Roman Technology
De architectura is important for its descriptions of many different machines used for engineering structures such as hoists, cranes and pulleys, as well as war machines such as catapaults, ballistae, and siege engines. Vitruvius also describes the construction of sundials and water clocks, and the use of an aeolipile (the first steam engine) as an experiment to demonstrate the nature of atmospheric air movements (wind).
Read more about this topic: De Architectura
Famous quotes containing the words roman and/or technology:
“A Roman divorced from his wife, being highly blamed by his friends, who demanded, “Was she not chaste? Was she not fair? Was she not fruitful?” holding out his shoe, asked them whether it was not new and well made. “Yet,” added he, “none of you can tell where it pinches me.””
—Plutarch (c. 46–120 A.D.)
“If we had a reliable way to label our toys good and bad, it would be easy to regulate technology wisely. But we can rarely see far enough ahead to know which road leads to damnation. Whoever concerns himself with big technology, either to push it forward or to stop it, is gambling in human lives.”
—Freeman Dyson (b. 1923)