Chemistry
Roman metalworkers produce mercury from the ore cinnabar. See also 25 bce Materials.
CommunicationThe notebook, or codex, consisting of leaves of parchment sewn together on one side is in use in Rome. See also 868 ce Communication.
ConstructionAntipater of Sidon, probably using earlier Hellenic guidebooks, compiles the earliest known list of the Seven Wonders of the World (a slightly different list is given somewhat later by Philon of Byzantium). The list consists of the Pyramids of Egypt, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the giant statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Diana at Ephesus, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Lighthouse of Pharos. Of these, only the Pyramids of Egypt stand today. See also 224 bce Construction.
Roman engineers learn shortly after this date how to rotate the arch to produce a dome. They use this extensively thereafter in construction of public buildings. Sometimes this is modified to produce what amounts to a square dome, known as a cloister vault. See also 100 ce Construction. (See essay.)
Apartment houses in Rome, called insulae or "islands," commonly reach five stories. See also 200 bce Construction; 15 bce Construction.
EnergyThe Chinese use natural gas obtained by drilling in the ground. See also 400 bce Energy; 347 ce Energy.
MaterialsSmall, round glass skylights, the ancestors of windowpanes, are installed in houses of the later Roman Republic. See also 100 ce Materials.
The Romans discover that pozzolana, volcanic ash from Puteoli, near Naples, makes excellent concrete that will set and keep its integrity even under fresh or salt water. See also 200 bce Materials; 10 bce Construction.
Glass blowing is developed, probably somewhere in the Levant (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, or Israel), most likely by Phoenicians. See also 1370 bce Materials.
People of the culture known as Paracas Necropolis from their burial ground on the Paracas peninsula of Peru produce what many archaeologists believe to be the finest textiles ever made by humans, embroidering on cotton and on the wool of the llama and its relative the vicuña. See also 6000 bce Materials.
MathematicsTheodosius of Bithynia [b. Bythynia (Turkey), c. 160 bce, d. c. 90 bce] writes Sphaerics, a treatise on the geometry of the sphere, written as a supplement to Euclid's Elements.
It provides a mathematical basis for the crystal spheres of Greek astronomy. See also 300 bce Mathematics; 100 ce Mathematics.
ToolsRoller bearings from wood and bronze are used on the wheels of carts in what is now Denmark. See also 50 ce Transportation.
The Chinese invent the crank handle for turning wheels. See also 800 bce Tools; 50 ce Tools.
In Illyria (Yugoslavia and Albania) and probably in western Anatolia (Turkey), water-powered mills are used for grinding grain. These are horizontal turbines that only work on swiftly running streams. With no gears, the upper horizontal stone turns at the same speed as the turbine, while the lower one is stationary. See also 25 bce Energy.
TransportationThe Celts invent a swiveling pair of front wheels (sometimes called a bogie) to make steering easier on carts. See also 1100 bce Transportation; 1340 Transportation.
The earliest form of the horseshoe is introduced in Western Asia and Eastern Europe. See also 1835 ce Food & agriculture.
