Technology in Ancient Greece

By Ananya

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Medicine

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Imagine having pneumonia, but not knowing what is actually wrong with you. You and your family pay a visit to one of the best doctors in town. When the doctor examines you, they conclude that one of the four humors in the body (in this case, blood) is not in balance, so they take a small knife and carefully open a vein in your arm, releasing blood. Then, the doctor closes the opening with a tourniquet, and then tells you to take some rest. You then go home and take rest, just as the doctor had suggested, and hope to get well soon.

Medicine was a predominant necessity in Ancient Greece. While the development of trade, weaponry, and agriculture were taking place, the understanding of medicine

Medicine in Ancient Greece

was also expanding. Before a certain awareness of medicine, ancient Greeks believed that if there was a breakout of any type of hardship, the gods were angry with them, and decided to punish them with the certain crisis. Along with this belief, ancient doctors produced a theory on the four humors of the body, and stuck with this theory until new information was discovered.

The four humors in the body were blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm. As mentioned in the scenario above, if a person was ill, ancient physicians would often associate it with the unbalancing of one (or more) of the four humors. To fix it, they would drain people of a certain humor until it is in balance with the other three again, for example if a doctor thought someone contained too much blood, they would cut open a vein or put leeches on them to suck up the blood. The four humors were also associated with the four seasons, and the four elements of the earth.

There were many medical devices used by the ancient Greeks. One was the scalpel, which was usually made out of steel and/or bronze. Long, steel scalpels were used to make deep, long cuts, and smaller scalpels were used to make precise cuts. Another major medical device were the hooks, which were usually classified into the blunt and the sharp. The sharp hooks were used for lifting pieces of tissue and other things. The blunt hooks were used for dissection and lifting things in the body such as vessels.

Pictures

Ancient Greek Scalpels

Ancient Greek Hooks

Mathematics in Ancient GreeceMany magnificent architectural sites have been built in ancient Greece and some still stand today. Millions of tourists visit these sites each year to witness these wonderful structures. But how did all of these buildings in ancient Greece, and the modern world come to be? Math, and the Greeks had a lot to contribute on our math today.

One great mathematical accomplishment was the Pythagorean theorem, used to find the length of the hypotenuse of right triangles, discovered by Pythagoras. Today, we write this theorem as a2 +b2 = c2, meaning that the sum of the squares of the two sides of the triangle will equal the square of the hypotenuse. Another great mathematical accomplishment was the irrational number pi (3.14159265…). Archimedes of

Syracuse made some of the first calculations on pi. He used the Pythagorean theorem to estimate the area of a circle, by finding the area of two shapes- one outside the circle and one inside the circle- and estimate the restrictions on pi from there. Later on, the Greek letter pi was used to represent this number. Today, we use pi predominantly in finding the area and circumference of circles. Archimedes also discovered a principle, which uses water displacement as a way to find the volume of irregular objects. He discovered this while stepping into the water to take a bath, noticing that the water was higher when he was in it.

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Pi, the Greek letter

The Pythagorean Theorem

Archimedes’ Principle of Water Displacement

Military in Ancient GreeceThe military of ancient Greece was extraordinary, especially with the technology behind all the devices. The catapult was a major one, usually firing arrows, and other types of ammunition. This worked by turning a crank, which would pull the crossbow back and load the arrow. Catapults were used mostly during times of siege, when they needed to have a device to fire ammunition into the forts. Dionysios of Alexandria created one that could repeatedly fire arrows, which was an early version of the machine gun. Battering rams were used too, to break walls, for the walls at that time were not as durable. Greece’s naval fleet was also excellent. They started by turning large merchant ships into durable, speedy boats that would be easy to maneuver. One of these boats, the triaconter, had about three

rows of oarsmen on each side, which was a victorious design that enhanced the naval fleet.

Pictures

Ancient Greek CatapultAncient Greek Ships

References http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/medicine/ancient-greek

-medicine.php http://www.indiana.edu/~ancmed/instr1.html http://www.indiana.edu/~ancmed/greekmenu.HTM http://www.pbs.org/wnet/redgold/basics/bloodletting.html http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/medicine_and_ancient_

greece.htm http://mathematica.ludibunda.ch/pythagoras6.html http://www.exploratorium.edu/pi/history_of_pi/ http://www.anticopedie.fr/download/technologies-gb.pdf