of Heaven. Traditional thinkers,
reflecting on the problem of government, were concerned primarily not with changing institutions and
laws but with ensuring the moral uprightness of the ruler and encouraging his appropriate conduct as a
father-figure.
The magistrate, the chief official of the level of government and the official closest to the people,
was known as the “father-mother” official. Even today, under a radically different form of government,
the Chinese term for state is “guo-jia” or “nation-family”, suggesting the survival of the idea of this
paternal and consensual relationship. The first and third of the “five relationships” – example. Emperor
and minister, father and son – indicate the parallels between family and state.
Confucius’s emphasis on virtue far outweighs obedience. “In the face of a wrong or
unrighteousness. It is the duty of the son to oppose his father, and the duty of the servant to oppose his
superior.” In an explicitly political context, Confucius was even clearer, pointing out “tyrannical
government is more dangerous than man-eating tigers.” Mencius combined these ideas into the
Mandate of Heaven, which justified rebellion against incompetent or malignant governments. He wrote
“when a ruler treats his subjects like grass and dirt, then the subjects should treat him as a bandit and an
enemy.”
Confucius regarded government and education as inseparable and the importance of developing
that goodness through education. Without good education, he reasoned, it was impossible to find
leaders who possess the virtue to run a government. “What has one is not able to govern himself, to do
with governing others?” Confucius asked.
Belief in the innate goodness and perfectibility of wo/man has had strong implications for the
development of the Chinese political system. The ruler’s main function in the Confucian state was to
educate and transform the people. This was ideally accomplished not by legal regulation and coercion,
but by personal rule, moral, example, and mediation in disputes by the emperor and his officials.
Confucian political theory emphasized conflict resolution through mediates rather than through the
application of abstract rules to establish and wrong in order to achieve social harmony.
- Other subjects included the military, mathematics, geography, and calligraphy. Some tests
even involved having to write poetry.
- There were nine different levels or ranks of civil service.
o People could move to a higher rank by passing the next level of examinations.
- Only a very few of the brightest subjects were able to rise all the way to rank nine.
o These men became powerful and wealthy.

6. Astronomy
- Astronomy in ancient Chinese civilization was intimately linked with religion, providing it
with a ritual dimension which catalysed the growth of science and technology.
- Around the 800’s BCE, Chou (or Zhou) scholars were recording eclipse of the sun, which
have been verified eclipse of the Sun, which have been verified to have truly occurred
exactly when their records stated (Greaves et al., 1990)
- By the 300’s BCE, the Chinese has mapped the major stars in the heavens and like the
Babylonians, succeeded in predicting eclipses.
- Their system of astronomical observations produced catalogs of stars and novae.
- Many of their computations were based not on the Sun but on the position of the Pole Star,
while the wheeling around it of circumpolar constellations like the Big Dipper, its handle
pointing north in winter and south in summer, marked off the 12 months of the Chinese
year.
- Occurrences of lunar and solar eclipse were inscribed on Shang oracle bones seven
countries before the first record of an eclipse were made in Babylonia (Schafer, 1968;
Williams, 1993).
- Halley’s Comet was first observed in China in 240 BCE.
 - An outstanding product of the Han culture was the invention most important to astronomy,
the armillary sphere cast in bronze by Chang Heng in 124 CE – essentially a nest of rings,
each representing imaginary circles which divided up the sky for measurement and
mapping.
- Chang Heng was also the inventor of the orrery, the smaller model of the armillary sphere
mechanically rotted by water power, its individual rings simulating the motions of the
heavenly bodies.
- The Orrery mechanism was used as model to run modern clocks.
o In 721 CE, the escapement, the basic device used to regulate clocks was made by I-
Hsing (a monk) and Liang Ling-Tsan (an engineer).

7. Great Wall of China

- The boy king Chao Cheng ascended the throne in 247 BCE.
- Having completed the Ch’in conquests in 221 BCE, he created the Ch’in Empire and then
proclaimed himself Ch’in Shih Huang Ti (“First Sovereign Emperor of Ch’in) and indeed he
reigned supreme over a unified empire.
- He ordered the construction of the two architectural monuments of massive proportions,
the Great Wall of China and the greatest palace of the first emperor.
- The Ch’in from which the name China is derived, established the country’s approximate
territorial boundaries and basic administrative system observed by all subsequent Chinese
dynasties for the next 2,000 years.
- Once considered the only-human made structure that could be seen from outer space, the
Great Wall of China is said to be the largest and most extensive infrastructure that the
nation built.
o It was constructed to keep out foreign invaders and control the borders of China.
- Made with stone, brick, wood, earth, and other materials, it showcased the extent of
Chinese engineering technology at that time.
o The structures was so massive and strong that it was said to have literally divided
China from the rest of the World.
- The wall’s construction put the nation among the powerful civilization during the ancient
times.
- It was the pride of their land and the crowning glory.
- Today, with some sections already ruins, the Great Wall still continues to be a world
attraction due to its historical significance and architectural grandeur.

