What do you think?
Rate this book
The Ancient Engineers
Amazon.com Review A reasonably scholarly but nonetheless accessible history of the great engineering feats of the human race up to the Renaissance, including a great chapter on Oriental architecture, a topic often neglected by such surveys. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
450 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1960
18 people are currently reading
821 people want to read
About the author
L. Sprague de Camp
759 books312 followersLyon Sprague de Camp was an American author of science fiction, fantasy and non-fiction literature. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, both novels and works of non-fiction, including biographies of other fantasy authors. He was a major figure in science fiction in the 1930s and 1940s.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
June 20, 2009
This is a really well-written book about the history of humankind as seen through the lens of changing technology. To me, political history is less explanatory of why our societies are like they are in each era. Political history doesn't seem to explain much to me. That may be because I'm a science geek.
The history of technology, as it's shown here, has much more explanatory power. Why castles and chivalry and a feudal social order? The technology of war at the time had defensive tech far stronger than offensive tech. Thus castles, which were impenetrable, ruled. Noblemen in their armor who couldn't be hurt by some poor knave with a rock, won the day. Once gunpowder and the longbow were invented, the social fabric of feudalism also died. Very interesting insight there.
It makes a huge difference that the writer is a real writer, as well. DeCamp wrote lots of good science fiction. So this book has the tendency to grab ones attention and not let go. It's a page turner about history!
It's three decades out of date, at this point, but little has changed in our understanding of the subject at hand. A great read about a fascinating subject. I'm delighted to have revisited it.
The history of technology, as it's shown here, has much more explanatory power. Why castles and chivalry and a feudal social order? The technology of war at the time had defensive tech far stronger than offensive tech. Thus castles, which were impenetrable, ruled. Noblemen in their armor who couldn't be hurt by some poor knave with a rock, won the day. Once gunpowder and the longbow were invented, the social fabric of feudalism also died. Very interesting insight there.
It makes a huge difference that the writer is a real writer, as well. DeCamp wrote lots of good science fiction. So this book has the tendency to grab ones attention and not let go. It's a page turner about history!
It's three decades out of date, at this point, but little has changed in our understanding of the subject at hand. A great read about a fascinating subject. I'm delighted to have revisited it.
November 25, 2010
Don't read this for the history: many of deCamp's assertions (circa 1960) have been overturned by later archeology. Read it for deCamp's opinions and social commentary. While much of that seems quaint by today's standards, in the early 1960s they were cutting edge.
April 13, 2015
I don't know why I keep inflicting L. Sprague de Camp books on myself.
With all of the cultural sensitivity and awareness of Lovecraft and the historical acumen of Margaret Murray, de Camp presents the pseudohistory of human achievement as he imagines it might have happened.
With his usual ill-tempered and sneering dismissal and debasement of essentially every human being who ever lived and was unfortunate enough not to be named Lynn de Camp, he will wow you with astonishing facts which include, but are not limited to: the inherent stupidity and laziness of primitive peoples(!), all cultures in temperate climates are precisely identical(!), the theory of cultural diffusion is a ridiculous myth(!)!
It's important to remember that de Camp is mostly known for writing crappy sci-fi/fantasy novels and his qualifications to write history are limited to: an unjustifiably overinflated ego and also(!) author of crappy science fiction and fantasy novels.
So, really, it's unreasonable to expect much.
With all of the cultural sensitivity and awareness of Lovecraft and the historical acumen of Margaret Murray, de Camp presents the pseudohistory of human achievement as he imagines it might have happened.
With his usual ill-tempered and sneering dismissal and debasement of essentially every human being who ever lived and was unfortunate enough not to be named Lynn de Camp, he will wow you with astonishing facts which include, but are not limited to: the inherent stupidity and laziness of primitive peoples(!), all cultures in temperate climates are precisely identical(!), the theory of cultural diffusion is a ridiculous myth(!)!
It's important to remember that de Camp is mostly known for writing crappy sci-fi/fantasy novels and his qualifications to write history are limited to: an unjustifiably overinflated ego and also(!) author of crappy science fiction and fantasy novels.
So, really, it's unreasonable to expect much.
May 5, 2023
This 1960 survey of technological developments since the beginning of human history was both highly informative and a maddeningly difficult one on which to get a real grasp. Fortunately, its author did not utilize an exclusively Eurocentric analysis, and includes quite a bit on both Indian and Chinese civilizations and their technical innovations. As well, he has an extremely broad concept of the term 'ancient', and basically concludes his survey with the Italian Renaissance. Specifically, da Vinci is judged to have been the last of the ancient engineers rather than the first of the modern ones since he failed to avail himself of the then-available means of printing and publishing his works. Instead, he left reams and reams of notebooks, which were spread throughout Europe and in large part lost after his death. Thus, the concept of joint development of technical solutions to engineering problems was still undeveloped by his time. Although patents had been invented and were beginning to break the conservative power of the guilds, these changes were still only nascent at this time.
