Topic 5. Science and technology in the ancient world

Until VII century BC. er Greece was the periphery of the Middle Eastern civilization. The Greeks studied from the East: they borrowed the alphabet and design of ships from the Phoenicians, the art of sculpture and the beginnings of mathematical knowledge from the Egyptians. The famous philosopher Pythagoras lived in Egypt for a long time, trying to get to know the priests and penetrate their secrets; he brought from Egypt the Pythagorean theorem and the magic of numbers. Imitating the priests, Pythagoras founded a secret society of philosophers; his followers believed in the transmigration of souls and claimed that the earth was a ball.

Greece was a barren country, its population could not be fed by agriculture; many were engaged in fishing, others left in search of a better share in distant countries, founded colonies on the shores of the Mediterranean. Invention, which made Greece a rich country, was the creation of Trier, a new type of warship. The first Trier was built around 630 BC. er Corinthian master Aminokl; it was a ship with three rows of oars and a crew of 170 oarsmen and 20-30 warriors. The length of the trire was 40-50 meters with a width of 5-7 meters, the displacement - about 230 tons. High speed and maneuverability allowed Trier to effectively use its main weapon - the ram, which pierced the bottom of the enemy ships.

Trier was a fundamental discovery; she allowed the Greeks to gain supremacy in the Mediterranean and seize all the maritime trade. The Phoenicians, who had previously been the first merchants of the Mediterranean, tried to resist the Greeks, but their fleet was defeated by the Greek triremes in the battle of Salamis. All sea lanes now passed through Piraeus and Corinth, the huge profits from intermediary trade ensured the prosperity of Greek cities. Profits from trade were invested in the craft; primarily in the production of ceramics; Ceramic vessels were a universal container of that time — grain, wine, oil, and many other products were stored in amphoras.

Athens became the main craft center of the Mediterranean, but Greek entrepreneurs did not have enough labor - then they began to buy slaves. Slaves were bought from barbarians living along the shores of the Black Sea, brought to Athens and taught craft; they worked in large craft workshops, ergastiriyah. Thus, the creation of triremes gave rise to Greek trade and Greek slavery. Greek society was a bourgeois society of merchants and entrepreneurs; the fact that these entrepreneurs used slave labor does not change the essence of the matter: the planters of the American southern states also used slaves. The main feature of bourgeois society is the clash of private interests, which led to endless lawsuits.

In the Greek courts, everyone had to defend himself; in these proceedings, the plaintiffs and the defendants excel in oratory; Soon this art began to be taught in private schools, in which the wise men- "sophists" taught. The recognized head of the Sophists was Protagoras; he argued that “man is the measure of all things” and that truth is what seems to the majority (that is, most judges). The disciple Protagoras Pericles became the first politician to master the art of oratory; thanks to this art, he ruled Athens for 30 years.

From the sophists and Protagoras, all Greek philosophy went; to a large extent, it boiled down to speculative reasoning, which today would be called unscientific. However, in the arguments of the philosophers there were also rational thoughts. Socrates was the first to raise the question of the objectivity of knowledge; he questioned habitual truths and beliefs and argued that "I only know that I do not know anything." Anaxagoras went even further - he denied the existence of gods and tried to create his own picture of the world, he argued that the bodies are made up of tiny particles. The follower of Anaxagoras, Democritus, called these particles atoms and tried to use infinitesimal quantities in mathematical calculations; he got the formula for the volume of the cone. However, the Athenians were outraged by attempts to deny the existence of the gods, Protagoras and Anaxagoras were expelled from Athens, and Socrates, under the sentence of the court, was forced to drink a cup of poison.

The disciple of Socrates was the famous philosopher Plato (427-347). Plato believed in the existence of the soul and in the transmigration of souls after death. For the history of science, it is not Plato's philosophical quest that is important, but the fact that he was the founder of sociology, the science of society and the state. Plato proposed a project of an ideal state, which is governed by a caste of philosophers like the Egyptian priests (it must be said that Plato had been in Egypt). Philosophers are backed by warriors, "guards" who look like Spartans, they live in one community and have everything in common - including their wives.

Plato argued that his ideal state existed in Atlantis, a country located somewhere in the West, on the mainland that subsequently sunk. Of course, it was the “science fiction” of those times. More importantly, Plato and his pupil Dion tried to create an ideal state in Syracuse, in Sicily; This political experiment led to civil war and the destruction of Syracuse.

