Posted on 11/29/2006 11:17:09 AM PST by freedom44
It shows that we know only a fraction of the technology of the ancient world.
The Arabs didn't discover diddley. They simply took over the knowledge of the people's they conquered.
Thanks Brujo.
The Arabs did invent the camel-mounted swivel cannon!
I think it's called a buruzuk.
And all (presumably) without calculus, physics, or vector math...
There could be a thousand years of darkness ahead.
Hah! I still have trouble using a calculator that isn't RPN...
didn't some guy about 1500 years later get credit for stating that the earth was round, we revolved around the sun, etc, etc. Do we not need to rethink that myth now too.
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Technology kept chugging along but it was practical technology rather then play toys for the very rich.
Lots of practical technology was squashed back in Ancient times. After all if you came up with a water powered machine that spun thread then what would the peasants do?
Labor saving was not on their list of things that were desirable. By their way of thinking it would result in a bored unemployed workforce.
By your standard the astrolab would be a computer. The Babbage machine was the first programmable (vice purpose built) digital (vice analog) computer and the Eniac was the first programmable digital electronic computer.
The slide rule was a mechanical analog computer and electronic analog computers predate Eniac. Analog digital computers were being marketed as late as the 1990’s. They were cheaper per calculation than competing digital computers for some problems.
As recently as twenty years ago, a lot of things that are done by commercial computers nowadays required purpose built circuitry.
I agree with your statements entirely. the addition of electricity, the flexibility ot multifunctions, etc., do not preclude the fact that the devices use mechanics to perform a given function based upon input (movement of dials, etc.)
there have been some very complicated astrolabs that have been made that are quite intricate. funny how you should mention it. I was contemplating them thee other day but couldn’t recall what they were called. - thanx;-)
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