The most difficult aspect of the work is its propensity to get highly technical almost right away when examining a new development: for instance, I was unaware that windmills used either horizontal- or vertical-shaft mechanisms, and would still be hard pressed to explain the difference. And this problem arose again and again. Almost right away, terminology and explanations went past me for the at most one or two pages on which the specific machine was being explained. Then, we'd move on to another type of machine. I'd estimate that well over two or three hundred different new mechanisms were examined: roughly allowing at most about a page or two for each.
And the majority of these innovations normally involved how to either kill other human beings or prevent others from killing you. Did you know that a machicolation is a jutting out upper region of a castle wall that allows stones to be dropped on those laying seige through trap doors? I sure didn't.
I also didn't know that gunpowder was invented before guns, that the development of large cannons essentially ended feudalism by making castles no longer impregnable or that hand guns allowed the development of republicanism since every one could thus express their desires and back them up with force. Interesting.
Also, I loved de Sprague's judgment on the Indian concept of reincarnation and its connection to the caste system: 'If a man was born into a lower caste, it was punishment for a sin in a previous incarnation. This is perhaps that most diabolically clever method of making the downtrodden be resigned to their lot.' Best quote in the book though belonged to Bertrand Russell: 'Most people would sooner die than think - in fact, they do so.'
Good book.
The most difficult aspect of the work is its propensity to get highly technical almost right away when examining a new development: for instance, I was unaware that windmills used either horizontal- or vertical-shaft mechanisms, and would still be hard pressed to explain the difference. And this problem arose again and again. Almost right away, terminology and explanations went past me for the at most one or two pages on which the specific machine was being explained. Then, we'd move on to another type of machine. I'd estimate that well over two or three hundred different new mechanisms were examined: roughly allowing at most about a page or two for each.
And the majority of these innovations normally involved how to either kill other human beings or prevent others from killing you. Did you know that a machicolation is a jutting out upper region of a castle wall that allows stones to be dropped on those laying seige through trap doors? I sure didn't.
I also didn't know that gunpowder was invented before guns, that the development of large cannons essentially ended feudalism by making castles no longer impregnable or that hand guns allowed the development of republicanism since every one could thus express their desires and back them up with force. Interesting.
Also, I loved de Sprague's judgment on the Indian concept of reincarnation and its connection to the caste system: 'If a man was born into a lower caste, it was punishment for a sin in a previous incarnation. This is perhaps that most diabolically clever method of making the downtrodden be resigned to their lot.' Best quote in the book though belonged to Bertrand Russell: 'Most people would sooner die than think - in fact, they do so.'
Good book.
February 5, 2014
This is an accessible history of ancient technology and engineering written for the general public by an author primarily known for his science fiction. Having nothing like modern patent or copyright protections, the ancients tended to keep their technical innovations secret, passing methods on within close, primarily familial, circles. Consequently, many inventions were unique or nearly so and failed to obtain purchase in the broader world. Further, given the oft great abundance of cheap labor, including slave labor, there was little advantage afforded by the invention of labor saving devices. De Camp gives many examples, some quite amusing, of early inventions of these sorts lost to history.
Were one to be transported to ancient Rome one would be wise to remember two low-tech inventions they hadn't come up with: stirrups and the wheelbarrow.
This book was purchased, new, at either Barnes and Noble or Borders near Davis in Evanston.
Were one to be transported to ancient Rome one would be wise to remember two low-tech inventions they hadn't come up with: stirrups and the wheelbarrow.
This book was purchased, new, at either Barnes and Noble or Borders near Davis in Evanston.
August 26, 2020
The engineer has not always existed, but it has always been useful in creating massive public works and inventions. It is difficult to determine when the first engineer came to be.
The Ancient Engineers goes over engineering projects and inventions of antiquity. It goes by region. If there is someone noteworthy, then that person is covered in the text. The book focuses on areas around the Mediterranean Sea, devoting most of its pages to that region. Egypt is the land of pyramids and canals. Mesopotamia is full of mud brick, and many have conquered those lands, leaving us with only stories and foundations. Rome was where a great deal of civil engineering took place. Greece, Persia, Byzantium, China, India, Europe, the book covers all of these places.
