اندیشمند بزرگترین احساسش عشق است و هر عملش با خرد
About two decades ago, a newly published book changed readers’ perceptions about science and technology. It provided information obtained through archaeological findings and ancient texts and manuscripts about discoveries and inventions of the ancient times. By reading this book, one discovers that some of the major technological advances attributed to recent times are in fact resurfacing of innovations of ancient world. In the introduction section of the book, a philosopher of the seventeenth century, Francis Bacon, is quoted from one of his writings as follows: “We should note the force, effect and consequences of inventions, which are nowhere more conspicuous than in those which were unknown to the ancients, namely printing, gunpowder and the compass. For these three have changed the appearance and state of the whole world (P. XXII).” The book continues to comment on this claim by stating: “In fact all three had long histories before Bacon’s time- but in China, not in the medieval West (P. XXIII).” As such, the book opens a window to the misconception widely believed by Westerners that since the modern technology is dominated by the West, advancements in science and technology has always been a property of the Western World. We learn through this book that many of the recent day innovations are in fact reinvention of what was once in common use in ancient China, India, Egypt, or in great empires of the Eastern World such as Iran and Byzantine, or of the Western World such as Greece and Rome. There are also discussions about common use items of our time which are in fact as a result of inventions and discoveries of ancient people. Neil deGrasse Tyson once explained in a speech the reason for the decline of science and technology (namely astronomy) of so called Islamic world, the knowledge which had been unknown to the West because of the church prohibition of science, and which suddenly vanished from the Islamic world and never recommenced, again as a result of religious dogmatism and monopoly of power. According to Tyson; "Imam Ghazali, a 12th century Muslim scholar, philosophized that mathematics was work of the devil...and as a result, the entire foundation of that intellectual enterprise collapsed, and has not recovered since (The Erosion of Progress by Religion; Naming Rights- can be located on YouTube)." Ancient Inventions discloses amazing and enlightening information such as invention of speedometer, contraceptives, kites, rocket launcher, and many other advanced technologies by ancient civilizations. There are also discoveries showing ancient civilizations' advancements in medical operations such as plastic and brain surgery.
