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Thread: How Europeans Invented the Modern World

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    Default How Europeans Invented the Modern World

    How Europeans Invented the Modern World

    By David Deming



    Both Greece and Rome made significant contributions to Western civilization. Greek knowledge was ascendant in philosophy, physics, chemistry, medicine, and mathematics for nearly two thousand years. The Romans did not have the Greek temperament for philosophy and science, but they had a genius for law and civil administration. The Romans were also great engineers and builders. They invented concrete, perfected the arch, and constructed roads and bridges that remain in use today. But neither the Greeks nor the Romans had much appreciation for technology. As documented in my book, Science and Technology in World History, Vol. 2, the technological society that transformed the world was conceived by Europeans during the Middle Ages.

    Greeks and Romans were notorious in their disdain for technology. Aristotle noted that to be engaged in the mechanical arts was "illiberal and irksome." Seneca infamously characterized invention as something fit only for "the meanest slaves." The Roman Emperor Vespasian rejected technological innovation for fear that it would lead to unemployment.

    Greek and Roman economies were built on slavery. Strabo described the slave market at Delos as capable of handling the sale of 10,000 slaves a day. With an abundant supply of manual labor, the Romans had little incentive to develop artificial or mechanical power sources. Technical occupations such as blacksmithing came to be associated with the lower classes.

    With the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century AD, a Dark Age in philosophy and science descended upon the Mediterranean region. But the unwritten history of technological progress continued. In northern and western Europe, there was never a period of regression. As early as 370 AD, an unknown author noted the "mechanical inventiveness" of the "barbarian peoples" of northern Europe. The Christian ethic of universal brotherhood slowly spread through Europe, and slavery began to disappear. Tribes and peoples became united under a common creed. Europeans not only embraced technology, but they also developed the idea of a universal society based upon respect for the dignity and worth of the individual human being.

    From the sixth through the ninth centuries AD, Europeans adopted new agricultural technologies that dramatically increased productivity. One of these innovations was a heavy wheeled plow that broke up the soil more efficiently than the Roman "scratch" plow. Formerly unproductive lands were transformed into arable cropland.

    The Greeks and Romans had harnessed horses with a throat-and-girth harness that consisted of a strap placed across the animal's neck. As soon as the horse began to pull, he would choke himself. In the ninth century, Europeans began to use a padded horse collar that transferred the load of a draught animal to its shoulders. Horses harnessed with collars were able to pull four to five times more weight than those with throat-and-girth harnesses.

    Horse power was also facilitated by the introduction of the iron shoe. With fast-moving horses harnessed efficiently, it became possible to transport goods up to 35 kilometers in one day if a sufficiently good road was available. There was now a way to dispose of agricultural surpluses and create wealth that could be used for investment in technology and infrastructure. Thus, the introduction of the lowly horseshoe and collar fostered commerce, civilization, and the growth of towns.

    Under the Roman system of two-field crop rotation, half the land was left fallow and unproductive at any given time. In the eighth century, Europeans began to practice three-field crop rotation. Fields lay fallow for only a third of the year, and grains were alternated with legumes that enriched the soil with nitrogen. The cultivation of legumes such as peas and beans added valuable protein to European diets.

    In the tenth century, the climate began to warm, and Europe entered the High Middle Ages. By the thirteenth century, the new agricultural technologies had doubled per acre yields. Population surged; architecture and commerce flourished. Europeans began a program of aggressive territorial expansion. They reclaimed Sicily in 1090 and systematically drove Muslims out of Spain. The First Crusade was launched in 1095, and Jerusalem was captured from the Seljukian Turks in 1099.

    The prosperity created by the new agricultural technologies subsidized education and the growth of knowledge. In the late eighth century, Charlemagne had revived education in Europe by setting up a general system of schools. For the first time, not just monks, but also the general public were educated. As the European economy prospered, students multiplied and traveled, seeking the best education they could find. Christian Cathedral Schools evolved into the first universities. The Universities of Paris and Oxford were founded c. 1170, Cambridge in 1209 AD.

    The harnessing of water power began around 200 BC with the invention of the quern, a primitive grain mill consisting of two rotating stones. The Romans had been aware of water power but made little use of water wheels and mills. In contrast, by the tenth century, Europeans had begun a wholesale conversion of their civilization from human and animal power to water power. The water-mill came to be viewed not just as a grain mill, but as a generalized source of power that could be adopted for many uses. This new approach was to fundamentally alter the fabric of human civilization.