The Ancient Engineers was written in 1960 by a man named L Sprague De Camp. I can not overstate this fact. Archaeology might have advanced by leaps and bounds since the 1960s, but most of what I know about archaeology comes to me from movies. The book has one annoying feature; the way dates are displayed. It took some time for me to get used to it.
Finally, since De Camp wrote the book in 1960, he uses some terms that some might find offensive. I would recommend that people try to understand the times rather than try to bring a sixty-year-old book up to their standards.
The Ancient Engineers goes over engineering projects and inventions of antiquity. It goes by region. If there is someone noteworthy, then that person is covered in the text. The book focuses on areas around the Mediterranean Sea, devoting most of its pages to that region. Egypt is the land of pyramids and canals. Mesopotamia is full of mud brick, and many have conquered those lands, leaving us with only stories and foundations. Rome was where a great deal of civil engineering took place. Greece, Persia, Byzantium, China, India, Europe, the book covers all of these places.
The Ancient Engineers was written in 1960 by a man named L Sprague De Camp. I can not overstate this fact. Archaeology might have advanced by leaps and bounds since the 1960s, but most of what I know about archaeology comes to me from movies. The book has one annoying feature; the way dates are displayed. It took some time for me to get used to it.
Finally, since De Camp wrote the book in 1960, he uses some terms that some might find offensive. I would recommend that people try to understand the times rather than try to bring a sixty-year-old book up to their standards.
July 4, 2023
THE POPULAR SCIENCE AUTHOR REFUTES MANY MYTHS
Author L. Sprague de Camp wrote in the first chapter of this 1962 book, “Civilization … owes its existence to the engineers. These are the men who… have learned to exploit the properties of matter and the sources of power for the benefit of mankind.” (Pg. 1) He continues, “Civilization had little effect on northern Europe and northern Asia… because … conditions of life were so different from those of the Belt that most inventions made in warmer lands were of little use there. Civilization … [was] stopped by the barrier of the Sahara Desert, the swamps of the White Nile, and the mountains of Abyssinia. This barrier isolated sub-Saharan Africa as effectively as if it had been an island. Furthermore, Old World civilization failed to leap the watery barriers to reach the Pacific Islands, Australia, or the Americas… It would seem, then, that the main factor in determining whether any particular people took part in the technological adventure … was neither their race, nor climate, nor local resources. The main factor was simply a matter of geography.” (Pg. 7)
He notes, “the high school student of ancient history gets the … impression that … the Greeks were the only people in the world who were really alive… Of course that is not true… But, because the Greeks put their experiences down in writing… we know a lot about them… For the same reason, we know quite a lot about Greek and Roman engineering, but very little about ancient Iranian, Indian, and Chinese engineering.” (Pg. 11)
He explains, “The Egyptians … developed elaborate beliefs about life after death. One of these beliefs was that such afterlife could be enjoyed only so long as the body was kept intact. Hence the practice of mummifying corpses and of building massive tombs… most Egyptian building of this time was in mud brick. Although mud brick is one of the feeblest of structural materials, the Egyptians learned that, if they made their walls taper upward, these walls would not crumble away so quickly… more than two thousand years later… they were still tapering stone walls upward!” (Pg. 22)
He observes of the Great Pyramid, “The sides of the base come to within 7 inches of forming a perfect square. They are also oriented to within … one-tenth of a degree---of the true north-south and east-west directions… None of the other pyramids is oriented so closely.” (Pg. 25) He adds, “The pyramids have long been a fertile source of pseudo-scientific speculation. Many people have made wild guesses about the purpose of these structures… These notions can all be easily disposed of. For instance, the passages inside the pyramids were blocked up as soon as the kings were laid to rest within, so they could not have been used for granaries, star-gazing, or Masonic meetings. Modern archaeology agrees with Herodotus that these buildings were tombs pure and simple. The modern pseudo-scientific cult of Pyramidology began when London publisher John Taylor and the Scottish astronomer Charles Piazzi Smyth evolved the theory that the Great Pyramid had been built by Noah, Melchizedek, or some other Old Testament patriarch under divine guidance; and that it incorporated in its structure such cosmic wisdom as the true value of pi… the mass and circumference of the earth, and the distance of the sun…” (Pg. 29)
