Ancient Inventions [Paperback]

Peter James (Author), Nick Thorpe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 18, 1994

From Greek steam engines to Roman fire engines . . . Aztec chewing gum to Etruscan false teeth . . . earthquake detectors in China to electric batteries in Iraq . . . stone-age brain surgery to middle-age hand grenades . . . here's a lively and fascinating look at the genuine wonders of the past.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

You leave your seventh-floor apartment, curse the congested traffic that delays you, and stop at a fast-food restaurant on your way to have cataract surgery. You live in Rome in A.D. 25. Ancient Inventions entertainingly demonstrates that there is indeed little new under the sun. The book is divided by the authors (Centuries of Darkness, LJ 3/15/93) into convenient, browsable sections such as "Sex Life," "Military Technology," and "Communications," each one presenting fascinating evidence of the extent to which human knowledge can be extinguished. Cute rather than hilarious in its humor, Ancient Inventions is thoroughly researched and profusely illustrated; it is doubtful that anyone could examine it without coming away enlightened in one of its broadly ranging areas. This work will be used as much for its historical information and accounts of ancient daily life as it will be for recreational reading. Historical First Patents is an overview of over 80 granted U.S. patent applications, with emphasis on the familiar: Howe, Whitney, Bell, and others whose names are closely associated with a specific device. Each entry consists of the historical developments leading to the invention, a biographical description of the inventor, and the story of the creation of the invention itself. A patent drawing accompanies most entries, although some contain a reproduction of the first page of the published patent in print so small as to be useless. The writing is rather stilted (Lincoln's entry mentions three times in the first three paragraphs that he was the only president to receive a patent), and some obvious errors have not been caught. Some of the patents included here are for items discussed in Ancient Inventions and known thousands of years earlier, such as artificial limbs, cylinder locks, and anesthesia. Of the two books, Ancient Inventions contains information more difficult to locate elsewhere and will serve the broadest audience. Both books are appropriate for school, academic, and public libraries.
James Moffet, Baldwin P.L., Birmingham, Mich.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

This presentation of the discoveries and innovations of the ancients will fascinate the casual reader as well as technology, science, and history buffs. Historian James and archaeologist Thorpe define the ancient period as the time before A.D. 1492, analyzing the evolution of inventions from brain surgery to playing cards, and putting into perspective the accomplishments of many diverse cultures while laying to rest some "distorted Western views of history." Denise Perry Donavin

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 672 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1 edition (October 18, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345364767
• ISBN-13: 978-0345364760
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,336,367 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent reference and fun to read, September 7, 2000

By 

John Blackstone (North America) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ancient Inventions (Paperback)

This book is describes ancient inventions and construction projects predating 1492. It is well researched, documented, and illustrated.

There is an assumption with some that earlier humans were rustic simpletons. This book dispels that notion. It describes everything from the mundane (wine, cosmetics), to the grandiose (an early Suez Canal), to the dangerous (trepanning, i.e. drilling holes in one's head as an early form of surgery), to the practical (mills, weapons, paper). One of the strangest discoveries is of a cave that is made to resemble hell.

In addition to the expected inventions from Egypt, Greece, and Rome inventions from all over the world are represented including ones from South America, China, and ancient Scythia the area where modern Ukraine is found. Inventions from that area include the earliest form of shelter (mammoth bone huts), domestication of horses, the earliest melodic musical instruments (flutes), maps, trousers, jewelry, ovens, houses, soap, and saunas (in which hashish was thrown on hot stones).

This is a feel-good book. It documents the creativity and imagination of humans.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun book on the history of "things", October 31, 2000

By 

Atheen M. Wilson "Atheen" (Mpls, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ancient Inventions (Paperback)

This was an entertaining volume on the history of some of the things we think of as "modern" inventions. Many of them were already known to me from other sources, where I came across them in preparing for my MA in history. Inventions like "Greek fire" the first flame thrower, the "Bagdad battery" a possible device for electroplating, and the early trepinning surgeries are some of those familiar to me. More surprising was the cataract surgery and plastic surgery to repair nose and ears practiced by the Romans and probably invented even earlier in India or Babylon. This is a great book for anyone who wonders "Who was the first to..."

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars There truly is nothing new under the sun, July 12, 2006

By 

Thomas Fortenberry (Charlotte, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ancient Inventions (Paperback)

I love this book and this topic. I just reread it because of the more recent and ever-increasing amount of articles, books, and TV programs on the topic of ancient inventions or "what the ancients knew" style historical documentaries. James and Thorpe were somewhat ahead of the curve and I applaud them.

Ancient Inventions is a pleasantly surprising and informative book. This is easy access history. It is chock full of facts and revelations that broaden readers' horizons. It also helps put holes in the pride-puffed balloon of superiority that so many people seem to have about the modern world. Or, to put it another way, it truly reinforces the old adage, "There is nothing new under the sun."

This isn't reinventing the past, it is rediscovering the past.