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History of Technology
651
The History of Technology
Unit One: Technological Inventions and Innovations
Learning Cycle One: The History of Technology
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Big Idea
People are better able to understand the world around them when they explore how people of all times and places have used their unique skills to develop inventions and innovations.
Technological Development
Technology is evolutionary and is often the result of a series of refinements to an idea or basic invention
The evolution of civilization has been directly attributed to the development of tools and materials.
Impacts of technology
The impact of technological development can be divided into four categories:
- Social
- Political
- Cultural
- Economic
Social – The impact on people
Political – The impact on policy and laws
Cultural – The impact on human achievement
Economic – the impact on the economy
The History of Technology
- Early in the history of technology, the development of tools and materials was based on technological know-how.
- Today, technological development is based on scientific knowledge and engineering design.
The History of Technology
The History of Technology can be divided into nine distinct periods of time:
- Paleolithic Age
- Mesolithic Age
- Neolithic Age
- Bronze Age
- Iron Age
- The Middle Ages
- The Renaissance
- The Industrial Age
- The Information Age
The Paleolithic Age
- The Old Stone Age or in Greek (palaios – “old”) and (lithos – “stone”)
- Time Period: 500,000 BC – 10,000 BC
- Impacts on history:
- Improved diet and enhanced security enabled early humans to increase the population.
- Artifacts:
- Stone axes, bone needles, hearth sites
Paleolithic Age
The mesolithic Age
- The Middle Stone Age or in Greek (mesos – “middle”) and (lithos – “stone”)
- Time Period: 10,000 BC – 4,000 BC
- Impacts on history:
- The gradual domestication of animals and agriculture led to settled communities.
- Artifacts:
- Leatherwork, fishing tackle, stone circles
Mesolithic Age
The Neolithic Age
- The New Stone Age or in Greek (néos – “new”) and (líthos – “stone”)
- Time Period: 4,000 BC – 2,300 BC
- Impacts on history:
- Dependable year-round food supply enabled division of labor and specialization that spurred invention.
- Artifacts:
- Spinning/weaving tools, stone plows, sickles
Neolithic
Age
Engineering Design
Examples of Engineering Design during the Neolithic Age:
- Mesopotamian engineers used clay tablets to document irrigation systems.
- Babylonian engineers used
mathematical concepts such as
algebra for land excavation
calculations.
- Egyptian engineers built
the pyramids.
The Bronze Age
The architectural period that included combining copper and tin to produce bronze
- Time Period: 2,300 BC – 700 BC
- Impacts on history:
- The use of bronze replaced stone tools
and allowed humans to greatly alter their environment.
- Artifacts:
- Bronze jewelry, tools/weapons
Bronze
Age
The Iron Age
The architectural period marked by
the prevalent use of iron or steel.
- Time Period: 700 BC – 450 AD
- Impacts on history:
- Military dominance for cultures that could produce iron weapons.
- The iron-blade plow allowed humans to increase food production.
- Artifacts:
- Iron farming equipment/weapons, manuscripts
Iron
Age
Examples of Engineering Design during the Iron Age:
Engineering Design
- Greek engineers created the crossbow and catapult to conquer territories.
- Roman engineers created aqueduct systems, sanitary systems, and an extensive road system.
The Middle Ages
Impacts on History
The architectural period after the Roman Empire. Divided into Early Middle Ages, High Middle Ages, and Late Middle Ages.
- Time Period: 450 AD – 1,400 AD
- Artifacts:
- Improved harness for horses, cast iron, cannons, mechanical clocks, compasses
The Middle
Age
Impacts on History
Impacts on History
Early Middle Ages – increased
pressure from invasion lead to
depopulation and deurbanization.
High Middle Ages – the beginning of feudalism, population increase, and agricultural innovation
Late Middle Ages – famine, plague and war, often marked by the Black Death,
which killed approximately one-third
of the population
Engineering Design
Examples of Engineering Design during the Middle Ages:
- Technology, like the windmill,
produced mechanical labor.
- The printing press was used
to share information and
knowledge.
- The word “engineer” began to
appear as “ingeniare” or to
design or devise.
The Renaissance / Enlightenment
The architectural period marked by the revival of classical influence and the sharing of ideas, or in Italian Rinascimento – “to be reborn”
- Time Period: 1,400 AD – 1,750 AD
- Impacts on history:
- Instrumentation enabled scientists to observe and quantify natural phenomena.
- Artifacts:
- Telescope, microscope, thermometer
The
Renaissance
Engineering Design
Examples of Engineering Design during the Renaissance:
- Leonardo da Vinci was born in
Italy in 1452 and began his career
as an artist, painting and sculpting.
- He also designed weapons, buildings,
and machinery.
- Galileo Galilei was born in 1564
and was known as a physicist,
astronomer, and philosopher.
- He is best known for his improvements
to the telescope and astronomical
observations.
The Industrial Age
The architectural period marked by the first use of complex machinery, factories, and urbanization
- Time Period: 1,750 AD – 1,950 AD
- Impacts on history:
- The industrial revolution gave rise to urban centers, requiring vast municipal services, creating a specialized and interdependent economic life.
The Industrial
Age
Impacts on history:
Historical Impacts
- Economic expansion created the
rise of professionals, population
expansion, and improved standard of living.
- Artifacts:
Electricity, automobile, airplane,
radio, television, telephone, rocket
Examples of Engineering Design during the Industrial Age:
- James Watt refines the steam
engine for practical use
- Volta discovers the principles for a battery.
- Pieter van Musschenbroek creates the forerunner of the capacitor.
- Henry Ford creates the concept
of the modern assembly line.
Engineering Design
The Information Age
- The architectural period marked by information sharing, gathering, manipulation, and retrieval.
- Time Period: 1950 AD –Present
- Impacts on history:
- As information becomes more widely available, increasing numbers of people will be empowered.
- Artifacts:
- Integrated circuit, computer, nuclear power, digital camera