8. Medicine
- Chinese medical practices – particularly, apothecaries and acupuncture – proven effective
cures to most known diseases, have been handed down almost unchanged to the present
(Dauben, 1990).
- Acupuncture was used to treat illnesses or pain by pricking the patience body with needles
at point believed to be connected with the visceral organs causing the physical pain.
- Illnesses is believed to be caused by blockages in the flow of energy through a series
meridians and channel described in Chinese medical anatomy.
 - The greatest medical contribution of the Han culture was the discovery of healing drugs and
herbs.
- Traditional Chinese medical practice which dates back to the 100 CE is totally a different
system compared to its Western medical counterpart (Selin, 1993b).
- With its holistic outlook, traditional Chinese medicine in practice takes into consideration
the season, weather, environment, family, diet, and the condition of the risk person, rather
than concentrating on isolated symptoms.
- Only after performing a series of looking, listening, smelling, touching, and asking will an
ancient Chinese medical practitioner pronounce his diagnosis.
- The Chinese had one of the most advanced systems of pharmacology (Selin 1993b).
o While medications were obtained mostly from plants, specific minerals and animal
part were also used.
- The Chinese practiced diet therapy as early as 300 BCE.

9. Seismograph
- Because ancient China had always been beset by earthquakes, the imperial Han Dynasty
government had all the reason to want to have an instrument to detect earthquake
occurrence.
- In 132 CE, the royal astronomer Chang Heng, invented an instrument an instrument he
called “earthquake weathercock,” which today we call the seismograph.
- It was a bronze vessel fitted with a weighted pendulum inside that would tilt when shaken
by an earth tremor, causing a bronze ball to move along a slider and drop out of a dragon’s
mouth.
- All around the vessel was a series of eight dragon’s head, equally speed, holding bronze balls
in their mouths.
- The balls would drop out once the dragon’s mouth is opened.
- Around the base of the vessel sat eight corresponding bronze roads, looking upward, with
their mouths wide open.
- Positioned directly below the dragon’s mouth each toad could readily catch the rolling out
of a dragon’s mouth.
- The clanging noise created when a bronze ball drops into a bronze toad’s mouth alerted the
people of an earthquake’s occurrence.
- Once tilted, the pendulum inside the vessel also released a hook which automatically fell
and locked the other sliders in place, effectively preventing the other balls from dropping in
other directions.
- Since the dragons were strategically placed at major compass points around the outer edge
of the vessel, it was capable of detecting both the time and the location of an earthquake
(Temple, 1986).
- The first western seismograph, according to Selin (1993b), was designed in France in 1703,
while the ones we use today were first developed in 1848.

10. Paper
- By making it possible for people anywhere at any time to preserve and disseminate
information and knowledge, the technology of paper-making and the invention of the
 printing press are arguably Han China’s greatest contribution to the worldwide spread of
culture and civilization.
- The invention of paper-making in 105 CE is generally credited to Cai Lun.
o By using vegetable fibers made from hemp rope ends, cloth rags, and old fishing
nets, Cai Lun created an easy and affordable way of making paper (Selin 1993b).
o The “recycled” fibers were first shredded, boiled, and then pounded into soggy pulp
that was subsequently poured into water-filled vat, passing through a fine mesh
screen.
o After being strained and dried, the smooth dry fibers left on the screen was the
sheet of paper produced.
- Although the materials being used now have changed, the process has remained basically
unchanged since its invention during the time of Han Dynasty (206 BCE -220 CE).
- Evidence point to the fact that in ancient China, paper was used not only for writing (Selin,
1993b).
o Coarser and stronger paper was used for clothing (it was warm and impenetrable by
cold winds), lacquerware, wall décor, and even military armor.
o The use of toilet paper was also traced in China back to the 6 th century.
o Soon after its invention, paper became a setting for Chinese artistry: its use led to
the development of calligraphy, water color painting and block printing.
- And through Chinese trade relations with west Asia and India during the 7 th and 8th
centuries, the use of paper spread wide and far.
o 8th century Arabs who sold paper to the Europeans did not know how it was
produced.
- Since its invention in the 100’s CE in China, it took Europe about 1,500 years later to develop
a similar process or an equivalent technology of paper-making.

