From Dailyhistory.org: Even though there was no one “first discover” of oil. Oil was known in antiquity when it was used to heal wounds. But by the middle of the 19th-century methods for collecting oil from the ground had not… Read More ›
History of Science and Technology
How a $10 Billion Experimental City Nearly Got Built in Rural Minnesota
From Smithsonian.com by Lorraine Boissoneault: The future had arrived, and it looked nothing like what city planners expected. It was the early 1960s, and despite economic prosperity, American urban centers were plagued by pollution, poverty, the violence of segregation and… Read More ›
How Did Firefighting Develop?
Firefighting began to be a focus only with the rise of very large cities such as Rome. Earlier cities, such as those in Mesopotamia or the Indus, likely developed ad hoc firefighting departments and respondent to events. As with other… Read More ›
How has the Role of Horses Changed in Human Societies?
Most studies suggest that domestication of the horse took place along the Eurasian steppe. However, it is not clear where exactly and most likely there were several independent domestication attempts. Interestingly, wild horses before domestication show a wide range of… Read More ›
How Did Gold Become Desired by Ancient Civilizations?
Gold is first known to have been acquired by ancient human societies in the 4th millennium BC, a time when copper and metals were beginning to be utilized more frequently. The use of gold expanded during this period because pyro-technologies… Read More ›
Engineering Victory during the Civil War: Interview with Thomas F. Army, Jr.
Logistics win wars. Logistics is the coordination of complex operations such as moving, housing and supplying troops and their equipment. War is the ultimate test of any logistician. During the Civil War, the Union troops fought almost the entire war… Read More ›
What was the evolution of water technologies like?
The history of water use and technologies to bring water to human societies is long, particularly in some of the world’s most arid regions where human settled societies first began. Technologies of water also evolved as other technologies developed and… Read More ›