Mythology & Technology

Most of the ancient myths are connected with the great cuktural revolutions and with their embedded technical innovations. Technology is part of the mankind evolution and without it we were not here.

A Web site for Greek Mythology.



Prometheus: the fire discovery
Oedipus and Jocastas of Thebes: the incest taboo
Pasiphae and Minotauros: genetics and technology
Heracles: the ecology challenges
Phaeton: the chariot of the Sun
Icarus: the flight adventure
Dedalus: engineering and architecture
Demeter and Persephone: husbandry innovations
Atalanta and Hyppomenes: the technology illusions
Romulus and Remus: the foundation of the town
Theseus and Ariadne: the intelligent discoveries
Ulysses and the Trojan Horse: technology as stratagem

James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, 1890-1915.

Chinese words #5
Mythology = 神话 (shénhuà)
神 (shén) = supernatural
话 (huà) = words

Literature Classics

The Literature Classics
http://classics.mit.edu/Browse/index.html

Free E-Books by Planet PDF
http://www.planetpdf.com/free_pdf_ebooks.asp

Planet E-Books
http://www.planetebook.com/

The Odyssey by Homer
http://classics.mit.edu/Homer/odyssey.html
http://www.planetpdf.com/free_pdf_ebooks.asp

The Iliad by Homer
http://classics.mit.edu/Homer/iliad.html
http://www.planetpdf.com/planetpdf/pdfs/free_ebooks/The_Iliad_NT.pdf

The Aeneid by Vergil
http://classics.mit.edu/Virgil/aeneid.html

The Analects by Confucius
http://classics.mit.edu/Confucius/analects.html

The Doctrine of the Mean by Confucius
http://classics.mit.edu/Confucius/doctmean.html

The Tao-te Ching by Lao-Tzu
http://classics.mit.edu/Lao/taote.1.1.html

The Fables by Aesop
http://www.planetpdf.com/planetpdf/pdfs/free_ebooks/Aesops_Fables_NT.pdf

Utopia by Thomas More
http://www.planetpdf.com/planetpdf/pdfs/free_ebooks/Utopia_NT.pdf

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
http://www.planetpdf.com/planetpdf/pdfs/free_ebooks/Alices_Adventures_in_Wonderland_NT.pdf

Moby Dick by Herman Melville
http://www.planetpdf.com/planetpdf/pdfs/free_ebooks/Moby_Dick_NT.pdf

Ulysses by James Joyce
http://www.planetpdf.com/planetpdf/pdfs/free_ebooks/Ulysses_NT.pdf

Ingenium - Engien - Engine

Machina is an artifact that operates against the nature. It is the Latin translation of the ancient Greek word mêchanê.
"Deus ex machina" is a device that - in Greek theatre - allows the Gods to enter on the scene of the human life.
Machina in Ancient World assumes a negative value (as the war machines, as the Trojan Horse).

Only in more modern times the word machine (macchina, in Italian) assumed a neutral value, as a synonim of engine.

Ingenium is the useful invention of a device that helps performing some action.
Engien is the ancient French word that translated this concept in the Middle Age, hence the English engine.

Engineer (and the Italian word ingegnere) come from the Latin word ingenium.

Silkworms

The Life cycle of a silkworm.

Chinese words# 4:
Silk = 丝绸 (sīchóu)
Thread = 丝 (sī)

The Secret Life of Machines

The Vacuum Cleaner on YouTube:

Part one
Part two

The History of Vacuum Cleaners.

Chinese words # 3:
Vacuum cleaner = 吸尘器 (Xīchénqì) i.e. "absorb dust device"

To do

In Ancient Greek the verb "poiéin" (to do) had a more precise meaning: molding clay.

Poiéin is the creative action of God who create the mankind from the mud. Poiéin is the act of giving a shape to the formless matter.

Poiéin is the root for pòiesis, that origins "poetry", "poem" etc. that are artifacts of a creative activity.

The Latin word ars is the translation of the Greek techné: art, technique (and technology) have the same basic meaning, dealing with the production of things.

Chinese words # 2:
to do = 做 (zuò)

History & Matter

Memory is the condition for Consciousness.

History is a narrative activity grounded on Documents that concern with the Memory of some past activity.

Document is a Written Matter (Writing) framed in space and time.

Writing is a system of Signs or Symbols with a defined meaning, organized on a Material support.