Description
Famed for great thinkers, poets, artists, and leaders, ancient Greece and Rome were also home to some of the vital most creative engineers who ever lived. Water systems, roads, pumps, and many other developments grew out of the same conditions that produced new political institutions, stunning sculptures, outstanding literary works, and empires that constituted much of the known world. Yet the engineering exploits of the Greeks and Romans don’t seem to be as celebrated as they deserve to be, and they have been long discounted by some historians.
New discoveries combined with a reevaluation of evidence show just how clever our ancient ancestors were. In 24 illustrated lectures, Understanding Greek and Roman Technology: From Catapult to the Pantheon provides you with an in-depth appreciation for what the Greeks and Romans achieved and how they did it.
Your guide is Dr. Stephen Ressler, a former professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point, a civil engineer, and a nationally honored leader in engineering education. This a fascinating introduction to basic engineering principles and the science at the back of them. The course also gives a new perspective on one of the crucial productive periods in the history of civilization: classical antiquity. In case after case, you’ll find that engineering solutions reached throughout this era would not be surpassed for another thousand years or more.
