Roman_Paper

April Gudgell The importance of roman technology and engineering HIS 103 World Civilizations I Instructor: Kathleen Scarpena 01-14-2013 The Importance Of Roman Technology And Engineering I have found some very interesting information that I would like to share with you through this paper, I am looking forward to seeing all the facts and research in the same place. Though I would have to conclude I do not think I would like to have to live like the romans did, I find that I like our technology and engineering much more acceptable for my lifestyle. Roman technology is the engineering practice which supported Roman civilization and made the expansion of Roman commerce and Roman military possible over nearly a thousand years, if the Byzantine Empire is included. The Roman Empire had one of the most advanced set of technologies of its time, some of which was lost during the turbulent eras of Late Antiquity and the early middle Ages. Gradually, some of the technological feats of the Romans were rediscovered and/or improved upon, while others went ahead of what the Romans had done during the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Modern Era. Several Roman technological feats in different areas like civil engineering, construction materials, transport technology, and some inventions such as the mechanical reaper, were surprising achievements until the 19th century, and some, such as the arch, have remained untouched to this day.[citation needed] The Romans achieved high levels of technology in large part because they borrowed heavily from and absorbed the culture of the established Hellenized people of the Mediterranean basin. Roman science and engineering is very sophisticated, even though the empire fell a long time ago. During the Roman Age, science, technology, and architecture flourished from 900 B.C to 500 A.D. The Romans never considered science to be really important subject. Only a few scientific discoveries were found in Rome. They were the first to include a Leap Year day every four years, and borrowed the idea of sundials from Egypt and Greek and improved it. The Romans also created a number system that used letters of the alphabet to stand for numbers. Each letter had a fixed value. Their system is still used today in clocks and copyright dates for films and television programs. In the field of medicine, a scientist called Celsus wrote the book “On Medicine” containing all the Roman methods of medicine. Many miles of roads and bridges were built to hold the vast empire together. By the second century A.D, the Romans had built around 78,000 kilometers of roads. The most important Roman invention for construction is probably concrete. It is made of crushed stones, lime, and sand. Many of their buildings were made out of concrete, though marble and granite were considered the best for decorative purposes. The Romans also built aqueducts -a human made channel that is constructed to carry water from one location to another. Their buildings were mostly made out of stone, so tools like hammers, chisels, and files were needed to shape the blocks. We have many things similar to the Romans. The Roman’s writing system is the root of many other writing systems, including ours, and their construction techniques are still seen today in buildings. Many of their inventions like cranes and irrigation systems are used in the present times. In conclusion, the Romans influenced many parts of our modern world. I would like to add that I got a few sentences from the websites that i have listed on the reference page, I find that these are scholarly sources, then even have their own references from the sites that this information was collected. References Published by jerrylinew1 July 30, 2008, Category: Engineering