A Brief History Part 1 - Lecture 1.docx

A Brief History Part 1-Lecture 1 Prehistory  Human existed for about 35,000 years  Used stone tools almost a million years ago  Stone tools and clay pots survived  Technology progressed very slowly 1. Lewis Mumford suggested that humanity was not idle during this interval. Developed: I. patterns of culture II. language 2. Communities tend to be traditional I. Only a few people, so only a few ideas II. Communication between groups is poor, so no cross-fertilization of ideas III. Groups must have free time to do the experiment, and must find the materials to be used IV. Conservatism is safe – if the group has survived thus far, it must be doing things right  Group are force to innovate because those that does not will be at the mercy of the group that does  What changed? 1. the invention of agriculture, about 10,000 years ago I. raise crops and domesticate animals II. humanity remain in one place in large groups III. since climate remains constant alone East-West lines, agricultural civilizations can spread through Eurasia along lines of latitude 2. The first engineers in written record worked in the Nile valley I. Imhotep and Khufu-onekh II. Numerous failed attempts before The Great Pyramid III. One of the first pyramid, the Step Pyramid of Zoser at Saqqara, built in 2650 BC, by Imhotep IV. “bent pyramid” at Dahshur started off at too ambitious an angle, and had to be modified V. The pyramid at Maidum collapsed because the stresses in its wall were incorrectly calculated VI. The Great Pyramid is in reasonably good shape after 4500 years 3. From 2616 BC to 2466 BC steady progress, ending in the 145-meter pyramid of Cheops I. Nothing higher than the Great Pyramid was built until the Singer building in 1908 New York 4. The tallest building under construction is even more depressing I. The curve of progress rapidly turns into a millennia-long slump Hellenistic Civilization  Athenians made great progress in philosophy, but not in science or technology because they never assigned an important role to experiment  Plato (428-348 BC) 1. Expounded a philosophy which exalts philosophers and mathematicians, but diminishes engineers and experimentalist. 2. Plato’s allegory of the cave I. Engineers are like prisoners, don’t really see the real world.  Foundations of computing 1. Computing is the automation of thought 2. The