    By the thirteenth century, water power was being utilized in sawmills, tanning mills, and iron forges. Mechanical power derived from moving water was used to process beer mash, to turn wood lathes and grinding stones, to power bellows, to drive forge hammers, and to manufacture paper.

    Because water power was available only where streams were located, Europeans developed other sources of mechanical power. Tidal power was used in Dover and Venice in the eleventh century. The first windmill in Europe appeared in 1085 AD. Over the next hundred years, windmill technology spread rapidly over the plains of northern Europe. Windmills provided power in the cold of winter, when water mills were shut down by frozen streams.

    The utilization of mechanical power in these many forms required that Europeans develop methods for transferring and redirecting power, crucial technologies for the Industrial Revolution of the late eighteenth century. Most important of these was the crank. The crank is a device that allows rotary motion to be converted into reciprocal motion, or vice-versa. For an industrial or technological civilization, the importance of the crank is second only to that of the wheel itself. Without the crank, "machine civilization is inconceivable."

    Water clocks had been known since ancient times, but they were notoriously inaccurate and inconvenient. Near the end of the thirteenth century, it became possible to construct the first mechanical clock when some unknown genius invented a device known as the verge escapement. The verge escapement enabled the power delivered by a falling weight to be modulated and delivered evenly at a constant rate. The techniques developed in clockwork for regulating and transferring power were essential for the complex machinery of the Industrial Revolution.

    The introduction of mechanical clocks also made it feasible to adopt standardized timekeeping. This was a necessary step for the eventual development of a technological civilization that needs to coordinate complex administrative and commercial interactions.

    Modern science traces its roots to the natural philosophy of the ancient Greeks and the pre-Socratic enlightenment c. 600-400 BC. The Greeks began the evolution of what became modern science by introducing naturalism and rejecting supernatural explanations. Describing epilepsy, a Hippocratic author noted that the disease was "no more divine nor more sacred than other diseases, but has a natural cause from which it originates like other affections."

    But neither the Greeks nor the Romans ever hit upon the experimental method. Greek philosophers favored the deductive logic used in geometry. They had several reasons for being skeptical of a science based on observation. The world was in state of continual flux, different people observed things differently, and the only data available to them were anecdotal.

    Modern science began in the thirteenth century when Christian theologians such as Robert Grossesteste became seduced by Aristotelian logic and the Greek principle of demonstrative proof. But when Grossesteste and his student Roger Bacon contemplated the mysterious properties of the magnet, they were forced to conclude that logic alone could never uncover the secrets of the cosmos. Magnetism was a phenomenon that could never be predicted by logical reasoning. It could only be observed. Thus the need for a systematic experimental method.

    Gunpowder originated in China, but firearms were a European invention. Cannon date from the first part of the fourteenth century in Europe, and they were common by 1350. The use of cannon in particular helped break up feudalism, as it made central fortifications obsolete. Even the strongest structures were now vulnerable. The protection offered by a stone castle was eviscerated. The possession of personal firearms gave individuals more political power and was an engine for social and political change. The firearm was also the first internal combustion engine and demonstrated the enormous potential power that lay in confined and controlled combustion.

    Like gunpowder, many of the technologies developed and utilized by Europeans originated in China. But the Chinese were never able to fully develop the promise of these inventions because their economic development was strangled by a "bureaucratic, state controlled economy."

    In Europe, the leaders in developing medieval technology were not philosophers, but craftsmen, merchants, and businessmen -- in a word, entrepreneurs. There were profits to be derived from the new technologies. A water-powered mill required a considerable capital investment, but the investment was likely to return a significant profit. Inventive, free people looked for ways to improve their productivity. Individuals profited, and society prospered.

    Thus, the Industrial Revolution that began in England c. 1760 was the inevitable outcome of a thousand years of European technological progress fostered by economic freedom. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the technological innovations pioneered in Europe began to spread throughout the world. This process continues today, most notably with the transformation of the world's most populous countries, China and India.

    The most undeniable benefit of the technology that Europeans bequeathed to the world was a dramatic increase in life expectancy. Before the Industrial Revolution, average life expectancy at birth was only 25 years, no higher than it had been in Roman times. But as of 2009, life expectancy in the world had reached 69 years. And Japanese women now enjoy a record life expectancy at birth of 86 years.

