Cathedral, Forge and Waterwheel: Technology and Invention in the Middle Ages Reprint Edition

by Joseph Gies (Author),‎ Frances Gies (Author)

45 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0060925819

ISBN-10: 0060925817

Why is ISBN important?

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Added to

Unable to add item to List. Please try again.

Share <Embed>

Condition: Used - Good

In Stock. Sold by You Can Count on Us, Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Temporarily out of stock.
Order now and we'll deliver when available. Details

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

This item ships to France. Learn more

10 New from $8.88

Turn on 1-Click ordering

Ship to:

France

More Buying Choices

10 New from $8.88 72 Used from $5.49 3 Collectible from $4.99

85 used & new from $5.49

See All Buying Options

Free%20Two-Day%20Shipping%20for%20College%20Students%20with%20Amazon%20Student

Cathedral, Forge and Waterwheel: Technology and Invention in the Middle Ages

$15.99 Temporarily out of stock. Order now and we'll deliver when available. We'll e-mail you with an estimated delivery date as soon as we have more information. Your account will only be charged when we ship the item. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Frequently bought together

Total price: $33.95

One of these items ships sooner than the other. Show details

Buy the selected items together

This item:Cathedral, Forge and Waterwheel: Technology and Invention in the Middle Ages by Joseph Gies Paperback $15.99
Temporarily out of stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
Life in a Medieval Village by Frances Gies Paperback $8.98
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
Life in a Medieval Castle (P.S. (Paperback)) by Joseph Gies Paperback $8.98
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Frances Gies

47

Paperback
$8.98
Joseph Gies

55

Paperback
$8.98
Frances Gies

54

Paperback
$9.27
Lynn White

22

Paperback
$13.02
Ian Mortimer

277

Paperback
$9.98
Steven Shapin

18

Paperback
$14.21

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Historians, write Frances and Joseph Gies, have long tended to view the Middle Ages as a period of intellectual and scientific stagnation, a long era of backwardness, ignorance, and inertia. Many scholars of the Renaissance era, however, thought otherwise; the mathematician Jerome Cardan, for one, held that three medieval inventions--the magnetic compass, the printing press, and gunpowder--were of such significance that "the whole of antiquity has nothing equal to show."

In their lively history of medieval technology, the Gies team writes of such advances as the heavy plow, the Gothic flying buttress, linen undergarments, water pumps, and the lateen sail. During the medieval millennium, they suggest, a great technological and social revolution occurred "with the disappearance of mass slavery, the shift to water- and wind-power, the introduction of the open-field system of agriculture, and the importation, adaptation, or invention of an array of devices, from the wheelbarrow to double-entry bookkeeping." Many of those inventions or adaptations, brought into Europe from China and the Middle East, have scarcely been improved on today.

The medieval technological revolution, the authors conclude, came at a cost: much of Europe was deforested to make room for cropland and to fire kilns and furnaces, and mechanization made obsolete many handicraft skills. Yet, they add, the workers and inventors of the Middle Ages "all transformed the world, on balance very much to the world's advantage." --Gregory McNamee

From Library Journal

Moving chronologically through a millennium (500-1500 A.D.), the authors (who have written numerous books on medieval life, including Life in a Medieval City , LJ 2/1/70) show that the term "Dark Ages" is a misnomer by deftly tracing the period's "main technological elements, . . . their known or probable sources, and their principal impacts." In addition to the technological developments highlighted in the book's title, the authors cover such topics as the textile industry and shipbuilding/rigging, plus obligatory topics like printing, engineering, and gunpowder. Throughout, they nimbly weave medieval cultural history into the discussion. Informative, readable, enjoyable, and well written, this work is directed to general readers. Highly recommended for all collections.
- Michael D. Cramer, Virginia Polytechnic & State Univ. Libs . , Blacksburg
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product details

Paperback: 357 pages
Publisher: Harper Perennial; Reprint edition (January 6, 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0060925817
ISBN-13: 978-0060925819
Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.8 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 45 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #279,769 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1514 in Books > Science & Math > History & Philosophy
- #1601 in Books > Science & Math > Technology
- #3397 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > History

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

If you buy a new print edition of this book (or purchased one in the past), you can buy the Kindle edition for only $2.99 (Save 68%). Print edition purchase must be sold by Amazon. .

Customer reviews

Write a customer review

See all 45 customer reviews

Rated by customers interested in

What's this?

European History

4.4 out of 5 stars

Engineering & Transportation Books

5.0 out of 5 stars

Literary Fiction

4.5 out of 5 stars

Is this feature helpful?

Thank you for your feedback.

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Viktor Lux

This Changes Everything

December 6, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This excellent text elucidates the foundations of the technologies of our day - begun in the distant past. Learning that the overshot water wheel could generate as much as thirty horsepower charged me with new respect for the abilities of our forebears. Our current use of the term "horsepower" is derived from the twin adaption of the the stirrup and horse collar, both of which were devised in this time. Fascinating, challenging, worthy of regular reference and consideration, I cannot recommend this book too highly.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?

Yes

gusgus

Book is in mint condition but read is a bit disappointing.

May 5, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Although I read the first chapter or two before ordering, the reading the book itself seems far drier than I expected. More like it was written as a thesis and the reader is expected to know all the people and other references. While I am doing a self-guided study of the Middle Ages, a period I really love, I am far from being expert and wish to read more excitingly-written books. The best book I have read on the period is Barbara Tuchman's "A Distant Mirror," written with the general public in mind and with a wonderful sense of humor and personality.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?

Yes

Eileen E. Freeman

Excellent information

April 12, 2013

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I bought this book because I collect postage stamps dealing with the Benedictine religious order. I wanted to see if the medieval monastics might have invented or improved on medieval technology. As it turned out, they did, but I got a lot more information than that. I was surprised by the amount of technological innovations that were developed in the Middle Ages. I had already read up on architecture, but I knew nothing about water power or ironmongery. I learned a lot, and the book was not difficult to get through.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

Hugh S Joslyn

positive light on the middle ages

July 10, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I am pleased with the level of detail and intellectual integrity of this book. Some books are so short and light on content that they are not worth it. Also Cathedral, Forge and Waterwheel puts the middle ages in a different light as it points out technologies that were developed during this time that are not recognized in other literature about this time period. I always like to learn how technology changes over time and this gives a good view of how we got to where we are now.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?

Yes

Amazon Customer

More than expected

April 14, 2008

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I originally purchased this book for research on Medieval metallurgy as relates to swords and armor. It completely changed my view of the "Dark" ages an how creative the European culture was during that time. It seems it was the Romans that were stuck in a rut! The idea of borrowing technologic concepts from other cultures, especially China, indirectly had never occurred to me and was fascinating. I found the book eminently readable and it changed my attitude about a lot. I definately got more than I expected for the modest price.

0Comment 4 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

john s. eaton II

Five Stars

February 3, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

excellent...economic development and how tech. influenced it

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?

Yes

Randy Broman

Well researched, but ...

January 29, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I'm a retired engineer, and am very interested in the history of "technology". This book provides a wealth of information and insights about the progress and use of technology in the middle ages, but at times it's a bit of a plodding read.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?

Yes

KRM

Wonderfully Written

June 12, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

The Gies have written some wonderful books about the Middle Ages. If this is an area of study or interest for you I would highly recommend this to read. If I could give it 10 stars I would!

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes