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‘Craftsmen had their own kind of knowledge that didn’t have to be based on theory,’ explains Mark Schiefsky, professor of the classics in FAS. Staff photo Rose Lincoln/Harvard News Office |
Ancient practice sans theoryMove over, Archimedes. A researcher at Harvard University is finding that ancient Greek craftsmen were able to engineer sophisticated machines without necessarily understanding the mathematical theory behind their construction.Recent analysis of technical treatises and literary sources dating back to the fifth century B.C. reveals that technology flourished among practitioners with limited theoretical knowledge. “Craftsmen had their own kind of knowledge that didn’t have to be based on theory,” explains Mark Schiefsky, professor of the classics in Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences. |
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