A History of Engineering in Classical and Medieval Times

by Donald Routledge Hill

In this comprehensive history, Donald Hill opens a window on medieval and classical engineering. The book focuses on on Greece, Rome and medieval Western Europe, but also includes interesting information on Middle Eastern technology.

Documenting over 1800 years, Donald Hill illustrates how classical and medieval engineers designed early irrigation systems, dams, bridges, clocks and how they harnessed the power of both water and wind. Working largely without a quantified, scientific basis for their designs, these early engineers studied the properties of materials and the way in which fluids and solids behaved in certain conditions. They then applied this knowledge to efficiently solve problems. This fascinating study documents over 1800 years of early engineering.

Genres: History, Technology, Ancient, Medieval, Stem

263 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1984

About the author

he was an engineer and historian of science and technology.

Alongside more general works on the history of technology, he wrote works on the history of medieval Arabic science and technology, and translated The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices (Kitáb fí ma'rifat al-hiyal al-handasiyya) of the Arab engineer Al-Jazari.

Reviews

[sologdin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty cool. This text assumes "some degree of cultural unity" for the areas covered by the Roman empire, even after it splits into Moslem and Christian halves (1). Much reference to Roman writers, such as Vitruvius, but also many Arab writers are included within the study, both for their original contributions to the learned arts discussed, but also for their sometimes solitary preservation of prior knowledges, otherwise lost in the European dark ages.

The Romans for their part are not considered important originators, but "learnt much of their civil engineering from other peoples" (52). Contrary to Virgil's estimation of their arts, we find that "if we take all the Romans' public works together--roads, bridges, aqueducts, docks, harbours and public buildings--we must conclude that civil engineering absorbed a major part of the resources of the State" (84). We see their character for patience and caution in how "the best practice is to allow [bricks] to dry for two years; indeed, Vitruvius says that the citizens of Utica (about 25 miles from Carthage) used no bricks for building walls unless the magistrate had approved them as being dry and made five years before" (102). Bloody Romans, what have they ever done for us?

Plenty else, including express ex oriente lux (such as certain mathematics ideas, sanitation, and paper-making). Not much on military engineering--that is reserved specifically as a separate subject--and author does make the case for the history of technology as its own discipline.

[Allan Olley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a solid technical summary of various developments in Medieval and Classical Technology. Focusing almost exclusively on the technical details of how ancient structures and devices were built. It quickly moves over civil engineering (large static structures), mechanical engineering (large devices with moving parts, water raising machines, water wheels and so on) and Fine Technology (including things like Astrolabes, automata and clocks).

Almost half the book is on civil engineering detailing how various ancient and medieval structures were built. The emphasis is on more utilitarians structures like roads and bridges with little time given to more ornamental features like temples and cathedrals.

The section on medieval Muslim water clocks and associated mechanisms is more extensive than in other such overview histories of technology. This seems to reflect the authors expertise and previous research. Sections on other kinds of clocks are severely curtailed.

The social and historical context for these developments is minimal, but attention is paid to dating the structures and giving some sense of their overall function in the societies that used them.

The section on water power seems to underplay the extent to which the Romans made use of water mills. Reflecting a view of ancient technology that has since been revised with greater emphasis on Roman use of water mills and water wheels in mining etc.

The section on fine technology is somewhat superseded by later developments in research around things such as the Antikytheria mechanism where later radiographic and photometric studies have changed and vastly increased our knowledge of the technical details and intellectual context (written inscriptions on the device) of the machine (given how little was initially known this is still strictly limited). Since these developments occurred long after the book was written this is no reflection on the author, but it seemed worth noting.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let's start with the good. If you are interested in a survey of the technical capabilities of engineers in Europe and the Middle East from the Hellenistic world to the High Middle Ages, this is a superb resource. Dr. Hill covers techniques of water transport, construction of buildings, facility with fine machines such as clocks, and much more, all in a relatively slim volume. He gives an appreciation of the state of the research, notes areas of contention, and renders what I take to be sound judgments based on his acumen not only as a historian but as a trained engineer himself. He is concise but thorough, focused but informative. He does not stray into social history, confining himself strictly to the technical questions, so his book has an admirable directness that compares favorably to a lot of books I have read on classical and medieval technology.

Now to the bad. Hill is not a good writer. Let's be clear about this. Among the things at which he is bad are introductions, conclusions, and transitions (though this is not an exhaustive list). He is not generally unclear, but his prose has no style to it whatsoever - he writes like an engineer. Where he is unclear, which is thankfully rare, it's not due to his use of technical jargon (which is mostly decipherable for us non-engineers through context), but rather because he just occasionally writes a sentence that defies any conventional understanding of grammar or style. I'm sure they made sense to him when he wrote them, but the worst of these (thankfully rare) clunkers simply caused me to stop and stare in admiration at how badly they were written.

Read this book if you are interested in the subject. Don't read it for fun. It is not fun. It's not a horror-show, but it's not "entertaining" in any fashion. To be fair, I doubt it was intended to be; the book does what it sets out to do quite admirably. Still.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Written in a rather dry, academic style, this was nevertheless full of information about the work of engineers from ancient to medieval periods. It covers everything from road and building construction to automata and clocks. Unfortunately, in my version at least, the illustrations were quite poor, and it was sometimes hard to work out what they were showing. There was also a small section of photographic plates which were so badly reproduced as to be useless. This was a small book crying out for a large format treatment with good, clear illustrations and lots of photographs, both of the historical texts referred to, and of surviving relics.

[Zanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the early section on water-moving technologies particularly fascinating, and the sections on geniuses from the Islamic world such as the Banu Musa are especially valuable as most often overlooked. A very readable reference text.

[Don Kent · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very studious textbook like review of early technology. I learned a lot but it was a struggle to finish.

[Steve Clark]

Edition: 1