Science and technology in the middle ages flourished because of the need of inventions to make life easier. In Europe, from the 5th century to the 16th century there was a radical change in the inventions made. It was between the fall of the Western Roman empire and the early modern era. This was a time for exploration in new ideas and ways of doing things. Europe invented many things for wars, time-keeping, and for everyday use. These inventions may be still used today. They range from huge mortar to a small set of eyeglasses. Europeans found that life was easier with new better inventions to help them in everything. There are a series of inventions about war because of nearby wars with neighboring civilizations or even within Europe.
War was important to make the civilizations expand. Fist of all, the kings needed a good army with the best weapons they can get. To win battles, they used cavalries and a larger army near the borders of cities. In ancient times, the sword is a famous weapon because there were no enough mortars and guns back then. Some swords that were invented are the claymore which is the traditional long sword with a long handle used for more powerful attacks. For instance, the saber was popular because it had a curved single-edged blade and was long. It would be used in a heavy cavalry. There were also bows that can be used like a ballista which has a long, strong arrow with enough force to destroy an army. Reloading was a hassle so it was greater in large numbers. Knights first used chain mail and then moved on to plate armor which was strong enough to resist a sword slash.
With the need for war came the need for protection. Castles surrounded the king for his protection against enemies. In addition,...
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...y other inventions that have been discarded like the swords and the plate body. These were discarded because of the invention of the early hand held gun. The gun was good for long range and penetrated through plate body’s steel or iron. The chain mail was discarded because the plate body was stronger and later became a symbol of honor and royalty.
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The Medieval West was not fortunate enough to have advanced technological strife 's at their disposal. Many times, the technology and equipment they could acquire was still of no use. Many times the technology would be obsolete to the point where the villagers would resort to using their bare hands to cultivate the land (Duby 171). This would make the Medieval West society extremely difficult to achieve any type of efficiency in one 's work. “Primitive technical equipment obviously restricted narrowly the individual 's productive capacity” (Duby 171). The unproductivity of this inferior technology would make work much more difficult as opposed to other societies. The Roman Empire for example made many great strides in their technological advancements. These advancements added comfort to the lives of its people.”Technology in this period did not pretend to dominate and revolutionize nature [...] but in isolated areas the ancients were capable of amazing feats” (Veyne 108). Technology such as the siphon would make aqueducts possible to expand many valleys and bring people their basic needs (Veyne 108). This shows technology would add extra comfort to one’s life as opposed to the medieval west’s
Henry, John. (2001). The scientific revolution and the origins of modern science. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Publishing
The fact that the result of World War II was affected by the weapons and artillery used throughout shows the importance of weapons and artillery. Without weapons or artillery there is no war. Without money there are no weapons or artillery. Without money there is no need for war because countries have no reason to go to war.
As the late 19th century progressed, technological ideas and inventions began to thrive. The notion that technology would impact life as we know it was an unbelievable idea to comprehend. People had no idea that something so simple such as the light bulb would become so vital to them and for century’s to come. Inventions such as, the typewriter, barbed wire, telephone, Kodak camera, and electric stove were created, however the major inventions created and use tremendously today are, Medicine, Electricity, and Transportation.
...eir homes) and erosion. In a cultural and political context there was a competition between kings and nobles as to who led the civilization through war and other events that required military forces.
So many of the great ideas and inventions of the Technological Revolution are still apart of our lives today. Most of the things we are accustomed to are credited to this time period. Only a few major innovations occurred in the post-war era, such as: computers, semiconductors, the Internet, and jet engines. Even these ideas have been impacted by the thoughts of the Second Industrial Revolution. The world would not be nearly as advanced if it was not for the people in this time period.
During the Elizabethan period Europeans mainly focused on warfare. War required long range weapons to slow down the approaching enemy and short range weapons were needed for combat. This era started the usage of combustion and developed cannons and pistols. The advancements of weaponry also lead to the advancements in armor from chainmail to plate armor. Various weapons and armor’s were needed for warfare during the Elizabethan period.
Gunpowder, the vaccine, blood transfusion, the telescope, surgery, the submarine, the barometer, the submarine, and the microscope are all great inventions that helped change the way people live today. They are some of many scientific inventions that changed the way of life for people.
“In the middle ages, Europe knew less about the earth than did some of the ancients, for the commercial decline of Rome brought about the contraction of geographical knowledge.” [Pohl 6]. During this time period, men began to disregard authority and learned to rely directly on their own investigations. This is the seed that brought about men like Columbus and Vespucci. The period of the Renaissance is the fertile ground that brought about changes in the world of inquiry and scientific achievement in Europe. “This new spirit of inquiry received its chief impetus from the invention of the printing press whose importance outweighed even the greatest political event of the time.”[Pohl 9]. Printing led to the overthrow of authority and allowed the men of the period to come into immediate contact with each ...
