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Engineering · History of technology
Ancient Engineering
Haul a pyramid block, lock an arch with its keystone, lay an aqueduct on a gentle slope and turn the gears of the Antikythera mechanism.
Engineering · History of technology
Ancient Engineering
Haul a pyramid block, lock an arch with its keystone, lay an aqueduct on a gentle slope and turn the gears of the Antikythera mechanism.
The course
7 worlds · 28 lessons
World 1 · How Were the Pyramids Built?
FREEEvidence, friction, ramp ideas and the size of the job- 01What we actually know about GizaSeparating evidence from guesswork · 10 min
- 02Moving a stone: friction and wet sandHow big a team does one block need? · 11 min
- 03Ramps compared, and why it is still debatedFour ideas, one honest answer: we do not know · 11 min
- 04Counting the workTurning 2.3 million blocks into a schedule · 11 min
World 2 · The Roman Arch and the Keystone
PROWhy Romans built arches, how they raised them and what held them up- 01Why build an arch?Stone is strong when squeezed, weak when stretched · 10 minPRO
- 02Voussoirs, centering and the keystoneHow a Roman arch was raised, stone by stone · 11 minPRO
- 03Thrust and abutmentsAn arch pushes sideways, so the supports must push back · 11 minPRO
- 04Roman concrete and the Pantheon domeA recipe that made new shapes possible · 11 minPRO
World 3 · Aqueducts: Water Downhill for 50 km
PROSurveying, flow, bridges, siphons and a city's water supply
World 4 · Archimedes' Screw
PROA pump made of a spiral, from Syracuse to the sewage works
World 5 · The Antikythera Computer
PROA hand-cranked sky calculator made of bronze gears- 01A lump of bronze from a shipwreckHow a corroded fragment turned out to be a machine · 10 minPRO
- 02Gear trains and ratiosHow teeth set the speed · 11 minPRO
- 03Cycles of the sky: Metonic and SarosTwo repeating patterns the mechanism was built to follow · 11 minPRO
- 04The Moon's uneven pace, and what is still unknownPin-and-slot gears and an honest list of open questions · 11 minPRO
World 6 · Stonehenge and the Solstice
PROStones from far away, a sunrise alignment and the questions that remain- 01Building a stone circlePhases, stone sources and who did it · 11 minPRO
- 02The Sun's path and the solstice azimuthCalculating where the Sun rises · 11 minPRO
- 03An alignment, but for what?How to weigh several explanations · 11 minPRO
- 04Moving megalithsHow many people does a 25 tonne stone need? · 11 minPRO
World 7 · Cities Under the Earth, Temples Before Farming
PROTwo great sites of Anatolia, in central and south-eastern Turkey- 01Cities under CappadociaLiving and hiding in soft volcanic rock · 11 minPRO
- 02Air undergroundThe chimney effect and the problem of fresh air · 11 minPRO
- 03Gobekli Tepe: the first temple?A monument older than farming, and what we can say about it · 11 minPRO
- 04Carving stone without metalWhat stone tools can do · 10 minPRO