    Thus the world was transformed -- not by philosophers, scientists, or politicians, but by engineers, craftsmen, and entrepreneurs. Writing in 1768, Joseph Priestley predicted that "whatever was the beginning of this world, the end will be glorious and paradisaical, beyond what our imaginations can now conceive." Thanks to European inventors, Priestley's prediction was fulfilled.

    David Deming is associate professor of arts and sciences at the University of Oklahoma and the author of "Science and Technology in World History: The Ancient World and Classical Civilization, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2".

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    Wonderful article.

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    Firearms was a Chinese invention

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearm

    "Beginning around 700 A.D., scientists and inventors in Ancient China developed different grades of gunpowder and different types of firearms, including single-shot smooth-bore fire lances, multi-barreled guns, multiple-launch artillery rockets and the first cannon in the world made from cast bronze. Several centuries later, in late Dark Age Europe, the term "firearm" was used in Old English to denote the arm in which the match was held that was used to light the touch hole on the hand cannon. The term was a variation on the contemporary terms of bow arm and drawing arm still used in archery. Due to the effects of firing the ordnance (barrel) at the time, the gunner had to be located somewhat behind the weapon, steadying brace with the other hand. Eventually, the term "fire arm" became synonymous with the weapons themselves. "

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    It is the Great Britain and West Europeans who invented industrial revolution. It is we who invented most of the things in this world, the other parts of Europe is nothing compared to West Europeans inventions.

    That being said. Here is a BBC documentary of Chinese inventions

    Things Europe never invented (it's interesting)

    Pt1
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cx-x7BrgjSA

    Pt2
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO4-Gu5Ov34

    Pt3
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arTQGqE6TEU
    Last edited by ButlerKing; 11-20-2012 at 09:26 PM.

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    I'd say its europeans 90%, North East Asians 10% (many inventions were Chinese), Africans 0%. Maybe Indians contributed something's like Zero and Chess but in terms of warfare, politics, technology, science etc it's all Europe with the Chinese giving them an initial kickstart after trade routes opened up after the Muslim blockade (which lead to the dark ages) of Europe was finally bypassed by sea in the 16th century and also the discovery of America (which helped with new staple foods like the Potato, Maize etc).

    I know someone will bring them up. The Arabs had a very brief period in Iraq in the Middle Ages of a scientific golden age but this was quickly quickly destroyed by Mongols and the more Luddite elements of Islam which of course took over. Many of the so called Arab scientists in Spain were actually Jews and Christians anyway and things credited to Arabs such as "Arabic numbers" really from the Hindus.
    Spoiler!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Anglojew View Post
    I'd say its europeans 90%, North East Asians 10% (many inventions were Chinese), Africans 0%. Maybe Indians contributed something's like Zero and Chess but in terms of warfare, politics, technology, science etc it's all Europe with the Chinese giving them an initial kickstart after trade routes opened up after the Muslim blockade (which lead to the dark ages) of Europe was finally bypassed by sea in the 16th century and also the discovery of America (which helped with new staple foods like the Potato, Maize etc).

    I know someone will bring them up. The Arabs had a very brief period in Iraq in the Middle Ages of a scientific golden age but this was quickly quickly destroyed by Mongols and the more Luddite elements of Islam which of course took over. Many of the so called Arab scientists in Spain were actually Jews and Christians anyway and things credited to Arabs such as "Arabic numbers" really from the Hindus.

    Be careful when you say European achievements.
    IT IS WEST EUROPEAN ACHIEVEMENTS
    East Europeans have their own achievements.

    West Europe historically was never conquered by non-Whites but East Europe had been historically conquered for over thousand years by Mongols and half mongoloid Turkic barbarians like Huns, Gokturks, Avars, Khazars ect Southern Europe and East Europe were also ruled by the Middle eastern Ottoman for like 600 years because they were militarily weak compared to west Europe. West Europe had Roman civilization too and West Europe changed the world and made the world what it is today that's the difference between West and East Europeans.


    --------------------------------------------------

    This is a response to Sarmatian
    There is a huge difference between being conquered and being subjected to tribute payments. Rus states has never been conquered and Novgorod has never seen a single Mongol in its lands.
    East Europe and Southern Europe were CONQUERED, I know some East Europeans want to deny this fact but it's a fact even by your own East European historian as well as evident records. When BBC made a documentary they too say East Europe under the rule of Mongol. You're right that there is a difference between conquered and being subjected to tribute.