Of the building of the pyramids, he explains, “When Herodotus wrote, pyramids had not been built in Egypt for more than a thousand years, and it is unlikely that his guides would have any clear idea of the engineering methods of their long-dead predecessors. But from various sources---tool marks on stone, quarries with blocks half-detached, ancient tools found in modern times, and tomb paintings that shows Egyptians working---we know much of how the Egyptians built large constructions of stone… the Egyptians of Khufu’s time used very simple methods indeed… It is not even certain whether they moved heavy stones on rollers. Later engineers used rollers… But an Egyptian picture from the end of the pyramid-building age… shows 172 men pulling the 60-ton statues … on a sled without rollers. To make the sled move more easily, a man poured a liquid … on the ground before it… Simple calculations show that Herodotus’ tale of the building of the Great Pyramid by 100,000 men working for twenty years… is much exaggerated… Probably there was a small permanent staff of skilled workmen. A set of barracks of rough stone… are thought to have held about 4,000 men.” (Pg. 31-32)
He continues, “In building a pyramid, the stones were sledded into place with much prying and grunting. Probably the masons spread a layer of thin mortar or mud on the rock over which the stone was to be slid, to make the job easier. As the pyramid rose, the builders raised an earthen mound on all sides of it, with one or more long ramps for hauling up the stones. Remains of such ramps have been found near some of the pyramids and other monuments. As each course was laid, the mound and the ramp were raised to another level. When the job was done… all this vast mass of earth had to be hauled away. The core stones of common limestone of common limestone were only roughly fitted together, but the fine limestone blocks of the casing were fitted so carefully that a knife blade could hardly be thrust between them… Lastly, during the removal of the mound and the ramp, masons … trimmed away any irregularities left in the facing of each side.” (Pg. 35)
He states, “The most famous ziggurat was raised at Babylon in honor of Marduk… The Bible calls this ziggurat the Tower of Babel… it reached its final form under Nebuchadrezzar… Could the legend of the Confusion of Tongues be an echo of labor troubles during the building[?]… It is a tempting speculation, but---alas! No evidence supports it.” (Pg. 56)
He points out, “The horsemen who conquered Iran and India called themselves Arya, ‘noble ones.’ Therefore, the original conquerors and their descendants are sometimes called Indo-Europeans and sometimes Aryans. However, there is no ‘Aryan race.’ Whatever the race of the first horsemen, it has long since disappeared by intermarriage and dilution.” (Pg. 59-60)
He recounts, “While it endured, the Library made Alexandria the unquestioned intellectual capital of the world… A series of fires and depredations during the Roman period gradually destroyed the Library… no single fire destroyed them all. When Julius Caesar occupied Alexandria… he took away hundreds of thousands to be shipped to Rome. Then Alexandria revolted against Caesar… In the righting, either the books that Caesar had taken or those in one of the Library buildings, or both, were burned… The Library probably suffered further damage when Aurelius suppressed a revolt… and again … when Bishop Theophilus, another bloodthirsty fanatic of the Hitler type, led a Christian mob to the destruction of the temple of Serapis, where some of the books were kept. The remaining rolls were finished off by the Arabs… Christian apologists … have striven to exculpate the godly Theophilus and put the blame back on the Muslims.” (Pg. 134-135)
He reports that a “rusted iron rod” was found inside a copper cylinder: “The only use that anybody has been able to conceive for them is as battery cells for electroplating small metal objects with gold… the silversmiths of Baghdad, within the present century, used a similar apparatus for gold-plating their works… we must at least consider the strange possibility that electroplating was discovered in Iraq in ancient times… nevertheless, it failed to spread to other lands…” (Pg. 252)
He summarizes, “When China, Islam, and the Byzantine Empire stagnated and India remained sunken in mystical dreams of cycles and karma, medieval western Europe sprang into the lead in the useful arts of peace and war. By the time the older civilizations became aware of the threat from this vigorous new culture, it was too late to catch up, except at the cost of drastic and painful revolutions in their own civilizations.” (Pg. 340)
He concludes, “[Some] blame the technical men because they have not succeeded in making everybody kind, honest, and peaceful. Therefore, they say, technical progress has not ‘civilized’ men at all. But it is a mistake to confuse these virtues with civilization. Civilization is a matter of power over the world of nature… It has nothing to do with kindness, honesty, or peacefulness… An engineer is simply a man who, by taking thought, tries to solve human problems involving matter and energy… In so doing, they have created the teeming, complex, gadget-filled world of today.” (Pg. 407)
This book will be ‘must reading’ for anyone seeking genuine explanations for things such as the pyramids (which are often casually attributed to ‘Ancient Aliens’).
