Posted on 10/30/2019 12:51:32 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
The Romans were some of the most sophisticated builders of the ancient world. Over the centuries, they adopted an increasingly advanced set of materials and technologies to create their famous structures. To distinguish the time periods over which these improvements took place, historians and archaeologists typically measure the colours, shapes and consistencies of the bricks and mortar used by the Romans, along with historical sources. In new research published in EPJ Plus, Francesca Rosi and colleagues at the Italian National Research Council improved on these techniques through scientific analysis of the materials used to build the Roman Forum's Atrium Vestae. They found that successive phases of modification to the building saw improvements including higher quality raw materials, higher brick firing temperatures, and better ratios between carbonate and silicate building materials.
(Excerpt) Read more at brightsurf.com ...
Thanks. I didn’t know they used that devise. Makes more sense now.
Their kinda clunky number system got blown away by the sheer rapidity and scale of Roman expansion, so, for example the "i" representing ones would be used ahead of "million" for various things, like wheat units shipped.
> My grandfather had a wonderful book series Ingenious Mechanisms for Inventors and Designers
Looked interesting so I did a little digging and found the set here...
http://www.opensourcemachinetools.org/archive-manuals/Ingenious_Mechanisms_Vol.1_Jones_1930.pdf
http://www.opensourcemachinetools.org/archive-manuals/Ingenious_Mechanisms_Vol.2_Jones_1930.pdf
http://www.opensourcemachinetools.org/archive-manuals/Ingenious_Mechanisms_Vol.3_Jones_1930.pdf
http://www.opensourcemachinetools.org/archive-manuals/Ingenious_Mechanisms_Vol.4_Jones_1930.pdf
Please note - I kept getting a “The connection was reset” message from Cyberfox but Chrome let me download the .pdf with no problems.
http://www.opensourcemachinetools.org looks like an interesting site.
Fascinating designs, huh? Most all of that mechanical motion control is now handled via digital electronics. All of that will be (or already is) lost art.
An Attempt at Reproducing Ancient Roman Concrete by using Limestone, Volcanic Ash and Aggregate.
How To Make Roman Concrete | Published on July 30, 2017
roman concrete
Why 2,000 Year-Old Roman Concrete Is So Much Better Than What We Produce Today
Signe Dean
4 July 2017
https://www.sciencealert.com/why-2-000-year-old-roman-concrete-is-so-much-better-than-what-we-produce-today
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