    Light Gray = countries under Mongol rule: Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Moldova, Crimea.

    Dark Gray = countries vassals and tribute to Mongols: Poland, Hungary, Estonia, Belarus




    Even the Russian newspaper themselves will say Mongols ruled Russia for 300 years "Mongols traveled through Asia and Russia and afterwards invaded Europe in XII century. They ruled Russia for nearly 300 years. "

    http://english.pravda.ru/health/31-0...-alcoholism-0/


    And no Eastern European territory was ever ruled by Ottomans
    Is this really a fact? why do I see Hungary, Romania, Ukraine under Ottoman rule?

    Last edited by ButlerKing; 11-21-2012 at 08:50 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by ButlerKing View Post
    Be careful when you say European achievements.
    IT IS WEST EUROPEAN ACHIEVEMENTS
    East Europeans have their own achievements.

    West Europe historically was never conquered by non-Whites but East Europe had been historically conquered for over thousand years by Mongols and half mongoloid Turkic barbarians like Huns, Gokturks, Avars, Khazars ect Southern Europe and East Europe were also ruled by the Middle eastern Ottoman for like 600 years because they were militarily weak compared to west Europe. West Europe had Roman civilization too and West Europe changed the world and made the world what it is today that's the difference between West and East Europeans.
    To a large degree you're right, most of truly modern developments were limited to England, Scotland, Germany, Holland, France, Italy and Belgium. There were Eastern Europeans like Tesla that were hugely important too also I don't think Western Europe would have acheived the same level of success and stability if it wasn't for the contributions from Ancient Greece and Rome (and Judea and the ancient Near East) and also Eastern Europeans keeping Western Europe safe from invasion eg Fighting the Turks. Russia and it's satellites helped defeat fascism and invent things such as the satellite so I guess it depends on which era you're talking about. I would say the important era for modernity was post-French revolution and mainly happened in the UK but may not have happened if it weren't for the printing press invented by a German of Jewish origin, Gutenberg, and also Eastern Europeans fighting off Asiatic and Muslim hordes and stoppng them from destroying Central and Western Europe. I'd say it was a group effort.
    Spoiler!

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    You don't simply invent industrial revolution. It's a phenomenon that takes place because of many factors. Mass production requires a scalar mind. The core of the industrial revolution is methinks profit/gain. Surely a massive movement such as Christianity played an important role, since all people succeeded to think alike.

    Would the Grecoroman world have been able to achieve this scale a millennium before? No, because of the invasions and abrupt geopolitical changes. You need time and safety to take up science, to observe.

    Now if only Alexander...

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    Quote Originally Posted by ButlerKing View Post
    Be careful when you say European achievements.
    IT IS WEST EUROPEAN ACHIEVEMENTS
    East Europeans have their own achievements.

    West Europe historically was never conquered by non-Whites but East Europe had been historically conquered for over thousand years by Mongols and half mongoloid Turkic barbarians like Huns, Gokturks, Avars, Khazars ect Southern Europe and East Europe were also ruled by the Middle eastern Ottoman for like 600 years because they were militarily weak compared to west Europe. West Europe had Roman civilization too and West Europe changed the world and made the world what it is today that's the difference between West and East Europeans.

    There is a huge difference between being conquered and being subjected to tribute payments. Rus states has never been conquered and Novgorod has never seen a single Mongol in its lands.

    And no Eastern European territory was ever ruled by Ottomans. Crimean Khanate was Ottman's satellite state but was fully autonomous. Lands North of Black sea were subjected to regular raids for pillage and slave capture but were never ruled by Ottomans.

    PS Horse was domesticated by Eastern Europeans and everything related to horseriding and use of horses was invented by Eastern Europeans. Scythians and Sarmatians were using fully developed metal stirrups at the times when Romans and Greeks were riding horses without even saddles.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Anglojew View Post
    the printing press invented by a German of Jewish origin, Gutenberg
    Are you mad? It is well-known and documented that the family of Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg never had anything Hebraic.

    Yes, the Arabs had a very limited contribution to European technical civilisation. But the Jews never had any.

    On the contrary, the presence of excessive Jewish communities in Eastern Europe, North Africa and the Turkish Empire, and the privileges they enjoyed there, kept those regions in a state of abject poverty and under-development, since Jewish usurers and thieves sterilized any possible primitive accumulation of capital and hence any economic development.

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