Pre-colonial Science and Technology in the Third

WorldSusantha Goonatilake

• Every human grouping constructs its own map of physical reality, which it often tests against the actual, perceived reality, specially when this is important for day-to-day physical survival.

• These conceptual maps present interpretations of events far removed from everyday experience and the immediately controllable world of early man.

• These conceptual, myth-like constructs covered uncontrollable events

• (Goonatilake, S.) Science: the search for explanations of physical reality– In the case of the physical sciences,

explanations of the reality which is ‘out there’, manipulable by hand or by instruments, and separate from the mind.

• A formalized search for physical knowledge, as well as a search for knowledge in general, has occurred in West, South and East Asia from very early times.

South asian Knowledge, Science and Technology

• In South Asia, as in other civilizations, codified, formal, physical knowledge preceded the Indus riverine civilizations.

• Living before the emergence of cities in the sub-continent, had access to a vast array of valid knowledge about nature.

• Study of the development of formalized systems of knowledge from the city culture period onwards, i.e. from the period of the Indus civilization.

• Existing archaeological remains provide enough evidence to reconstruct the major outlines of the socio-economic context of this culture as well as its scientific and technological achievements.

Indus Civilization

Indus Economy• Agriculture

– built irrigation systems, canals and dikes to control flooding of the Indus River

– products: wheat and barley, melon, banana and cotton

• The architecture of the city was well developed, with buildings laid out systematically and a surprisingly modern drainage system.

Indus Civilization Technology

• Based on bronze and, to a certain extent, stone tools– knife, saw, sickle, chisel, celt, razor,

pin, tweezers and fish hook.– bronze spear, arrowhead and short

sword

Two major cities

have almost identical layouts, which hardly changed until the end of the

civilization

2 main areas:– Citadel (the elevated fortress of

the city)– Lower city proper

1) Citadel- protected by walls 40 feet wide at the

base and 35 feet high.- several large buildings and structures

on the Citadel mound suggest that this area may have been used for public gatherings, religious activities or important administrative activities

- large granary for grains, a marketplace and public bath

2) City Proper- lower in elevation where the house are the same and built against the street.- has streets in a grid-pattern arrangement and with residential blocks of almost the same size- houses are made of baked bricks and have one or more baths which is connected to the city’s underground plumbing system

ROADS

WELLS

PUBLIC BATHS

• The uniformity of construction and the controlled size of bricks in the buildings point to an awareness of weights and measures.

• Studies of the meteorology of the civilization indicate decimal divisions of length (Winter, 1975), which also suggest an ability to perform the simple arithmetical calculations necessary for the maintenance of the extensive commercial links of the area.

• Whatever buildings have been excavated seem to have been made of brick which indicates that brick-laying must also have been an important occupation. Besides the above, people of the Indus Valley Civilization must also have followed the occupations of seal-making, goldsmiths, pottery, bead-making etc.

Wheel-turned pottery with a standardized

size also indicates an ability to

manufacture according to specification

RELIGION • animism and polytheism• animal and human-shaped statues

were found (e.g. bull)• they worshiped a fertility goddess

from whom all things sprung forth• the presence of a horned, three-faced

figure on several seals is reminiscent of the conception of Siva in the form of the Lord of Animals, Pasupati.

Vedic Period• Represented the next phase of the

South Asian cultural and intellectual search; there is more evidence of it in the form of literature.

• Coincides with the arrival of essentially nomadic barbarian tribes, the Aryans, who had access to the horse and chariot and a surprising facility with their language.

Vedas – collection of hymns

and prayers made by the Aryan priests so they can recite it at religious events.

– provide detailed insights into the scientific knowledge of the era, scientific knowledge which covered, among other areas, astronomy, mathematics and botany.

• Astronomy– Rig-Vedic astronomy laid emphasis

on observations of the moon and the nakshatra system, based on the lunar months, contrasted with the Babylonian zodiac which was solar.

– the priests associated with the Vedic culture were required to perform sacrifices at auspicious times and therefore had to develop calendars.

Mahayuga-- described a cosmic cycle with a period of 12,000 divine years equivalent to 360 solar years, that is 4,320,000 years. -- it was said that on this great cycle, the cosmos turned itself.

• Mathematics– knowledge of numbers up to 1012– basic arithmetical operations were

also known, including those of addition, subtraction and multiplication, as well as some fractions

– practical geometry was used, and the Pythagoras theorem in a practical form was known

– meruprastara• a pyramidal expansion of the

number of combinations of one, two, etc. syllables formed of short and long sounds

• The civilization also had a knowledge of medicines which was later to be developed into the more systematic Ayurveda.

• This latter knowledge encompassed careful observation of the physical body and it behavior.

• It also constituted knowledge of the practical workings of the voluntary and involuntary muscular system learnt through yoga-type practices.

• Botany– a systematic knowledge of plants

and animals existed along with a developed system of classification

– the Vedic farmers were aware of the possibility of improving the fertility of the soil by rotation of crops.

• By the time of the early Upanishads, an explanatory system which attempted a holistic description of nature appeared in the form of the pancha bhutas– Five elements:

• prthvi - earth• ap – water• tejas – heat• vayu – air• akasa - emptiness

• Systems of atomism were known in several philosophical schools, and causality and systems of logic were also developed.

• Panini – was a Sanskrit grammarian who

gave a comprehensive and scientific theory of phonetics, phonology and morphology

– he used the concept of zero

• Ayurveda– it was a thoroughgoing scientific

discipline with a realistic approach to nature.

– Ayurvedic system was holistic, disease being explained as owing to imbalances in various attributes.

Four central concepts underlying Ayurveda•the disease•the cause of the disease•the manner of removing the disease•the introduction of health

• The doctrine of pancha bhutas is cited in order to describe the manner in which food is digested and absorbed into the body.

• There were theories of bone therapy and treatment of the nervous system.

• An effective smallpox vaccinations also existed.

• The ancient Indian pharmacopoeia was very substantial and consisted of products of animal, vegetable and mineral origin.

• Of the large variety of drugs used, mention should be made of the oil of the chaulmugra tree, a specific treatment for leprosy which is still the basis for its treatment today.

Ayurveda

• Surgery – incision– excision– scarificatio

n– puncturing– exploration– extraction– evacuation– suturing

• The instruments used in surgery by the early centuries of the Christian era included 101 varieties of blunt instrument and 20 kinds of sharp instrument

• Practical training in surgery was obtained by practice on the skins of deer, goats or sheep, puncturing distended bags, dead cattle, meat, lotus plants and Jack fruits

• Chemicals now began to be used in medicine, in addition to herbs, which gave an impetus to the development of proto-chemistry.

• The Atharvaveda (8th century BC) describes the use of gold to preserve life, while Buddhist text from the 2nd to the 5th century AD discuss the transmutation of base metal to gold by the use of vegetable juices and mineral water.

Post-Vedic Period• Technology:

– glass manufacture– high-level pottery manufacture– use of iron– development of irrigation schemes

• Many different branches of science emerged and became codified in scientific and technical texts.

• Aryabhata I developed a theory of the roration of the earth and epicycles while Brahmagupta refuted Aryabhata’s theories on the rotation of the earth. Bhaskara II further developed theories about the evolution of planets by epicyclic-eccentric motions

• Classification of plants and animals was attempted, with detailed descriptions of plant and animal life.– whether sexual or asexual

• Agricultural practices were well developed, and texts devoted to agriculture and horticulture became standard works.

• 4th century – routine surgical operations on animals

• Science developed so continuously that Said al-Andalusi, one of the prominent Arab commentators and historians of science of the 11th Century, called South Asia the leading centre of contemporary science in the world.