Unit 2: Technological Revolutions, Introduction

Unit 2: Technological Revolutions
Introduction

Technology is about humans learning to control the environment, but it took a long time to get a sense of conscious control.

The major technological revolutions (see also Five Industrial Revolutions )

about 7000 BCE
the development of cities about 3000 BCE
the medieval technological revolution approx. 800-1300 AD
the age of exploration and the scientific revolution approx. 1400-1700
the British Industrial Revolution approx. 1750-1830
Mass production of metal goods (American system, assembly line) approx. 1840-1920
The computer 1946-

Or another approach that is more useful for the modern period:
graph of waves of innovation

this is taken from the work of the economist Joseph Schumpeter

Reminder about dates. There is no zeroth century, so the first century AD is from 1 to 100 and the 19th century from 1801 to 1900. There is also no year zero, which is why the 21st century technically starts in 2001. Historians are beginning to use BCE (before the common era) instead of BC, and, less often, CE (common era) instead of AD (anno domini: year of our Lord). For more on the history of calendars see: Centuries, Millenia, and Calendars

stone tools, Detroit Institute of Arts, PEM photo

Agriculture, Irrigation, and Civilization

Jane Goodall has shown that chimpanzees use tools in the same sense humans do
paleontologists find that early species of humans, homo erectus, 1.5 million years ago, used fire and produced simple tools. But in primitive societies there is little division of labor so the work process tends to stay very simple.
hunting and gathering seems to be an easy life--12 to 19 hours of work a week--so why develop agriculture?
less than 10 thousand years ago agriculture was invented in northern Iraq, and within a few thousand years independently in other parts of the world--China, India, central America.
slash and burn agriculture did not make much difference, because it cannot support large populations.
Irrigation is the key to the development of cities because it supports 14 times the population on the same area of land. It takes twice the labor as dry farming.
labor demands increased as a result of technological advance, but it also allowed specialization--the invention of government, writing, and in general of civilization. This second revolution happened in Egypt and Mesopotamia about 3000 BCE.
This meant the opportunities of a market, but at first opportunities to do new things were very limited by people's beliefs

Mesopotamian writing

Key ancient civilizations:

natural resources of the eastern Mediterranean

River valley civilizations arise about 3000 BC: Mesopotamia, Egypt ( pyramids )--based on irrigation
Beginning of the Iron Age: Hittites (1500-1200 BCE), Assyrians (1000-612 BCE), Phoenicians (1150-850 BCE)--increasing warfare and trade
Birth of Philosophy: Greece 5th century BCE, focus on trade, beginnings of scientific knowledge
Roman Republic (509-31 BCE) and Empire (31 BCE-410 AD)--effective large-scale bureaucracy

Urbanization in the Roman Empire What held back technology before the Middle Ages? (see Florman ch. 3)

belief that the physical world was controlled by Gods who behaved irrationally (example: Mesopotamia)
slavery--you don't need labor-saving devices if you have slaves to do the hard work
the attitude that practical life was beneath the dignity of educated men (example: Hellenistic Alexandria)

Plutarch said of Archimedes: "Although his inventions had won for him a name and fame for superhuman sagacity, he would not consent to leave behind him any treatise on this subject, but regarding the work of an engineer and every art that ministers to the needs of life as ignoble and vulgar, he devoted his earnest efforts only to those studies the subtlety and charm of which are not affected by the claims of necessity." (quoted in Florman p. 36)

Archimedes

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History 122
last updated 9/19/05