Medieval Technology and Social Change Oxford University Press first published Medieval Technology and Social Change in 1962. It discusses the technological advances during the medieval times and how these changes affected society. The book's author, Lynn White, Jr., was born in San Francisco in 1907. Educated at Stanford, Union Theological, and Princeton, White taught at Princeton and the University of California at Los Angeles. He was also president of Mills College in Oakland from the 1940s to the 1960s. His other works include Medieval Religion and Technology: Collected Essays, published in 1978 and Life & Work in Medieval Europe, the Evolution of Medieval Economy from the Fifth to the Fifteenth Century, published in 1982. White's work has been influential both in medieval history and the history of science. In Medieval Technology and Social Change, White examines the role of technological innovation during the rise of social groups in the Middle Ages. White begins with the invention of the stirrup. He shows how this innovation, in turn, introduced heavy, long-range cavalry to the medieval battlefield. The development thus escalated small-scale conflict to "shock combat." Cannons and flame-throwers followed, as did more peaceful inventions, such as watermills and reapers. White also reviews the development of the manorial system with the introduction of new kinds of plows and new methods of crop rotation. He reviews the evolution of the scratch plow into the heavy plow and explains the use of each type in different areas of Europe. White next discusses the social effects of feudalism and how it spread from the Franks to Spain and later to England. He shows that military service became a matter of class, with lands and titles being exchanged for the commitment to serve as mounted warriors. The concept of the knight's duty to his lord translated into chivalry and noble obligation. White then ventures into the slow collapse of feudalism, coming about with the development of machines and tools. This caused the introduction of factories, which took the place of cottage industries. Although White's work falls short in a few areas, it is valuable for the attention that it pays to aspects of medieval history that too often go ignored White's work is important because he advocates the importance of science and technology to medieval history. Before White, few scholars thought that any significant science or engineering was done in Europe during the Middle.
The rapid advancement of multiple technologies in Europe and in various states led to the invention of gunpowder which was a fuel to drive the further big military changes. Gunpowder artillery is one of them which brought the ability to demolish castles and fortified towns as they no longer gave the protection from attackers. As gunpowder artillery goes spread the military tactics of countries had seen drastic modifications as the use of this weapon gave more opportunities to win a battle. The technology was not limited with only this gunpowder artillery but also led to the invention of the flintlock which was a far better substitute weapon to the matchlock. This weapon brought big changes in military and warfare in Europe like gunpowder artillery. For example, the European fusiliers had learned the skill and tactic to deal with heavy cavalry through the utilization of the flintlock which brought an end to the existence of the pikemen. Also, this led to an increase in the use of firepower and manoeuvrability as well as a decline in the importance of cavalry. As a result of expanding the drill amongst troops by the transformation from matchlock to the flintlocks there emerged an increased number of the best trained and most-drilled troops who were distinctively better other armies. For example, at the battle of
There were many technological innovations through the 15th-17th centuries that helped influence turning points in History. Some of those examples include shipbuilding, navigation and others. The most influential of all of them however, is gunpowder.
When explaining how the warfare of the Middle Ages shaped and changed the way we looked at war and weapons, we must first start in the early Middle Ages. In The Art of Warfare in the Middle Ages, A.D. 378-1515, written by Charles Oman and John Beeler, he states, “between the middle of the fourth and the end of the sixth century lies a period of transition in military history…in war as in all else, the institutions of the ancient world are seen to pass away, and a new order of things develops itself” . As you can see, the warfare of the ancient Romans was passing and the new modernized technology was coming to the forefront.
...ime period in a positive scientific light. The distinction between modern and medieval science was described as medieval science being more theoretical in nature and modern being of the more applied variety. Through the further presentation of the plethora of Islamic scientists, covering fields as diverse as astronomy, medicine, chemistry, and physics it has been shown, without a doubt, that significant scientific contributions were made in this period. Finally, the source of this misconception was exposed through the common accidental perception of the past as a European narrative. History can easily be focused around Europe, and to do so produces a view of the medieval era being stagnant. However, when one looks at the greater global picture, it is clear that the Islamic world more than makes up for this lull in innovation, successfully brightening the “Dark Age”.
Wolf, Abraham. History of Science, Technology, and Philosophy in the Eighteenth Century. New York: MacMillan Press, 1968. Web. 5 June 2012.