11. Printing press

- Perhaps the Chinese invention which created a great impact on world civilization is the
printing press.
- Using hand-carved wooden block, the printing was done by the Chinese in the 700’s CE a
page at a time.
- By 976 CE, the Chinese were already compiling an encyclopedia of 1,000 volumes (McHenry,
1993).
- Then in 1030 CE, the first movable-type printer made from pottery was developed by Bi
Sheng (or Pi Sheng).
- Soon afterwards, the Koreans made the movable-type printing with individual characters
made of wood, metal or ceramics.
- During the time of the Sung Dynasty (960-1279 CE), the widespread use of paper currency
and mass printing of the Confucian Classics were the results of the 10 th century Chinese
invention of the movable-type printing press.
- In Europe, the first movable metal type printing press was invented in the 15 th century by
Johannes Gutenberg in Germany.
 - The movable type for printing is one of the technological achievements of ancient China
during its age of prosperity and cultural splendor, which was under the rule of the T’ang
Dynasty (618-907 CE):
o Along with the advances in medicine;
o invention of the: water wheel, wheelbarrow;
o The use of: coal as fuel, flexible bamboo pole in lifting heavy loads that speedily
facilitated the transport of such hefty loads;
o The technology of copper coinage;
o The artistry of wallpaper; and
o Porcelain (Greaves et al., 1990).

12. Compass and the Production of Iron and Steel

- During the Han Dynasty, the Ancient Chinese found that a naturally magnetic iron, called
lodestone, would always turn around to point south (or north, depending on how you see
it).
o They made a spoon out of lodestone and put it on a polished board. It rotated freely
and could always turn around to point south.
- During the T’ang Dynasty (618-907 CE) refinements in the use to magnetize a floating needle
(prototype of the magnetic needle in the compass) to indicate location – the making of the
modern type of compass was achieved.
- The innovations and technological developments in 11 th century Sung China were
accelerated by the boom in iron and steel production.
- The ocean-going ships that the Sung Dynasty built, fitted with magnetic compass, multiple
masts, separate watertight compartment, and stern-post rudder predated modern ships by
many centuries and served as models which the Europeans adopted for their 17 th century
explorations in New World (Greaves et al., 1990).
- The stern-post rudder was placed on the stern of the ship and allowed for more precise
turns with the ship. The real advantage of the stern-post rudder was the ability for the ships
to stay on-course and sail straight for long periods of sea travel.
- The Song Chinese were leaders in ship building. Watertight bulkheads improved buoyancy
and protected cargo. Stern-mounted or stern-post rudders improved steering.
- A Sung cargo ship as detailed in the painting Along the River.

13. Gunpowder
- The gunpowder is one of the most interesting inventions in China.
o The T’ang Dynasty (618-907 CE) is attributed to have mixed the first gunpowder in
ancient China.
- Originally, it was developed by Chinese alchemist who aimed to achieve immorality.
o They mixed charcoal, sulphur, and potassium nitrate, but instead of creating an
elixir of life, they accidentally invented a black powder that could actually generate
large amount of heat and gas in an instant.
- Ironically, instead of prolonging life, gunpowder is widely used to propel bullets from guns
and cannon which cause countless deaths.
 o In fact, gun powdered-propelled weapons are preferred by raiders who plan to
attack at a distance.
o The same weapons are also use to dissipate and attempts of invasion.
- On the other hand, gun powder is also used in fireworks during important celebrations in
China.
- In the wars the Sung Dynasty fought against the Mongol invaders, the gun powder that was
used much earlier in China for fireworks displays was used in explosive cannonballs.
- It was such a devastating warfare technology especially effective in sieges that it had spread
rapidly in Europe by the early 14th century.

India: Indus-Hindu Civilization

- India is a huge peninsula surrounded by vast bodies of water and fortified by huge
mountains in its northern boarders.
- The Indians creatively developed various ideas and technologies useful in their everyday
lives.
- They are known for manufacturing iron and in metallurgical works.
o Their iron steel is considered to be the best and held with high regard in the whole
of Roman Empire.

