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J. G. Landels
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Engineering in the Ancient World, Revised Edition First Edition, With a revised preface, a new appendix, and a new bibliography

by J. G. Landels (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 63 ratings
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In his classic book, J. G. Landels describes the technological advances of the Greeks and Romans with erudition and enthusiasm. He provides an important introduction to engineering, writing about power and energy sources, water engineering, cranes, and transportation devises. From aqueducts to catapults, he attempts to envision machines as they may have worked in the ancient world. He then traces the path of knowledge taken by early thinkers―including Plato, Pliny, and Archimedes―in developing early theories of engineering and physics.
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Previous page
  1. ISBN-10
    0520227824
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0520227828
  3. Edition
    First Edition, With a revised preface, a new appendix, and a new bibliography
  4. Publisher
    University of California Press
  5. Publication date
    September 4, 2000
  6. Part of series
    History and Politics
  7. Language
    English
  8. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.8 x 8.25 inches
  9. Print length
    240 pages
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"[Landels] has given a new dimension to our appreciation of Greek and Roman civilization. We are accustomed to appreciate what Greek and Roman artists, writers, and philosophers accomplished. We have not really understood what they achieved as engineers."--"Classical Outlook"

About the Author

J. G. Landels, now retired, was a Senior Lecturer in Classics at Reading University. His work, in collaboration with the Engineering Department, involved making working replicas of ancient machines and testing them in the field.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of California Press; First Edition, With a revised preface, a new appendix, and a new bibliography (September 4, 2000)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0520227824
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0520227828
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 63 ratings

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J. G. Landels

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
63 global ratings
Engineering In the Ancient World 2000 Edition?
2 Stars
Engineering In the Ancient World 2000 Edition?
I received the much older 1978 edition twice with the old 1978 Front Cover, not the 2000 Edition with the 2000 Front Cover still used. Now I also see listed on amazon.de yet a 2000, 3rd cover 'New Edition', this time with an old sailing ship on its 2000 front cover instead of an old roman viaduct and changes made to its preface, bibliography, and index (no mention of an updated text). Covers shown here should match the front covers and content that one receives and not the older 1978 edition instead. Since it appears that the books basic text has not been updated, too much has changed since 1978 for this book to be considered as an up-to-date resource for those who wish to keep up with research occurring in the last 41 years.
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Top reviews from the United States

Dan of Escondido
5.0 out of 5 stars Quality as described!
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2024
Verified Purchase
Quality of book matched description online; very pleased. Quick delivery.
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Flexpicker
5.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly good
Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2012
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I ordered this book because I needed to understand the beginnings of technology better in order to understand its progress. I expected either a childish book or one of the typical books with many dates and misconceptions about technology that tend to be prevalent in books written by history professors. Professor Landels, however, has done a great job with the subject. Despite being a history professor, he shows a great understanding of the intricacies of engineering and has built some of the devices himself. In building the devices, he has gained great insight into the problems and solutions that ancient engineers faced, and it is this insight that I find particularly interesting. There are no equations, per se, but he does explain some of the physics involved. Additionally, there are a number of illustrations that make the book easy to read. Rather than many dates, he talks about the period in general. Rather than when, the main focus of the book is how. Analyses of text from Vitruvius show that Professor Landels is a very intelligent man. The book rarely gets tedious, though, with a new problem and solution being posed every few pages. Of the several books I have read of this nature (history of technology...see other reviews), this is one of the best.
24 people found this helpful
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Lord Ulrich
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting with just enough technical info
Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2010
Verified Purchase
This book brings to light the knowledge ancient engineers possessed. This book does get a bit technical, however I believe most people should be able to follow the basic mechanics discussed at least well enough to get the gist of the discussion. I think this is a great book to review engineering mechanics for those trained under a more modern school.

To provide some perspective I am a Civil Engineer, and I had to think back to my basic classes to completely comprehend some of the sections of this book. However not quite understanding most of those sections is not going prevent you from following the basic concept of this book.
9 people found this helpful
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Stomperdell
3.0 out of 5 stars Highly technical
Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2024
Verified Purchase
I wanted an update to the outstanding Henry Hodges 1992 book - Technology in the Ancient World. I will still have to give the nod to the latter book. This book gets bogged down in endless evaluations of various mechanisms and yet is strangely circumspect about the achievements of the ancient Roman engineers and doesn't even give them the credit for creating self-repairing concrete. I guess their many aqueducts and other structures have survived on luck? For a book that generalizes about technology in the ancient world, this book and the technical details make it difficult to read.
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Falco del Fiume
5.0 out of 5 stars Roman Engineering
Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2011
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Roman conquered the known ancient world as much with a shovel as with a sword. Everywhere the Romans went they brought the engineering techniques with them. EG: They knew to seperate sewage from drinking water. Fresh drinking palatable water was generally avaiable within a couple of blocks of every citizen of one of their cities. Sewage was carried away and dumped outside the city and away from sources of drinking/bathing water. This book details Roman engineering in an easely understood fashion. Cerainly not a waste of time and money if interested in these subjects: Engineering, Life during Roman times.
3 people found this helpful
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M. T. Sarantakos
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2020
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Fascinating info of enineering feats.
2 people found this helpful
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David Archambault
4.0 out of 5 stars Not just for the genius.
Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2017
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This book offered remarkable clarity on subjects that can easily require a specialized degree to understand. For reference, my degree was in computer science. The only background in engineering I have is one that can be acquired from Google and my local library.
I recommend this book to anyone with a desire to understand the technology of the Greeks and Romans and the curiosity to research what they don't understand.
3 people found this helpful
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P. D. Wolfgram
5.0 out of 5 stars Best if you read 'Vitruvius
Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2017
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Clearly written. Best if you read 'Vitruvius: The Ten Books on Architecture' first.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

paul tomlinson
5.0 out of 5 stars really interesting
Reviewed in Canada on August 16, 2020
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I've been looking for a book like this. Excellent. Love it.
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AK
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating insight into the history of technology
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 23, 2011
Verified Purchase
The book is an excellent and very concise guide to the technology / engineering state of the art in the ancient world and as such quite probably an essential reading for someone curious about either technology, or the ancients (or of course the combination of the two). On top of going into details of power (human, animal, wind, water, steam), water supply, crane technology, catapults, ships, land transportation, etc. the author also teaches the reader - through example - how to go about uncovering knowledge of the kind in an environment, where written sources are more often than not lacking.

The only disclaimer I feel needs to be added here, is that Landels presupposes some basic engineering knowledge, or at least a good grasp of high school physics, and some decent spatial awareness from the reader. He most certainly makes no concessions to readers without such knowledge, and apart from perhaps one or two wry statements per chapter, he also wields Occam's razor quite ruthlessly - there are no attempts at additional explanation, or summary.

This can be seen as a weakness, or as a feature - the book certanily conveys a wealth of information in not very many pages, and in essence provides enough of an explanation, of how the ancient world worked from an engineering point of view, to satisfy all but the most dedicated of students of the topic.

On top of that, I also find the book useful for teaching people how to go about unearthing information on a topic, which has few published sources. While he makes copious use of the published works on engineering from the era (Vitruvius and Hero being the most commonly cited ones), he shows the reader how everything from vase paintings, archeological remains, poetry, drama, tax records, etc. can be used to gain useful information on the subjects being examined - especially where an aspect would appear so 'matter of course' to a dweller of the times, so as to not warrant explanation.

All in all, an excellent book - but as said, if you are more used to modern day / style management literature, you might find it hard to follow.
6 people found this helpful
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PF VEREYCKEN
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 9, 2016
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For budding engineers
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