Technology in the Ancient World

by Henry Hodges

Focusing on the tools and implements, the author provides a survey of man's developing technology up to the fifth century A.D

Genres: History, Science, Nonfiction, Engineering, History Of Science, Reference, Historical

313 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1970

Reviews

[Dr G · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have had this book for many years and even then probably originally bought it as a remaindered item. I have had it in my shelves as a reference source but finally decided to read it through.
As other reviewers have said, it is very old, having originally been published in 1970. Archaeology and the analysis of pre-historic societies have made enormous progress in the intervening fifty years.
It serves moderately well as a rudimentary introduction although one would need to be careful about accepting any of its analyses without a second opinion. It probably also suffers from trying to spread too widely, although it may have made more sense to do this at a time when much of our current learning was yet to happen. I would recommend, as a comprehensive and more penetrating presentation of part of the topic, The Teaching Company’s lecture series, Greek and Roman Technology presented by Professor Stephen Dressler.

[Eric Tanafon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Technology in the Ancient World is a good overview of its subject, with the caveat that it's somewhat dated (written in the early seventies) and focuses almost exclusively on eastern Mediterranean cultures. That said, the author does emphasize that the so-called 'barbarian' nations in Europe weren't necessarily less sophisticated and inventive than their 'classical' contemporaries.

One of the things that struck me most reading this is how long it could take for technology to be invented or improved--hundreds of years might mean only a refinement of existing pottery techniques, or a slight change to how plows or chariots were designed. One of the author's favorite examples is the extremely slow rate of change in lighting techniques--lamps from the Neolithic era stayed substantially the same for millennia. Then again, the 'if it's not broke, don't fix it' principle comes into play. Looking at an emergency lamp we have in our house, it really still is basically the same as ancient models, other than using an upper structure of glass, and a wick that can be manually paid out. It worked then and it still does. This also gives me new respect for the inventive people who eventually do see real improvements that can be made to what's tried and true.

I would have appreciated the author explaining some of the technologies and mechanisms a bit more. He seems to assume the reader is already versed in crafts and engineering. When ships are discussed, nautical terms that a landlubber would have to look up abound, and many times sentences occur such as 'At this time, a beveled capstan was added to the crossbow superstructure, which of course greatly increased its efficiency.' There are a fair number of pictures and diagrams but these sometimes don't help much with truly understanding what's being talked about. Truly explaining the mechanical principles involved would no doubt require a different book, but including a glossary, at least, would have helped here.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the illustrations and learned many interesting things about how technology developed in the ancient world. I think the author could have been a little more organized in his chapters to improve the reader’s understanding.

[Corrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it was an interesting book, but it was originally published in 1970 so now I want to research more recent studies.

[A.R. Bredenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wide-ranging survey of technology in the ancient world. Very useful to the historical novelist working with ancient time periods. This was written in 1970, and I'm sure there would be much more to add to this topic today. However, I'm not aware of anything more recent that tries to cover the broad range of ancient cultures the way Hodges did.

ARK

[John Ghekiere · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book and read it twice. I have gone back and referred to it a couple times. Other reviewers have correctly highlighted that it's pretty light on detail, but that's it's place. It's a great introduction to a broad range of technological advances throughout the ancient world.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very readable. Provides an excellent overview of technological advances over time showing how one thing was followed by another. In addition, the descriptions and illustrations provide clear understanding of how things actually worked.

[Royce Ratterman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most books are rated related to their usefulness and contributions to my research.
Overall, a good book for the researcher and enthusiast.
Read for personal research
- found this book's contents helpful and inspiring - number rating relates to the book's contribution to my needs.

[Nicholas Marrone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed it very much but I could have hoped for far more detail about many areas. I look at this book as more of a stepping off point rather than a destination for the study of ancient technology.

[Fred · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting in a professorial bent!