1. Well-planned Cities
- Considered the most remarkable accomplishment of the Indus civilization was the
construction layout of its cities which featured water wells (that piped water supply),
bathrooms and wastepipe or drains in nearly every house.
- Such technologically advanced city plan was found nowhere else in the ancient world.
- Only in the 19th century in Western Europe and North America were such achievements
found on a similar scale.
- Houses in their ancient cities were uniformly built (an indication of the absence of social
stratification) along rows of streets.
- In most cities, large buildings included a public bath and municipal granaries or storehouses.
- The cities were built of Sun-baked or kiln-fired bricks.
- The remains of successive dikes in the cities indicate the people’s effort to protect
themselves against flood.
- Tools were made of stone, bronze and wood, then in later centuries, iron began to appear
and was used in axle pains for wheeled carts.
- Because only very few weapons and other indications of warfare were found in those
archaeological sites, the Indus civilization appears to have been remarkably peaceful and
humane as well as organized and sophisticated.

2. Classic Literature
- Although they spoke an early form of Sanskrit, intermarriage and contact with the more
cultured people already settled in India helped the preliterate, pre-urban, and seminomadic
Aryans to acquire literacy and develop the arts and skill in farming and building cities.
 - All that known about the Aryans come from their ritual hymns, the Vedas and from the later
epic poems, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, which were written down many centuries
later in Sanskrit, the classical language of India.
- Hymn: a religious song or poem of praise to God or a God.
- Vedas (or Veda): the most ancient Hindu scriptures, written in early Sanskrit and
entertaining hymns, philosophy, and guidance on ritual for the priests of Vedic religion.
Believed to have been directly revealed to seers among the early Aryans in India, and
preserved by oral tradition, the four chief collections are the Big Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur
Veda and Arharve Veda.
- Seer: a person who is supposed to be able through supernatural insight, to see what the
future holds.
- The Mahabharata is an ancient Indian epic where the main story revolves around two
branches of a family – the Pandavas and Kauravas – who, in the Kurukshetra War, battle for
the throne of Hasthapura, Interwoven into this narrative are several smaller stories about
people dead or living, and philosophical discourses.
- Ramayana: A Sanskrit epic, traditionally attributed to Valmiki, that concerns the banishment
of Rama from his kingdom, the abduction of his wife Sita by a demon and her rescue and
Rama’s eventual restoration to the throne.
- The basis of traditional India culture and most of its details evolved during the Aryan’s Vedic
Period (c. 1000-500 BCE).

3. Medicine
- India is also famous in medicine.
- For example, Ayurveda, a system of traditional medicine that originated in ancient India
before 2500 BCE, is still practiced as a form of alternative medicine.
o They discovered some medicinal properties of plants that led them to develop
medicines to cure various illnesses.
o Ayurveda: the traditional Hindu system of medicine, which is based on the idea of
balance in bodily systems and uses diet, herbal treatment, and yogic breathing.
o Alternative medicine: any of a range of medical therapies that are not regarded as
orthodox by the medical possession, such as herbalism, homeopathy, and
acupuncture.
o Yoga: a Hindu spiritual and ascetic discipline, a part which, including breath control,
simple meditation, and the adoption of specific bodily postures is widely practiced
for health and relaxation.
o Ascetic: characterized by or suggesting the practice of severe self-discipline and
abstention from all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons.
o Indulge: allow oneself to enjoy the pleasure of.
o Orthodox: (of a person or their views, specially religious or political ones, or other
beliefs or practice) conforming to what is generally or traditionally accepted as right
or true; established and approved.
o Homeopathy: the treatment of disease by minute doses of natural substance that in
a healthy person would produce symptoms of disease.
- Surgery has been used to treat medical conditions for centuries.
 o In India, the first description of surgical techniques comes around 700 B.C.E.
- In the text Sushruta Samhita, the Hindu physician Sushruta describes more than 100
different surgical instruments, and many common surgical procedures including amputating
limbs, stitching cuts, extracting teeth, draining wounds, and removing cataracts.
- India was then recognized by the later classical West as the home of the advanced
knowledge and practice of medicine, medical practices in ancient India effectively dealt with
the prevention and treatment of ailments.
- Traditional Indian medication had a very extensive pharmacopoeia and varieties of herbal
remedies and drugs which the West discovered and used only much later.
- Indian surgeons successfully performed various operations like repair of broken limbs,
complicated bone setting, amputation, plastic surgery and Caesarean section.