Author L. Sprague de Camp wrote in the first chapter of this 1962 book, “Civilization … owes its existence to the engineers. These are the men who… have learned to exploit the properties of matter and the sources of power for the benefit of mankind.” (Pg. 1) He continues, “Civilization had little effect on northern Europe and northern Asia… because … conditions of life were so different from those of the Belt that most inventions made in warmer lands were of little use there. Civilization … [was] stopped by the barrier of the Sahara Desert, the swamps of the White Nile, and the mountains of Abyssinia. This barrier isolated sub-Saharan Africa as effectively as if it had been an island. Furthermore, Old World civilization failed to leap the watery barriers to reach the Pacific Islands, Australia, or the Americas… It would seem, then, that the main factor in determining whether any particular people took part in the technological adventure … was neither their race, nor climate, nor local resources. The main factor was simply a matter of geography.” (Pg. 7)
He notes, “the high school student of ancient history gets the … impression that … the Greeks were the only people in the world who were really alive… Of course that is not true… But, because the Greeks put their experiences down in writing… we know a lot about them… For the same reason, we know quite a lot about Greek and Roman engineering, but very little about ancient Iranian, Indian, and Chinese engineering.” (Pg. 11)
He explains, “The Egyptians … developed elaborate beliefs about life after death. One of these beliefs was that such afterlife could be enjoyed only so long as the body was kept intact. Hence the practice of mummifying corpses and of building massive tombs… most Egyptian building of this time was in mud brick. Although mud brick is one of the feeblest of structural materials, the Egyptians learned that, if they made their walls taper upward, these walls would not crumble away so quickly… more than two thousand years later… they were still tapering stone walls upward!” (Pg. 22)
He observes of the Great Pyramid, “The sides of the base come to within 7 inches of forming a perfect square. They are also oriented to within … one-tenth of a degree---of the true north-south and east-west directions… None of the other pyramids is oriented so closely.” (Pg. 25) He adds, “The pyramids have long been a fertile source of pseudo-scientific speculation. Many people have made wild guesses about the purpose of these structures… These notions can all be easily disposed of. For instance, the passages inside the pyramids were blocked up as soon as the kings were laid to rest within, so they could not have been used for granaries, star-gazing, or Masonic meetings. Modern archaeology agrees with Herodotus that these buildings were tombs pure and simple. The modern pseudo-scientific cult of Pyramidology began when London publisher John Taylor and the Scottish astronomer Charles Piazzi Smyth evolved the theory that the Great Pyramid had been built by Noah, Melchizedek, or some other Old Testament patriarch under divine guidance; and that it incorporated in its structure such cosmic wisdom as the true value of pi… the mass and circumference of the earth, and the distance of the sun…” (Pg. 29)
Of the building of the pyramids, he explains, “When Herodotus wrote, pyramids had not been built in Egypt for more than a thousand years, and it is unlikely that his guides would have any clear idea of the engineering methods of their long-dead predecessors. But from various sources---tool marks on stone, quarries with blocks half-detached, ancient tools found in modern times, and tomb paintings that shows Egyptians working---we know much of how the Egyptians built large constructions of stone… the Egyptians of Khufu’s time used very simple methods indeed… It is not even certain whether they moved heavy stones on rollers. Later engineers used rollers… But an Egyptian picture from the end of the pyramid-building age… shows 172 men pulling the 60-ton statues … on a sled without rollers. To make the sled move more easily, a man poured a liquid … on the ground before it… Simple calculations show that Herodotus’ tale of the building of the Great Pyramid by 100,000 men working for twenty years… is much exaggerated… Probably there was a small permanent staff of skilled workmen. A set of barracks of rough stone… are thought to have held about 4,000 men.” (Pg. 31-32)
He continues, “In building a pyramid, the stones were sledded into place with much prying and grunting. Probably the masons spread a layer of thin mortar or mud on the rock over which the stone was to be slid, to make the job easier. As the pyramid rose, the builders raised an earthen mound on all sides of it, with one or more long ramps for hauling up the stones. Remains of such ramps have been found near some of the pyramids and other monuments. As each course was laid, the mound and the ramp were raised to another level. When the job was done… all this vast mass of earth had to be hauled away. The core stones of common limestone of common limestone were only roughly fitted together, but the fine limestone blocks of the casing were fitted so carefully that a knife blade could hardly be thrust between them… Lastly, during the removal of the mound and the ramp, masons … trimmed away any irregularities left in the facing of each side.” (Pg. 35)
