Engineering in the Ancient World, Revised Edition First Edition, With a revised preface, a new appendix, and a new bibliography

by J. G. Landels (Author)

40 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-0520227828

ISBN-10: 0520227824

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In his classic book, J. G. Landels describes the technological advances of the Greeks and Romans with erudition and enthusiasm. He provides an important introduction to engineering, writing about power and energy sources, water engineering, cranes, and transportation devises. From aqueducts to catapults, he attempts to envision machines as they may have worked in the ancient world. He then traces the path of knowledge taken by early thinkers―including Plato, Pliny, and Archimedes―in developing early theories of engineering and physics.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"[Landels] has given a new dimension to our appreciation of Greek and Roman civilization. We are accustomed to appreciate what Greek and Roman artists, writers, and philosophers accomplished. We have not really understood what they achieved as engineers."--"Classical Outlook"

About the Author

J. G. Landels, now retired, was a Senior Lecturer in Classics at Reading University. His work, in collaboration with the Engineering Department, involved making working replicas of ancient machines and testing them in the field.

Product details

Publisher : University of California Press; First Edition, With a revised preface, a new appendix, and a new bibliography (September 4, 2000)
Language : English
Paperback : 240 pages
ISBN-10 : 0520227824
ISBN-13 : 978-0520227828
Item Weight : 11.2 ounces
Dimensions : 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #637,598 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #767 in Ancient History (Books)
- #1,455 in Engineering (Books)
- #4,600 in Ancient Civilizations

Customer Reviews:
40 ratings

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5 star		73%
4 star		9%
3 star		10%
2 star		5%
1 star		4%

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Flexpicker

Surprisingly good

Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2012

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I ordered this book because I needed to understand the beginnings of technology better in order to understand its progress. I expected either a childish book or one of the typical books with many dates and misconceptions about technology that tend to be prevalent in books written by history professors. Professor Landels, however, has done a great job with the subject. Despite being a history professor, he shows a great understanding of the intricacies of engineering and has built some of the devices himself. In building the devices, he has gained great insight into the problems and solutions that ancient engineers faced, and it is this insight that I find particularly interesting. There are no equations, per se, but he does explain some of the physics involved. Additionally, there are a number of illustrations that make the book easy to read. Rather than many dates, he talks about the period in general. Rather than when, the main focus of the book is how. Analyses of text from Vitruvius show that Professor Landels is a very intelligent man. The book rarely gets tedious, though, with a new problem and solution being posed every few pages. Of the several books I have read of this nature (history of technology...see other reviews), this is one of the best.

18 people found this helpful

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Cort MacLean Johns, Ph.D.-HSG, Author of "The Lost Industrial Revolution"

Engineering In the Ancient World 2000 Edition?

Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2019

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I received the much older 1978 edition twice with the old 1978 Front Cover, not the 2000 Edition with the 2000 Front Cover still used. Now I also see listed on amazon.de yet a 2000, 3rd cover 'New Edition', this time with an old sailing ship on its 2000 front cover instead of an old roman viaduct and changes made to its preface, bibliography, and index (no mention of an updated text). Covers shown here should match the front covers and content that one receives and not the older 1978 edition instead. Since it appears that the books basic text has not been updated, too much has changed since 1978 for this book to be considered as an up-to-date resource for those who wish to keep up with research occurring in the last 41 years.

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R. keller

Good, Balanced Non-Engineer Book

Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2013

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I'm not an engineer, but I enjoyed the non-technical language and sketches used in this book to describe Engineering in the Ancient World. It was listed in the references of a book I read about Saint Paul's biblical travels by sea. That chapter in the book was brief but insightful as were the chapters on wheels and fresh water distribution. This is a short book, an easy read, historically interesting. It is not an in-depth study, but contains sufficient math and engineering that may be of interest to technical readers as well.

5 people found this helpful

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Falco del Fiume

Roman Engineering

Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2011

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Roman conquered the known ancient world as much with a shovel as with a sword. Everywhere the Romans went they brought the engineering techniques with them. EG: They knew to seperate sewage from drinking water. Fresh drinking palatable water was generally avaiable within a couple of blocks of every citizen of one of their cities. Sewage was carried away and dumped outside the city and away from sources of drinking/bathing water. This book details Roman engineering in an easely understood fashion. Cerainly not a waste of time and money if interested in these subjects: Engineering, Life during Roman times.

2 people found this helpful

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S.J.F.

very interesting

Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2019

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It only got 4 stars because it is rather dry. Don't know how to make the subject fun to read but the info is very interesting.

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David Archambault

Not just for the genius.

Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2017

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This book offered remarkable clarity on subjects that can easily require a specialized degree to understand. For reference, my degree was in computer science. The only background in engineering I have is one that can be acquired from Google and my local library.
I recommend this book to anyone with a desire to understand the technology of the Greeks and Romans and the curiosity to research what they don't understand.

3 people found this helpful

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M. T. Sarantakos

Great book

Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2020

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Fascinating info of enineering feats.

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Lord Ulrich

Interesting with just enough technical info

Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2010

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This book brings to light the knowledge ancient engineers possessed. This book does get a bit technical, however I believe most people should be able to follow the basic mechanics discussed at least well enough to get the gist of the discussion. I think this is a great book to review engineering mechanics for those trained under a more modern school.

To provide some perspective I am a Civil Engineer, and I had to think back to my basic classes to completely comprehend some of the sections of this book. However not quite understanding most of those sections is not going prevent you from following the basic concept of this book.

7 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Fascinating insight into the history of technology

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 23, 2011

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The book is an excellent and very concise guide to the technology / engineering state of the art in the ancient world and as such quite probably an essential reading for someone curious about either technology, or the ancients (or of course the combination of the two). On top of going into details of power (human, animal, wind, water, steam), water supply, crane technology, catapults, ships, land transportation, etc. the author also teaches the reader - through example - how to go about uncovering knowledge of the kind in an environment, where written sources are more often than not lacking.

The only disclaimer I feel needs to be added here, is that Landels presupposes some basic engineering knowledge, or at least a good grasp of high school physics, and some decent spatial awareness from the reader. He most certainly makes no concessions to readers without such knowledge, and apart from perhaps one or two wry statements per chapter, he also wields Occam's razor quite ruthlessly - there are no attempts at additional explanation, or summary.

This can be seen as a weakness, or as a feature - the book certanily conveys a wealth of information in not very many pages, and in essence provides enough of an explanation, of how the ancient world worked from an engineering point of view, to satisfy all but the most dedicated of students of the topic.

On top of that, I also find the book useful for teaching people how to go about unearthing information on a topic, which has few published sources. While he makes copious use of the published works on engineering from the era (Vitruvius and Hero being the most commonly cited ones), he shows the reader how everything from vase paintings, archeological remains, poetry, drama, tax records, etc. can be used to gain useful information on the subjects being examined - especially where an aspect would appear so 'matter of course' to a dweller of the times, so as to not warrant explanation.

All in all, an excellent book - but as said, if you are more used to modern day / style management literature, you might find it hard to follow.

5 people found this helpful

jon allan homan

Full of actual details.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 4, 2019

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This is the book that really does explore engineering standards in the ancient greece and roman worlds amazing.........

PF VEREYCKEN

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 9, 2016

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For budding engineers

paul tomlinson

really interesting

Reviewed in Canada on August 16, 2020

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I've been looking for a book like this. Excellent. Love it.

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Engineering in the Ancient World, Revised Edition First Edition, With a revised preface, a new appendix, and a new bibliography

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