I don't recall if I posted episode 4 of James Burke's connections earlier on this blog; but, I found this below recently which is similar to some neat stuff shown by James Burke above.
James Burke, above, points out how during the Renaissance(and really five hundred years earlier with the translations in Arab Spain of Greek classics of mathematics and science; but, due to a black plague, Europe had to go through a second Renaissance . . . the one everyone knows about around 1500; this second Renaissance was also due to the fall of the Byzantine empire[finally] around 1490; the fall of the Byzantine empire around that time also led to the great ocean voyages which led to the discovery of the Americas), Greek classics were getting translated, printed in abundance; one of those was a book about powered mechanical devices(by both water and steam power!) by a Hero of Alexandria(where else?). Europeans made water powered gardens(Arabs had done so before them) with great architecture and sculptures.
I don't know if anybody explored James burke's connections thouroughly enough before to find the German Castle of water powered fun pointed out by James Burke before; so, i provide a close link(you'll have to watch it for a few minutes); but, i found this Pirro Ligorio who put this one up in Rome; John Romer points out some more curiosities of Pirro Ligorro as well! Because I found this like yesterday, I decided to post it and point out the Jame burke stuff as well!
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John Romer's "Seven Wonders" looks like something I'd like to see. I suppose I could buy the vhs tapes; but, I'd prefer to wait for it on dvd.
Anyways, the fact that people considered the seven wonders back in the Greek times is almost as striking as noting that say the cave painters didn't seem to be to concerned with the stars. The word mathematics was also first coined by the Greeks. The Greeks even then considered architectural things to be the great accomplishments of mankind - not mathematics. I'm sure the mathematicians might have raised an arm in protest; but, it doesn't look they had much say. Even today, the history channel shows the history of the great architectures of the past more than anything else(other than waring). They also don't have many shows about the Mesopotamian cultures; perhaps this is because they do not do the history of mathematics, or consider the great mathematical wonders of the past? I think so.
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