4. Mathematics
- Ancient India is also known for their mathematics.
- Bisht (1982) noted that the earliest traces of mathematical knowledge in the Indian
subcontinent appeared in the Indus Valley Civilization.
o The people of this civilization, according to Bisht (1982), tried to standardize
measurement of length to high degree of accuracy and designed a ruler, the
Mohenjo-Daro ruler.
- Clifford (2008) and Bose (1998) pointed out that the Indian astronomer and mathematician
Aryabhata (476-550), inn his Aryabhata, introduced a number of trigonometric functions,
tables and techniques, as well as algorithms of algebra.
- In 628 CE, another India, Brahmaguota, also suggested that gravity was a force of attraction
and lucidly explained the use of zero as both a placeholder and a decimal digit, along with
the Hindu-Arabic numerical system now used universally throughout the world (Clifford,
2008; Bose, 1998).
- The familiar Hindu- Arabic numerals we use and taken for granted now were actually
invented by those early Indian mathematicians.
- Many other mathematical concepts maintained by the Muslim Arabs to the medieval West
such as the :
1. Negative and positive quantities;
2. Square and cube roots;
3. Quadratic equations;
4. Mathematical implications of zero and infinity; and
5. Value of pi up to nine decimal places, were originally thought of by the ancient and
classical Indian mathematicians.
- They likewise introduced important steps in trigonometry, sine functions, spherical
geometry, and calculus.
- The Arabs considered mathematics as “the Indian art”.
- Later science and mathematics in the West could have been impossible without some of
those mathematical foundations laid by the ancient and classical Indian civilization.
- In 810, mathematician and astronomer Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi (ca. 780- ca.
850) writes Algorithmi de numero indorum (Calculations with Indian numerals), which
 introduces the decimal system and the concept of zero first to the Arab world, and later,
through translations, to Europe.
- Another Indian named Madhava of Sangamagrama is also considered as the founder of
mathematical analysis (Joseph, 1991).

5. Astronomy
- Ancient India is also notable in the field of astronomy.
- They developed theories on the configuration of the universe, the spherical self-supporting
Earth, and the year of 360 days with 12 equal parts of 30 days each.
- Brahmagupta also wrote Brahma aphuta siddhanta (Brahma’s correct system).
o In his work, Brahmagupta describes planetary motion along with mathematics
relevant to astronomers.
o His work is translated in Baghdad during the 8 th century and spreads across the Arab
world.
- Sama (2008) noted that their interest in astronomy was also evident in the first 12 chapters
of the Siddhanta Shiromani (“Crown of treaties”), written in the 12 th century.
o The book is the major treatise of the Indian mathematician Bhaskara II; he wrote
this in 1150 when he was 36 years old.
- According to Sama (2008), this ancient text covered topics such as modern mathematical
computations in astronomy: syzygies; kunar eclipses; solar eclipses; latitudes of the planets;
rising and settings; he moon’s crescent conjunctions of the planets with each other;
conjunctions of the planets with the fixed stars; and the paths of the Sun and Moon.

Evidences of Science and Technology during Pre-Columbian Times (1500 BCE – 1500 CE in the
new world)
- Unknown to the West were flourishing civilization in Mesoamerica, which were equally
advance with that of the ancient Sumerians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Minoans and even with
the Greeks.
- In South America, hundreds of years before it was discovered by Christopher Columbus,
native inhabitants (now known as the American Indians, the three most famous, the Incas in
Peru, and the Aztecs in Mexico) were found to have uniquely advanced cultures of their own
in spite of their distance and isolation from the rest of the known world then.
- It must have been an unbelievable experience for Columbus and those Spanish
conquistadors after him, to behold the wealth and magnificence of the empires in the New
World they discovered.