Sociological studies of Plato continued by Aristotle; he wrote the famous treatise “Politics”; this treatise contained a comparative analysis of the social order of most of the then known states.

Aristotle put forward a number of provisions adopted by modern sociology; he argued, in particular, that the leading factor in social development is population growth; that overpopulation causes hunger, rebellion, civil war and the establishment of "tyranny". The purpose of the "tyrants" - the establishment of "justice" and the equal redistribution of land. Aristotle is known as the founder of biology; he described and systematized various types of animals - just as he described and systematized states; these researchers later became known as "taxonomists."

Aristotle was the teacher of Alexander of Macedon, the famous conqueror of the half-world. Macedonian conquests were caused by a new invention in the military sphere - the creation of the Macedonian phalanx. Alexander's warriors had spears of 6 meters in length and those who stood behind put their spears on the front shoulders. The actions in the phalanx required great coherence, and Alexander's father, Philip, spent a lot of time training his soldiers. The Macedonian phalanx was a fundamental discovery, this discovery triggered a wave of Macedonian conquests and the emergence of a new cultural circle, which historians call the Hellenistic world.

Alexander was interested in science and helped Aristotle create the first institution of higher education, the Likey; he took along with him the nephew of Aristotle Callisfen. Kallisfen and his assistants described the nature of the conquered countries, measured the breadth of the area, sent to Aristotle stuffed animals of strange animals and herbariums collected by them. After the death of Alexander, the friend and commander Ptolemy assumed the role of patron of the sciences. With the division of the empire of Alexander, Ptolemy went to Egypt, and he founded a new scientific center, Musei, in Alexandria after the model of Lycae. The buildings of Museya were located among a beautiful park, there were classrooms for students, houses for teachers. The observatory, botanical garden, and a wonderful library - there were 700 thousand manuscripts in it. The teachers of the Museya received the royal salary; among them were not only philosophers and mechanics, but also poets and Eastern sages who translated Egyptian and Babylonian treatises into Greek. The Egyptian priest, Manetho, authored the treatise Egyptian Antiquities, and the Babylonian priest Beroez wrote The Babylonian Antiquities; 72 Jewish wise men translated the Bible into Greek.

Musey was the first scientific center, generously funded by the state and its activity showed that if there is money, then there will be science. In essence, the birthday of Museya was the birthday of ancient science. The head of Musey, the "librarian", was the geographer of Eratosthenes, who, by measuring latitude at various points, was able to calculate the length of the meridian; thus, it was finally proved that the Earth is a ball. Euclid created the geometry - the one that is now being held in schools. He based science on rigorous evidence; when Ptolemy asked him to do without evidence, Euclid answered: "For kings there are no special ways in mathematics." A pupil of Euclid Apollonius of Pergskii continued the work of his teacher and described the properties of an ellipse, parabola and hyperbola. In Museyon, Aristarkh of Samos hypothesis was actively discussed that the Earth revolves around the Sun in a circle - but it turned out that it contradicts observations (the fact is that the Earth moves not in a circle, but in an ellipse). As a result, the scientists of Museyon, led by Claudius Ptolemy (II in. BC), created a theory of epicycles. In accordance with this theory, the Earth is located in the center of the Universe, transparent spheres are located around, enclosing each other; together with these spheres, the sun and the planets move along complex epicycles. Behind the last sphere of fixed stars, Ptolemy placed "the home of the blessed." Ptolemy's work "The great mathematical construction of astronomy in 13 books" ("Magiste syntaxis") was the main guide to astronomy until the Modern Age. Ptolemy created scientific geography and gave coordinates of 8 thousand different geographical locations - this “Guide to Geography” was used by Europeans until the time of Columbus.

The creation of Museya coincided in time with a new revolution in military affairs, the invention of military vehicles, ballista and catapults. The appearance of the ballista changed the tactics of naval battles; if earlier the main weapon of the triremes was a ram, then now they began to build huge ships with towers on which they installed ballista. These ships were called penters, for each oar there were 5 or more rowers on them, and the total number of rowers reached thousands of people. It was the ballista that allowed King Ptolemy to gain dominion in the seas; Alexandria took the place of Athens and became the main trading center of the Mediterranean. From Alexandria, the channel could get into the Red Sea, and the ships of Alexandrian Greeks sailed even to the shores of India. The 130-meter Faroese lighthouse, one of the wonders of the world, built by Sostrat Cnidus on the orders of Ptolemy II, became the symbol of the trade power of Alexandria.

