Part 2 - Middle Ages

• Middle Ages

  • many history books call this time the "Dark Ages"
  • the church was the overwhelming power in the West & most educated people were the clergy
  • a lot of inventions sprouted from Chinese culture
• Highlights of Discoveries & Inventions

  1. Paper Money as Currency
  2. Movable Type Printing Press
  3. Magnetic Compass
  4. Buttons for Clothing
  5. Numbering System
  6. Gun
  7. Eyeglasses
  8. Mechanical Clock
  9. Windmills
  10. Modern Glassmaking
  11. First Sawmill for Shipmaking
• Paper Money as Currency - in 1023, the first gov't-issued paper money was printed in China
• Movable Type Printing Press - was first created by Bi Sheng, who used baked clay, which was very fragile
• Magnetic Compass - was first invented as a device for divination as early as the Chinese Han Dynasty & Tang Dynasty
• Buttons for Clothing

  • made from a curved shell
  • the first buttons were used as ornamental embellishments to a person's attire & signified wealth/status
• Numbering System

  • Leonardo Fibonacci introduced the Hindu-Arabic also known as "The Book of Calculation"
• Gun

  • Chinese invented black powder during the 9th century
  • for usage as a signaling & celebration device & remained as such for hundreds of years
• Eyeglasses

  • created by Salvino D' Armati in Italy during 13th Century
  • the invention of two convex lenses placed in wooden setting, with a shaft held together with a rivet.
  • the wearer held it to his face to improve his vision
• Mechanical Clock - Pope Sylvester II built a clock for a German town in 996 and it is considered one of the oldest clock
• Windmills

  • earliest recorded found by archeologists in 1219 in China
  • were used to power grain mills & water pumps
• Modern Glassmaking

  • formed into cylinders & then cut while still hot, after which the sheets were flattened
  • making sheet glass by blowing spheres
• First Sawmill for Shipmaking - was developed to form lumber to build ships, in 1328.