1. Olmec Civilization
- Until about five decades ago, the history of pre-Columbian America revolved around three
American Indian tribes – the Mayans, the Incans and the Aztecs.
- Recent archaeological excavations, however, revealed the existence of a more primitive
ancient culture in which the earliest discovered Maya civilization apparently had its roots.
- And now, as more artifacts are unearthed, archaeologists are accumulating evidences
proving that the first major center of civilization in the New World was developed by th
 Olmecs, a Mysterious People who inhabited the jungles along the Gulf Coast of Mexico as
long ago as 1500 BCE (Greaves et al., 1990).
- The Olmec civilization is recognized today as one of the six cradles of early civilizations; the
other five are: ancient Egypt, the Sumerian civilization in modern Iraq, the Shang cultures of
China, the Indus Valley civilization of India, and the Northern coastal cultures of Peru.
- Of those six, the Olmec civilization is the youngest and, in some ways, the least understood.
- Sometime in the late 1859s, a farmer in Veracruz came across an odd dome-shaped rock in
the ground. When he dug it out, it turned out to be a massive atone head.
- The face looked African, and the myth of an African contact in the Americas took hold.
o In truth, however, the farmer had not found evidence of colonization but, rather,
the very first artifact of Mesoamerica’s mother culture, the Olmec.
o The head he found was called the Colossal Head of Hueyapan.
- Archaeologists have discovered thousands of Olmec sites all in lowlands of a region called
the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.
- But the Olmec colossal heads have been found in only three main Olmec centers: San
Lorenzo, La Venta, and Tres Zapotes. Each represents a different period in Olmec history.
o San Lorenzo flourished from about 1700 BCE to 1000 BCE.
o La Venta emrged next, from about 1000 BCE to 400 BCE.
o Tres Zapotes,which represents the end of Olmec civilization, called the Epi-Olmec
and lasted from 300 BCE to about 300 CE.
- In a small sand and clay island surrounded by coastal swamps called La Venta, Innumerable
relics of the Omec’s distant past were found in 1939.
o By carbon-dating method, the Olmec artifacts were dated at 1200 BCE, a date about
700 hundred years before the Golden Age of Classical Greece (Leonard, 1973).
- Archaeologists believe that the Olmecs had established their great civilization around the
Gulf of Mexico even much earlier before the rise of ancient Greece.
- The stone images the Olmec left of themselves were jaguar-like rigid faces with drooping
thick lips and flat noses.
o Between 1200 – 100 BCE, the Olmec Indians of Mexico were already using calendars
and a developed counting system (Dauben, 1990).
- They were probably the first to devise a system of calculating dates over a long period of
time known as the Long Count which the Mayans later used (Greaves et al., 1990).
- The Olmec American Indians were probably the inventors of numbers and writing in the
western Hemisphere (Voorhies, 1990).
- Although it appears as a very crude from of hieroglyphs, the still undeciphered stylized
pictographic Olmecs’ kind of writing (Greaves et al., 1990) was an effective intellectual tool
for communication.
o It served as the pattern for all forms of writing used in ancient Middle America
(Leonard, 1873).
- The principal Olmec architectural structure found in the La Venta ruins was the vast clay
pyramid decorated with elaborate stone carvings.
o The transportation and construction techniques they used to make the complex
temples and government buildings were impressive.
- Complex A (at La Venta) is a mound and plaza group located just to the north of the Great
Pyramid (Complex C). The centreline of Complex A originally oriented to Polaris (true north)
which indicates the Olmec had some knowledge of astronomy. Surrounded by a series of
basalt columns, which likely restricted access to the elite, it was erected in a period of four
construction phases that span over four centuries (1000 – 600 BCE). Beneath the mounds
and plazas were found a vast array of offerings and other buried objects, more than 50
separate caches by one count, including buried jade, polished mirrors made of Iron-ores and
five large “Massive Offerings” of serpentine blocks. It is estimated that Massive Offering 3
contains 80 tons of carefully finished serpentine blocks, covered by 4,000 tons of clay fill.
- For still unknown reasons, the Olmec civilization seemed to have ended between 600 – 400
BCE (Greaves et al., 1990).
- Nonetheless, the Olmecs’ influence was evident in the Maya civilization which emerged
after more than 500 years.

