The Ancient EngineersThis book is about those 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. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - PDCRead - LibraryThingThis was originally written in 1962, and is therefore is a little dated. Sprague de Camp has written a book all about the different civilisations and the technologies that that invented or acquired ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - Schmerguls - LibraryThing5609. The Ancient Engineers, by L. Sprague De Camp (read 21 Jan 2019) This book was first published in 1963 and hence its bibliography includes nothing after that date. It undertakes to tell of the ... Read full review
Contents
One The Coming of the Engineers | 13 |
Two The Egyptian Engineers | 28 |
Three The Mesopotamian Engineers | 53 |
Copyright | |
8 other sections not shown
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Common terms and phrases
Ages ancient appeared aqueducts Arabic arch architect army Assyria became began brick bridge bronze builders building built called canal carried catapult centuries China Chinese civilization classical clock close columns construction continued developed early Egypt Egyptian emperor Empire engineering Europe fact feet fire followed force four Greek hand Hence horse houses idea invention iron Italy keep kings known land later lead learned less lived machine means mechanical medieval Mediterranean methods Middle miles mill moved nature never oars original Persian practical probably pyramid remained river roads Roman Rome roof rule sail ships shows side soon statue stone story structure temple thing thousand took tower turned wall wheel whole wooden
Bibliographic information
| Title | The Ancient Engineers |
| Author | Lyon Sprague De Camp |
| Edition | reprint |
| Publisher | Doubleday, 1963 |
| Original from | the University of Michigan |
| Digitized | Aug 6, 2009 |
| ISBN | 0345320298, 9780345320292 |
| Length | 408 pages |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |