Engineering of the Renaissance

May 08, 2013 09:00

We had our first engineering course today in which Dr. Galdi gave us a general introduction to science and engineering during the Renaissance. As expected, the lecture was really intriguing. Before the Babylonians engaged in detailed observations of the sky, mankind practiced astrology in which celestial bodies were believed to have devine character. In fact, it was this belief that the stars could predict the Gods' moods that motivated the Babylonians to engage in a more scientific approach: astronomy. In addition to recording Halley's Comet, the Babylonians excelled in mathematics – most notably, they derived formulas to compute irrational numbers.

After the Babylonian empire crumbled, the Egyptians contributed to science and engineering through their interest in astronomy (still religious and determined survival), mathematics (taxes and the pyramids), agriculture (fertilization also determined survival), architecture and medicine (body preservation). Related to mathematics, the Egyptians were the first to define an approximate formula for the area of a circle. They also determined the volume of a pyramidal frustum which obviously was used when they constructed the pyramids.

In Greece, there were many scientists that focused on a wide variety of subjects. Thales introduced the concept of logical proof for abstract propositions; he is best known for his theorem concerning triangles inscribed in circles. Pythagoras, a philospher interested in music and math, is best known for his Pythagorean theorem; however, he also was involved in researching the relationship between the length of a string and the pitch it generates. Heraclitus contributed to fluid mechanics; Democritus established the atomic theory; and Euclid is considered the father of modern mathematics.