2. Maya Civilization
- The Maya civilization is one of the famous civilization that lasted for approximately 2,000
years.
- These people were known for their works in astronomy.
o They incorporated their advanced understanding of astronomy into their temples
and other religious structure.
- This allows them to use their temples for astronomical observation.
o For example, the pyramid at Chichen Iza in Mexico is situated at the location of the
Sun during the spring and fall equinoxes.
- Mayan knowledge and understanding about celestial bodies were advanced for their time,
as evidence by their knowledge of predicting eclipses and using astrological cycles in
planting and harvesting.
- In the late 19th century Ernst Torstemann worked out how the Maya marked time. The Maya
used what is now known as the calendar round which is made up of 3 interlocking cycles. A
cycle of 20 names, a cycle of 13 numbers (which forms the 260 day sacred calendar, called
Trok’in in Maya ) and a 365 days solar year (or solar calendar, called Haab in Maya), 52
years will pass until the three cycle line up again. So, the Haab has 365 days (18 months of
20days + 5). The Trok’in has 260 days (20 names and 13 numbers). The calendar round has
18,980 days (52 years).
- The Maya calendar round which is made up of 3 interlocking cycles. A cycle of 20 names, a
cycle of 13 numbers (which forms the 200-day sacred calendar, called trolk’in in Maya) and
a 365 days solar year (or solar calendar, called Haab in Maya). 52 years will pass until the
three cycle line up again.
- The Haab: the 365-day count
Sometimes called the “Vague year” because leap year adjustment was never intercalated
the Haab is a 365-day period.
It is made up of 18 months of 20 days and an extra month, called Wayeb, of only 5 days at
the end of the year which give a total of 365 days. Those 5 extra days were usually
considered to be a special time.
- Intercalate: interpolate or insert (an intercalary period, like a day or month) in calendar.
- Did the ancient Maya predicted that the world would end on 21 December 2012?
No, they did not! In the Maya long count calendar, each great cycled lasted 5125nyears
and it is repeated indefinitely. A great cycle of the Maya long count has ended last 21
December 2012, but the next day the Maya believed that a new cycle would begin.
Explicitly, the Maya long count calendar did started again (Last December 22, 2012) it’s new
cycle and not pertaining to the end of the world.
- The Mayans also developed the technology for growing different crops and building
elaborate cities using ordinary machineries and tools.
o They built hydraulics with sophisticated waterways to supply water to different
communities.
- Further, they used various tools and adapt themselves to innovation especially in the field of
arts.
o The Mayans built looms for weaving cloth and devised a rainbow of glittery paints
made from a mineral called mica
o The Mineral mica: a shiny silicate mineral with a layered structure, found as minute
scales in granite and rocks, or as crystals. It is used as a thermal or electrical
insulator.
- They are also believed to be one of the first people to produce rubber products 3,000 years
before Good year received its patent in 1884.
- The Mayans are considered one of the most scientifically advanced societies in
Mesoamerica.
o They are also famous as one of the world’s first civilizations to use writing system
known as the Mayan hieroglyphics.
- They were also skilled in mathematics and created a number system based on the numeral
20.
- Moreover, they independently developed the concept of zero and positional value, even
before the Romans did.

3. Aztec Civilization
- The Aztec civilization has also made substantial contribution to science and technology and
to the society as a whole.
- Some of their contributions are the following:
1. Mandatory education. The Aztecs puts value on education; that is why their children
are mandated to get education regardless of their social class, gender, or age. It is an
early form of universal or inclusive education.
2. Chocolates. The Aztecs in Mexico developed chocolate during their time.
 In the Mayan culture they used it as currency.
 The Aztecs valued the cacao beans highly and made it as part of their tribute to
their gods.
3. Antispasmodic medication. They used a type of antispasmodic medication that could
prevent muscle spasms and relax muscles, which could help during surgery.
4. Chinampa. Literally translated as “Floating Garden”. The Aztec farmers turned the
shallow parts of the lakes into artificial islands called Chinampas to serve as their
 cropland which they fertilized with organically enriched mud scooped from the Lake
bottoms.
o In the highlights, they cut terraces into the hillsides to increase the level of farmland
and to prevent erosion. Their irrigation system effectively watered their plants.

5. Aztec Calendar. This enabled the Aztecs to plan their activities, rituals, and planting
season.
6. Invention of the canoe. The Aztec canoe is a light narrow boat used for travelling in
water systems.

4. Inca Civilization
- The Inca civilization is also famous in Mesoamerica.
o The Incas made advanced scientific ideas considering their limitations as an old
civilization.
- The following were scientific ideas and tools that they developed to help them in everyday
life:
1. Roads paves with stones;
2. Stone building that surrounded earthquakes and other disaster;
3. Irrigation system and technique for storing water for their crops to grow in all types of
land;
4. Calendar with 12 months to make their religious festivals and prepare them for planting
season;
5. The first suspension bridge;
6. Quipu, a system of knotted to keep records that only experts can interpret; and
7. Inca textiles since cloth was one of the specialty prized artistic achievements.