LECTURE 3

• Mesoamerica includes the entire area of Central America from Southern Mexico up to the border of South America
• The Mesoamerican region is rich in culture and knowledge prior to the arrival of its European colonizers
• The Mayan Civilization lasted for approximately 2,000 years
• Mayan Contributions


  1. Incorporated advanced understanding of astronomy into their temples and other religious structures

  2. Had knowledge of predicting eclipses and using astronomical cycles in planting and harvesting

  3. Used two complicated calendar systems

  4. Built hydraulics systems with sophisticated waterways

  5. Built looms for weaving cloth and devised a rainbow of glitter paint made from mica

  6. Used a writing system known as the Mayan hieroglyphics

  7. Skilled in mathematics and created a number system based on the numeral 20

  8. Developed the concept of zero and positional value before the Romans
• Inca Contributions


  1. Built roads paved with stones

  2. Built stone buildings that could withstand earthquakes

  3. Developed an irrigation system and technique for storing water

  4. Created a calendar with 12 months

  5. Built the first suspension bridge

  6. Used Quipo, a system of knotted ropes for record-keeping
• Aztec Contributions


  1. Mandated education for children regardless of social class, gender, or age

  2. Developed chocolate as a currency

  3. Used antispasmodic medication for muscle relaxation

  4. Implemented Chinampa, a form of agricultural farming

  5. Created the Aztec calendar

  6. Invented the canoe for water travel
• Asia is the biggest continent
• Aztec calendar enabled them to plan their activities, rituals, and planting season
• Invention of the canoe


  A light narrow boat used for traveling in the water system
• India is a huge peninsula surrounded by vast bodies of water and fortified by huge mountains in its northern borders. The Indians creatively developed various ideas and technologies useful in their everyday lives
• Contributions of India

  • Manufacturing iron and metallurgical works
  • Famous in medicine with Ayurveda
  • Development of theories about the universe, the spherical self-supporting Earth, and the year of 360 days with 12 equal parts of 30 days each
  • Earliest traces of mathematical knowledge in the Indian subcontinent appeared in the Indus Valley Civilization
  • Aryabhata introduced trigonometric functions, tables, techniques, and algorithms of algebra
• China is one of the ancient civilizations with substantial contributions in many areas of life like medicine, astronomy, science, mathematics, arts, philosophy, and music, among others. Chinese Civilizations have greatly influenced many of its neighboring countries like Korea, Japan, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, and other countries that belong to the old Silk Road
• Contributions of China

  • Discovered various medical properties and uses of different plants and animals to cure human illness
  • Famous discoveries and inventions including compass, paper making, gunpowder, printing tools, iron plough, wheelbarrow, propeller, bridges, seismological detector, dry dock facility
  • Made significant records of supernovas, lunar and solar eclipses, and comets
  • Known in seismology
• Middle East Civilizations are dominantly occupied by Muslims. With the spread of Islam in the 7th and 8th centuries, a period of Muslim scholarship or what is called the Golden Age of Islam lasted until the 13th century. The common language of Arabic, access to Greek texts from the Byzantine Empire, and their proximity to India were contributory to intellectualization of the Muslims and provided their scholars knowledge to create innovations and develop new ideas. But contrary to the Greeks, Muslim scientists placed greater value on science experiments rather than plain thought experiments