He states, “The most famous ziggurat was raised at Babylon in honor of Marduk… The Bible calls this ziggurat the Tower of Babel… it reached its final form under Nebuchadrezzar… Could the legend of the Confusion of Tongues be an echo of labor troubles during the building[?]… It is a tempting speculation, but---alas! No evidence supports it.” (Pg. 56)
He points out, “The horsemen who conquered Iran and India called themselves Arya, ‘noble ones.’ Therefore, the original conquerors and their descendants are sometimes called Indo-Europeans and sometimes Aryans. However, there is no ‘Aryan race.’ Whatever the race of the first horsemen, it has long since disappeared by intermarriage and dilution.” (Pg. 59-60)
He recounts, “While it endured, the Library made Alexandria the unquestioned intellectual capital of the world… A series of fires and depredations during the Roman period gradually destroyed the Library… no single fire destroyed them all. When Julius Caesar occupied Alexandria… he took away hundreds of thousands to be shipped to Rome. Then Alexandria revolted against Caesar… In the righting, either the books that Caesar had taken or those in one of the Library buildings, or both, were burned… The Library probably suffered further damage when Aurelius suppressed a revolt… and again … when Bishop Theophilus, another bloodthirsty fanatic of the Hitler type, led a Christian mob to the destruction of the temple of Serapis, where some of the books were kept. The remaining rolls were finished off by the Arabs… Christian apologists … have striven to exculpate the godly Theophilus and put the blame back on the Muslims.” (Pg. 134-135)
He reports that a “rusted iron rod” was found inside a copper cylinder: “The only use that anybody has been able to conceive for them is as battery cells for electroplating small metal objects with gold… the silversmiths of Baghdad, within the present century, used a similar apparatus for gold-plating their works… we must at least consider the strange possibility that electroplating was discovered in Iraq in ancient times… nevertheless, it failed to spread to other lands…” (Pg. 252)
He summarizes, “When China, Islam, and the Byzantine Empire stagnated and India remained sunken in mystical dreams of cycles and karma, medieval western Europe sprang into the lead in the useful arts of peace and war. By the time the older civilizations became aware of the threat from this vigorous new culture, it was too late to catch up, except at the cost of drastic and painful revolutions in their own civilizations.” (Pg. 340)
He concludes, “[Some] blame the technical men because they have not succeeded in making everybody kind, honest, and peaceful. Therefore, they say, technical progress has not ‘civilized’ men at all. But it is a mistake to confuse these virtues with civilization. Civilization is a matter of power over the world of nature… It has nothing to do with kindness, honesty, or peacefulness… An engineer is simply a man who, by taking thought, tries to solve human problems involving matter and energy… In so doing, they have created the teeming, complex, gadget-filled world of today.” (Pg. 407)
This book will be ‘must reading’ for anyone seeking genuine explanations for things such as the pyramids (which are often casually attributed to ‘Ancient Aliens’).
December 21, 2007
I checked this book out from the library on a recommendation from fierra, when I mentioned wanting to know more about Roman engineering after reading Pompeii: A Novel.
A fairly thick [372 pgs, not counting the notes, bibliography and index], rather dry book, De Camp covers the art and science of engineering from the beginning of recorded history through the early Renaissance. Relatively multi-cultural for the time it was written (1963) it includes chapters on India and China, as well as Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece & the Roman Empire. I would have liked to have seen information on the Mayan and Incan cultures, but they were probably omitted due to lack of source material.
De Camp refers to primary source materials as much as possible when discussing not only the engineering feats, but also the men than made them possible. His choice of transliterations was not what I was accustomed to (Sokrates, Kung Fu Tze) and I'm still trying to figure out who I know Heron (he of the prototype steam engine) as. More illustrations would have been useful, as it was slow going at times, and I probably would have benefited from having a history book or two handy at times. However, I still feel I learned a thing or two along the way and have a new appreciation for the architecture and machinery of ancient times.
Recommended to those interested in the history of architecture and machinery.
Quotes
"Perhaps human factiousness - our tendency to divide up into factions on almost any pretext (racial, religious, cultural, political, economic, or sporting) is a survival mechanism evolved during man’s hunting phase, to insure that hunting bands split up before the grew too large to feed themselves." -- p 16
"By insisting that the same invention could never have been made twice over, the cult [diffusionism] appealed to people who, never having had an original idea themselves, find it impossible to imagine anybody's else having one." -- p 19-20
"Could the legend of the Confusion of Tongues be an echo of labor troubles during the building of Etemenanki? It is a tempting speculation, but - alas! - no evidence supports it." -- p 62
"An engineer is merely a man [sic] who, by taking thought, tries to solve human problems involving matter and energy."
