From the dawn of history to the rise of the scientific method in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, invention and technology advanced with painful slowness. The reason was not that men were stupid during those thousands of years--it was the fact that most people were simply too busy trying to keep alive. The imagination and daring that leisure and security could divert to other ends were limited to a tiny group. It is about these brave men--whose genius enabled the Egyptians to build their pyramids, the Phoenicians to ...
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From the dawn of history to the rise of the scientific method in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, invention and technology advanced with painful slowness. The reason was not that men were stupid during those thousands of years--it was the fact that most people were simply too busy trying to keep alive. The imagination and daring that leisure and security could divert to other ends were limited to a tiny group. It is about these brave men--whose genius enabled the Egyptians to build their pyramids, the Phoenicians to cross stormy seas, the Romans to erect magnificent public buildings--that this carefully researched and fascinatingly written account of the advance of early technology has been written.Mr. de Camp describes the methods used by early irrigators, architects, and military engineers to build and maintain structures to serve their rulers' wants. He tells, for example, how the Pharaohs erected obelisks and pyramids, how Nebuchadnezzar fortified Babylon, how Dionysios' ordnance department invented the catapult, how the Chinese built the Great Wall, and how the Romans fashioned their roads, baths, sewers, and aqueducts. He recounts many intriguing anecdotes: an Assyrian king putting up no-parking signs in Nineveh; Plato inventing a water clock with an alarm to signal the start of his classes; Heron of Alexandria designing a coin-operated holy-water fountain; a Chinese emperor composing a poem to be inscribed on a clock invented by one of his civil servants."The Ancient Engineers" will delight students of technology and invention for its accurate portrayal of the foundations of modern engineering as well as lovers of history for its penetrating look at the material background of civilization and its unusual explanations of the world's social evolution.
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Add this copy of Ancient Engineers to cart. $1.28, fair condition, Sold by Once Upon A Time Books rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Tontitown, AR, UNITED STATES, published 1987 by Ballantine Books.
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Fair. This is a used book. It may contain highlighting/underlining and/or the book may show heavier signs of wear. It may also be ex-library or without dustjacket. This is a used book. It may contain highlighting/underlining and/or the book may show heavier signs of wear. It may also be ex-library or without dustjacket.
Add this copy of Ancient Engineers to cart. $2.51, like new condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Brownstown, MI, UNITED STATES, published 1987 by Ballantine Books.
Add this copy of Ancient Engineers to cart. $2.51, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Brownstown, MI, UNITED STATES, published 1987 by Ballantine Books.
Add this copy of Ancient Engineers to cart. $2.51, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 1987 by Ballantine Books.
Add this copy of Ancient Engineers to cart. $2.51, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1987 by Ballantine Books.
Add this copy of Ancient Engineers to cart. $2.59, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Ruby rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1987 by Ballantine Books.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Ancient Engineers to cart. $2.59, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Diamond rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1987 by Ballantine Books.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Ancient Engineers to cart. $2.59, very good condition, Sold by HPB Inc. rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1987 by Ballantine Books.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Ancient Engineers to cart. $2.59, very good condition, Sold by Half Price Books Inc rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1987 by Ballantine Books.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of The Ancient Engineers to cart. $2.99, fair condition, Sold by Ahab Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Glencoe, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1974 by Ballantine.
As with de Camp's other nonfiction, I found this book clear, informative, and showing no mercy to superstitions regarding "ancient astronauts" and the like. The pyramids, for instance, were built by MEN, and NOT men who had access to some super-science now lost. de Camp also writes with a dry, laconic wit, as when he suggests that the reason for some aspects of the Great Pyramid's internal structure may have been that the pharaoh had a touch of claustrophobia and couldn't bear the thought of the pyramid's full bulk being above him.
Some, but not most, of the information here has been rendered out-of-date by archaeological discoveries since the time of writing.
A quibble is that the romanizations de Camp uses for people whose names were not originally in the Roman alphabet are sometimes a bit obscure by today's standards, i.e., mentioning the founder of the Taoist philosophy under the name "Lau-dz" rather than the more usually seen "Lao-tse." This is only a very minor point, however, as the identities of these persons are always clearly described.
