Ancient Greeks Constructed Sophisticated Machines Well Before They Understood the Math

A recent analysis done by Harvard University researcher Mark Schiefsky shows that ancient Greek craftsmen were able to build sophisticated machines well before they completely understood the mathematical principles that governed the devices.

Mark Schiefsky, professor of the classics in Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences worked under Jürgen Renn, Director of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin to analyze data showing the use of technology in ancient Greek civilization prior to the Hellenistic period. Through analyzing technical treaties and literature, Schiefsky demonstrated that craftsmen were building advanced machines as far back as the fourth and fifth centuries B.C.

This means that Greek craftsmen were building the machines like the steelyard even without Archimedes or other thinkers of the Hellenistic era to explain the mathematical theory behind the mechanics. The steelyard is a balance with unequal arms used to weigh mass based on the proportionate distance between weight, counterweight, and fulcrum. Previously, scholars assumed that Archimedes was the first to use a steelyard because he was the first to demonstrate the mathematical theory behind device and the principles behind the lever.

Schiefsky's analysis demonstrated that craftsmen found their own ways for creating and adjusting the scale through trial-and-error and learned how to improve their machines over time.

Schiefsky explains that understanding what craftsmen accomplished through practical application rather than theory helps us to see how their work fits into other scientific developments in ancient Greek history. Much later, in the third century B.C., mathematical theory began being implemented to construct the catapult. Schiefsky states that the point at which they began using mathematical methods to construct the catapult is traceable through literature and data from archaeological excavations. The machines began being built and calibrated precisely.

Later, Alexandrian kings began research programs to refine the catapult. It is here that we see a direct interplay between the mathematical theory of the Hellenistic era and the practical know-how of the earlier craftsmen. They began constructing very powerful catapults through precise mathematics and through experimenting by using twisted animal sinews to increase the launching arm's power. The combination of the factors made the machine capable of hurling stones that weighed 50 pounds or more.

Shiefsky argues that "It is important to explore what craftsmen did and didn't know so we can better understand how their work fits into the arc of scientific development."

Emily Simon, "Even without math, ancients engineered sophisticated machines," Harvard University.