A fairly thick [372 pgs, not counting the notes, bibliography and index], rather dry book, De Camp covers the art and science of engineering from the beginning of recorded history through the early Renaissance. Relatively multi-cultural for the time it was written (1963) it includes chapters on India and China, as well as Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece & the Roman Empire. I would have liked to have seen information on the Mayan and Incan cultures, but they were probably omitted due to lack of source material.
De Camp refers to primary source materials as much as possible when discussing not only the engineering feats, but also the men than made them possible. His choice of transliterations was not what I was accustomed to (Sokrates, Kung Fu Tze) and I'm still trying to figure out who I know Heron (he of the prototype steam engine) as. More illustrations would have been useful, as it was slow going at times, and I probably would have benefited from having a history book or two handy at times. However, I still feel I learned a thing or two along the way and have a new appreciation for the architecture and machinery of ancient times.
Recommended to those interested in the history of architecture and machinery.
Quotes
"Perhaps human factiousness - our tendency to divide up into factions on almost any pretext (racial, religious, cultural, political, economic, or sporting) is a survival mechanism evolved during man’s hunting phase, to insure that hunting bands split up before the grew too large to feed themselves." -- p 16
"By insisting that the same invention could never have been made twice over, the cult [diffusionism] appealed to people who, never having had an original idea themselves, find it impossible to imagine anybody's else having one." -- p 19-20
"Could the legend of the Confusion of Tongues be an echo of labor troubles during the building of Etemenanki? It is a tempting speculation, but - alas! - no evidence supports it." -- p 62
"An engineer is merely a man [sic] who, by taking thought, tries to solve human problems involving matter and energy."
November 30, 2017
I thought that this would be a tad bit different since I know this author as a science fiction writer, but he did well and showed that he did his homework for this book. Being forty years old, some fallacies and wrong facts were due to be seen, but he really did a good job surveying the field of engineering from ancient times to the renaissance. He did not know that there was a whole civilization before the Sumerians in the fertile crescent and around the Black Sea, which was then a lake. There is some mention of the ancient Crete civilization that is rather puzzling and is related to the ancient Black Sea culture.
He uses an odd notation system for dates: Roman numerals for centuries, -xx for before common era, and +xx for common era. I found that I was translating the centuries to numbers to make it understandable to me.
The writing is more interesting than Sir Burton’s “The Book of the Sword”. There are quite a lot of good ideas and his explanations for the quirks of the ancient people, is really good.
October 23, 2007
I read the 1963 edition of this book that I picked up at Barnes & Noble. What a surprise! I love history, trivia, and the way that the past comes to life through the eyes of the people who lived and worked and had modern-day problems to solve: this book was right on target for that. It became obvious that despite the intervening half-century since it was written, there have not been so many earth-shattering discoveries or revelations that would render the scholarship obsolete. The nonstandard spellings and designations for dates were a bit distracting, but it was thoroughly accessible and really interesting. The real shocker is that it came from the same guy who wrote the Conan books. He also had some original observations about whether daVinci should be considered as highly as he is by the general public.
May 21, 2013
This was originally written in 1962, and is therefore is a little dated. Sprague de Camp has written a book all about the different civilisations and the technologies that that invented or acquired from other neighbouring civilisations.
The book is split into sections on each of the civilisations, so from Egypt to middle ages Europe. The technologies covered are boat building, wind and water power, construction, printing and warfare. Some of it is fascinating, but other parts of it are the authors opinion. He spent far too long on the historical context, necessary to a certain extent, but more could have been written on the innovations.
The book is split into sections on each of the civilisations, so from Egypt to middle ages Europe. The technologies covered are boat building, wind and water power, construction, printing and warfare. Some of it is fascinating, but other parts of it are the authors opinion. He spent far too long on the historical context, necessary to a certain extent, but more could have been written on the innovations.
November 24, 2019
De Camp takes readers on an interesting tour through the history of technology and architecture. He gives us some ideas on how obelisks were set up, were drilled, and roads were made. What amazes me is how people could create enduring and magnificent works without the advantage of machines and modern measuring tools. Of course, the work of the engineers in this book laid the groundwork for all that we have today. The book shows that we could can do great things if we think creatively and sensibly.
Read
June 29, 2007A wonderful pre-History Channel experience, and still one of the most readable of books on the puzzles of how ancient civilizations did things.
September 25, 2008
A good starter for those who like the history of technology. Austin's Harry Ransom Center has a collection of DeCamp's papers.
June 3, 2013
A well-written, even funny at times, overview of the history of technology and invention, and the gradual, stutter-step of progress.