“King Ptolemy dedicates to the savior gods for the benefit of the navigators,” read the inscription on the gypsum slab at the foot of the lighthouse — but over time the plaster fell off and another inscription carved on marble appeared from under it: seafarers. "

The creation of the ballista marked the birth of engineering, "mechanics". The first great mechanic was the famous builder of military vehicles Archimedes, who lived most of his life in Alexandria. Archimedes in the language of mathematics described the use of a wedge, block, winch, screw and lever. Together with the shipwright master Archemy, Archimedes built for the Syracuse king Hieron the "Syracuse woman" - a huge ship-palace with magnificent halls and pools. The ship was set in motion by two thousand oarsmen, and on the towers there were ballistates who threw three-pood stones at the enemy. Thousands of workers were harnessed to the ropes to launch the ship into the water - but they could not move it; Then Archimedes made a winch, with the help of which the king moved the ship alone. Archimedes is credited with discovering the laws of hydrostatics and the invention of the “Archimedean screw” - a water-lifting device that was used to irrigate fields. Of the other engineers of Alexandria, Cteshibius, the inventor of the water clock and the fire pump, became famous, and Heron, who created the airplane, the prototype of the steam turbine. In Alexandria, a distillation still was invented, which later was used to produce alcohol.

In the III century BC. er the era of the Roman conquests begins. The rise of Rome was associated with a new military invention, the creation of the Legion. The new weapon of the Romans gave rise to a new wave of conquest and the emergence of a new cultural circle, which historians call pax Romana, the “Roman world”. Having conquered Greece and Egypt, the Romans adopted both Greek culture and the scientific achievements of Museya.

The main technical achievement of the Romans was the creation of cement and concrete. The Romans learned how to use formwork and build concrete structures; crushed stone was used as a filler. In the II. n er in Rome, the Pantheon was built, the "Temple of All Gods" with a cast concrete dome 43 meters in diameter - later this structure became a model for the architects of the New Age. The Romans used cement and concrete in the construction of roads and bridges; Roman roads were admired by historians of later eras. The bridge over the Danube, built by the architect Apollodorus, was one of the wonders of that time - it was over a kilometer in length. The peak of the Roman art of construction was the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, built by Anfimov of Thrall; This temple had a dome with a diameter of 33 meters, mounted on pylons of 23 meters in height.

The most famous scientist and engineer of Roman time was Mark Vitruvius, who lived in the 1st century BC. At the request of the emperor Augustus, Vitruvius wrote Ten Books on Architecture, an extensive work on the construction craft and on various machines; This work contains the first description of a water mill. In the XV century, the work of Vitruvius became a tool for the architects of the New Age.

Vitruvius in his work used the works of scientists from the Alexandria Museum, which functioned until the end of the 4th century. In the last centuries of the Museya's existence, such famous scientists as Papp and Diophant worked in it. In 391, the Musei was destroyed during a religious pogrom - Christians accused scientists of worshiping pagan gods.

The role of Christianity in the development of science can be understood only by understanding the essence of this ideology. As is known, the founder of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Karl Kautsky, considered Jesus the creator of socialist ideology. “Go, sell everything you have, and give it to the poor,” said Jesus to the rich man. “It is more convenient for a camel to go through needles of ears than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.” “All believers were together and sold the estate and all property and shared it with everyone, depending on the needs of each,” the acts of the apostles say. Subsequently, Christians recognized private property, but true believing monks still live in communes. Christianity was a socialist ideology; thanks to this, it became the religion of the people and won.

However, at the same time, Christianity claimed the role of a monopolistic ideology, he fought with other religions and with other gods, pursuing any dissent. No one had the right to doubt what is written in the Bible - and in the Bible it was written that the Earth lies in the middle of the Ocean and is covered like a tent, seven domes of heaven, that in the center of the world is Jerusalem, and in the East, beyond India, is paradise and four sacred rivers originate there: the Tigris, the Euphrates, the Indus and the Ganges. It was an ancient picture of the world, once borrowed from Babylon, and it could not be combined with ancient science. In the end, the fathers of the church agreed to accept the Claudius Ptolemy system, little by little recognized that our planet is a ball, and moved paradise to the seventh Ptolemy sphere, to the “home of the blessed”. However, later, when the church became established, it could no longer make concessions to Copernicus and Galileo.

The church suppressed free thinking of scientists, but the cause of the death of ancient science was not the absolute power of the church. In the III century AD er far in the East, a new weapon appeared that brought the death of ancient civilization.