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Medieval Optics | 41 comments (41 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Romans. Didn't they invent concrete? First use of the spherical dome? Lovely aqueducts. Good artists (the house of the mysteries in Pompeii). Fantastic roads.
Romans were builders.

by bil on Tue Jun 26th, 2007 at 09:55:04 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Addenda (4.00 / 3)

I agree, the Romans were good builders ; but that's most of it. As for the artists, the thing is, Pompeii has almost all of what's left of Antiquity paintings ; we have nothing left from Greece, which was quite great as the history books tell us. But we're left "admiring" second rate pulp artistry on vases.

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères

by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Tue Jun 26th, 2007 at 10:22:03 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Addenda (4.00 / 2)

As I understand it, the romans applied previously known techniques, so they were developers but not inventors.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concrete#History

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vault_(architecture)#Dome

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

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road#History

(Hey, you got me thinking...)

Don't fight forces, use them R. Buckminster Fuller.

by rg (leopold dot lepster at google mail dot com) on Tue Jun 26th, 2007 at 11:15:47 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Medieval Optics | 41 comments (41 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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