June 29, 2024
Written in 1963 so a bit dated, it covers engineering in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, the Hellenistic period, early and later Rome along the Orient and European into the 16th Century.
First and last sentence of Chapter One:
"civilization, as we known it today, owes its existence to the engineers. These are the men who, down the long centuries, have learned to exploit the properties of matter and the sources of power for the benefit of mankind. By an organized, rational effort to use the material world around them, engineers devised the myriad comforts and conveniences that mark the difference between our lives and those of our forefathers thousands of years ago."
"....Therefore, this book will be devoted to all these neglected early engineers who, much more than than the soldiers, politicians, prophets, and priests, have built civilization."
First and last sentence of Chapter One:
"civilization, as we known it today, owes its existence to the engineers. These are the men who, down the long centuries, have learned to exploit the properties of matter and the sources of power for the benefit of mankind. By an organized, rational effort to use the material world around them, engineers devised the myriad comforts and conveniences that mark the difference between our lives and those of our forefathers thousands of years ago."
"....Therefore, this book will be devoted to all these neglected early engineers who, much more than than the soldiers, politicians, prophets, and priests, have built civilization."
May 2, 2025
This looked pretty spectacular, so I picked it up. Inside you'll find all the engineers of the past: Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Greek, Hellenistic, early Roman, later Roman, Oriential, European. The author also presents a great photo section and illustrations of the major achievement of each ancient engineer. Not too much new insight but an interesting overall compendium. Really recommended!
April 11, 2021
One of the first books I read on ancient engineering. It was the monumental structures of Rome that got opt for Latin in high school for a foreign language. Amazing what they from scratch. So I like to read about the subject from the get go so I read this a long time. Good stuff
Read
October 16, 2021 Very old school (read racially stereotypes of other cultures whig history) I mean it might pass in 1910 but at has an antiquated feel reading it today. I mean it isn't bad on the specifics but I have read better treatments.
August 19, 2017
Good general history of engineering up to the Renaissance.
April 9, 2024
A really cool mix of history, archeology, and engineering. I'd rate 5 stars but the author liked to single out Christians quite frequently and it started to get annoying.
August 16, 2024
Incredibly fascinating and instructive.
January 23, 2025
Solid, engaging work... though I suppose a bit dated by now. Sprague's skill as a writer keeps this from being a dull slog of names and dates.
November 28, 2018
Wonderful in-depth survey of engineering achievements in ancient times all over the world. Entertaining, informative, a treasure trove.
Read
December 17, 2015A few items may make a modern reader feel a bit awkward, but overall a scholarly work focused on the individuals who we have record of advancing engineering with a microscopic bit of science too.
The author could have spent a bit less time bashing religion, a bit more time on the engineering, and possibly a good deal more time on China, though to the last I am uncertain how much historical information was available to him and to what extent the Chinese advanced civil engineering, which makes up the bulk of the work.
The author could have spent a bit less time bashing religion, a bit more time on the engineering, and possibly a good deal more time on China, though to the last I am uncertain how much historical information was available to him and to what extent the Chinese advanced civil engineering, which makes up the bulk of the work.
January 6, 2016
This book made for great bedtime reading; short, engagingly written accounts of ancient engineers, the cultures they lived in, and the mostly civil works of engineering they created. Bearing in mind when this book was written, a modern reader will find much to sigh about, but after all the Man-with-a-capital-M in the intro, will also find many more admirable aspects of de Camp's often humorous perspective on things.
I would love for a knowledgeable reviewer on GR to comment on the book's archeological or anthropological correctness, and perhaps suggest a more up-to-date on the subject.
I would love for a knowledgeable reviewer on GR to comment on the book's archeological or anthropological correctness, and perhaps suggest a more up-to-date on the subject.
March 19, 2013
Sprague de Camp explains how the ancients built their wonders, despite not having any modern conveniences/technology. Along the way, he also explains WHY our technological wonders come faster now, despite the (evolutionary) evidence that we can't be any more intelligent, biologically, than our ancient ancestors. A fascinating read, with a lot of interesting anecdotes, such as the details of a siege engine built so large that it took two months to move it a quarter mile!
September 11, 2015
A quirky take on the history of technology's advancement. I was too young and naive to understand this book when I first read it. When I refer back to it, I find that it is quite entertaining and often wrong.
November 17, 2007
This was assigned for a college class, and turned out to be one of the most interesting books/classes. I had to ignore the anti-Christianity tone throughout, though.
November 8, 2009
The Ancient Engineers by L. Sprague De Camp (1974)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews