ANCIENT, MIDDLE AND MODERN AGES

STS 101
 INTRODUCTION

◦A number of technological innovations begun at the rise of intelligent human beings. As they
continue to advance and encounter problems down their path, they began inventing solutions to
make their life easier. They are responsible for how our world has changed and evolved throughout
the years; they are responsible for our civilization; they are responsible for how people live and the
known structure of our society.
◦Our five senses are vital for early humans to find their bearing and understand how things work
around them. The Egyptians were the pioneers that have explained the existence of our universe.
The earliest civilization known to recorded history started with the Egyptians and Sumerians five
millenniums ago. Have you wondered how these early civilizations pushed beyond their known
realities and explored the possibility of a universe, a concept that is alien to them? Here we shall
embark on a journey through time as we discuss the STS of the ancient, middle, and modern ages.
 OBJECTIVES

◦ After studying this module, you should be able to:

1. Describe the development of Science and Technology during Ancient, Middle, Modern Ages;
2. Identify inventions and discoveries that changed the world over the course of history.
 Ancient Times
Sumerian Civilization

◦Sumeria, found on the southernmost tip of the ancient Mesopotamia, 3500 BCE, is a great city with a
civilization known as Sumer. The concept of inventing the wheel came during 3500 B.C. the Sumerian
people are perplexed about the limitations on just how much weight humans can carry over land. The idea
came about to connect a non-moving platform to a rolling cylinder—the sail and plow, which improved trade
and farming.
◦The Sumerians introduced the 360-day calendar, and they devised the Sexagesimal number system, it is a
number system through which counting is in units and intervals of sixty (60). This has become the basis for
graduating the circumference of a circle to 360 degrees and the sixty-minute equal graduations to an hour
duration in time.
◦Sumerians developed the first writing system known as cuneiform. It utilizes word pictures and triangular
symbols that are carved on clay using wedge instruments and then left to dry. This was used to keep
records of things with great historical value or their everyday life.
 Babylonian Civilization

◦ Babylonian civilization emerged from about 3,500 until 500 BC. They were located on
the border of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in Iraq. The Babylonians dig canals and developed
earthen dikes to irrigate their crops and provide water to their livestock. They innovate upon the
Sumerian sexagesimal system. Astronomers of Babylon compiled lists of planets and stars
which somewhat accurately pictured the positions of the celestial bodies of our solar system in
terms of 12 equally-spaced signs, each one associated with a zodiacal constellation.
 Egyptian Civilization

◦ Ancient Egypt began between 5,000-3,100BC and is found in the northeast area of
continental Africa. The River Nile has sustained the Egyptians with the necessary water
requirements to support agricultural activities. Egyptians produced a variety of earthenware and
pottery items. They also worked on metals to produce tools, weapons, and agricultural
implements. They constructed dwellings made of reeds and air-dried mud bricks. They built the
famous pyramids, and they devised a 365-day calendar. This solar calendar has 365-day per
cycle. The year is made up of three seasons that have a hundred and twenty days each; this
includes an intercalary month consisting of epagomenal days of five; this is treated separately
from the year proper. Another contribution is the papyrus. They were able to process the
Papyrus plant in order to produce thin sheets on which one could write down things. Egyptians
developed a system of writing using symbols, known as hieroglyphs.
 Greek Civilization

◦This civilization shaped the modern intellectual world we know today. It emerged at
around 1,100 BC; the Greek civilization focused on scientific works of great Greek
philosophers in the likes of Socrates, Thales, Hippocrates, Archimedes, Aristotle,
Archimedes, and Ptolemy. Their contributions became the foundation and pillars of
western ideals and civilization.
◦The alarm clock was invented by the ancient Greeks. They made use of water that
dropped into drums, which sounded the alarm. Another contribution of Greek civilization
is windmills, which were used in agricultural processing like milling of grains.
◦ Roman Civilization

◦ Roman's great contribution is the Gazette, the first newspaper which contains announcements of the Roman Empire to the
people. These were engraved in metal or stone tablets and then publicly displayed. Record-keeping was easier when the paper
was invented; the Roman Empire was able to produce the first book or codex, which was composed of papyrus pages bound
together with an animal skin as its cover.

◦ The Romans devised their own number system specifically to address the need for a standard counting method that would
meet their increasing communication and trade concerns.
 The Chinese Civilization

The oldest civilization in Asia is Chinese civilization. Silk is one of the things that connect Far East
China to the world. Another was the use of acupuncture, which uses needles in which Chinese doctors used this to
treat diseases. Tea, which is made of crushed dried tea leaves, was developed, and the first tea was drunk by a
Chinese emperor.

◦ Gun powder was developed by Chinese alchemists. It is made up of charcoal, sulfur, and potassium
nitrate, which can generate large amounts of heat and gas in an instant.

◦ China is also famous for its largest and most extensive infrastructure, the great wall of china. It is
made of stone, brick, wood, earth, and other materials.
 Medieval/ Middle Ages

◦ There’s a point in time between ancient times and the modern times that we live in today. This
time period is reflected to be one of the most creative times in mankind’s history. It is believed
that it’s here that sparked the beginning of the first industrial revolution.
◦Johan Gutenberg was able to invent the first
printing press which is a more reliable way of
printing using a cast type. He utilized wooden
machines that extracted juices from fruits,
attached to them a metal impression of the
letters, and pressed firmly the cast metal into a
piece of paper, which then made an exact
impression on paper.
◦The printing press was invented to address the
need for publishing books that would spread
information to many people at a faster rate.
◦ Guided by the principles used for the
invention of eyeglasses in earlier years,
the compound microscope was developed
by Zacharias Janssen. The microscope
was key in discovering new means in
preventing and curing various illnesses. It
is a device that magnify things invisible to
the naked eye.
◦ Galileo Galilei improved the telescope. He
used that telescope to discovered new
celestial bodies such as four of the moons
circling Jupiter, to study Saturn, the
observation of the phases of Venus, and
the study sunspots on the Sun and found
support for a heliocentric solar system,
Copernicus’ theory.
 Modern Times

◦ The rise of the modern industry was

witnessed in the 19th century. The effects
of scientific and technological
developments are evident in the areas of
communication, transportation, and
electricity. Food processing and medicine
posed some of the bigger challenges
since health was of great concern.
◦ A French Biologist, Microbiologist, and
Chemist by the name of Louis Pasteur
found a way to solve the problem of food
deterioration for dairy products due to
spoiling. These goods need to be
consumed immediately after production,
or they would cause illnesses like
diphtheria, food poisoning, and typhoid
fever. The answer is pasteurization,
wherein it is a process of heating dairy
products to kill the harmful bacteria that
cause them to spoil faster.
◦ Alexander Graham Bell was the first to be
awarded a patent for the electric
telephone in 1876. Though several
inventors did pioneering work on
electronic voice transmission, the
invention quickly took off and
revolutionized global business and
communication.
◦ In 1928, the Scottish scientist Alexander ◦ In 1928, the Scottish scientist Alexander
Fleming noticed a bacteria-filled Petri dish in Fleming noticed a bacteria-filled Petri dish in
his laboratory, the sample had become his laboratory, the sample had become
contaminated with mold, and everywhere the contaminated with mold, and everywhere the
mold was, the bacteria were dead. That mold was, the bacteria were dead. That
antibiotic mold turned out to be the fungus antibiotic mold turned out to be the fungus
Penicillium, and over the next two decades, Penicillium, and over the next two decades,
chemists purified it and developed the drug chemists purified it and developed the drug
Penicillin, which fights a huge number of Penicillin, which fights a huge number of
bacterial infections in humans without bacterial infections in humans without
harming the humans themselves. Penicillin harming the humans themselves. Penicillin
was being mass-produced and advertised in was being mass-produced and advertised in
1944. 1944.
◦ Samuel M. Kier was able to invent
kerosene by refining petroleum.
Illuminating oil was the other name of
kerosene because it was used to provide
lighting to homes and later was applied for
heating purposes.
 Lesson 2 : Activity
◦ Answer in google form.
◦ Make a timeline of the Invention / Technology mentioned in this module.