Discusses the invention of six simple machines in various ancient civilizations from the Stone Age to the fall of the Roman Empire.

Examines the machines created by ancient cultures.

Traces the story of how ancient cultures envisioned artificial life, automata, self-moving devices and human enhancements, sharing insights into how the mythologies of the past related to and shaped ancient machine innovations.

Did you know . . . • Ancient people used bows to drill holes and start fires? • The ancient Chinese built a machine to detect earthquakes? •The ancient Romans operated a factory for milling grain? Machine technology is as old as human society itself. The first humans on Earth used basic machines. They used stone axes to butcher meat. They use levers to pry roots and rocks from the ground. Over the centuries, ancient peoples learned to make more complicated machines. People in the ancient Middle East devised wheels and pulleys. The ancient Chinese created wheelbarrows and bellows. The ancient Greeks built big war machines. What kinds of tools and techniques did ancient craftspeople use? Which methods worked and which didn’t? And how did ancient machines set the stage for our own modern machines? Learn more in Ancient Machine Technology.

South pointing chariots, walking machines and the astronomical mechanical clock are all used as illustrated examples in this fascinating and unique study of lost machinery in ancient China. This is the first book of its kind, combining creative mechanism design methodology with mechanical evolution and variation theory to set out how some ancient designs can be recreated. Furthermore the book reflects on how age-old wisdoms could stimulate stunning new machinery in the future.

“This gonzo-journalistic exploration of the Silicon Valley techno-utopians’ pursuit of escaping mortality is a breezy romp full of colorful characters.” —New York Times Book Review (Editor's Choice) Transhumanism is a movement pushing the limits of our bodies—our capabilities, intelligence, and lifespans—in the hopes that, through technology, we can become something better than ourselves. It has found support among Silicon Valley billionaires and some of the world’s biggest businesses. In To Be a Machine, journalist Mark O'Connell explores the staggering possibilities and moral quandaries that present themselves when you of think of your body as a device. He visits the world's foremost cryonics facility to witness how some have chosen to forestall death. He discovers an underground collective of biohackers, implanting electronics under their skin to enhance their senses. He meets a team of scientists urgently investigating how to protect mankind from artificial superintelligence. Where is our obsession with technology leading us? What does the rise of AI mean not just for our offices and homes, but for our humanity? Could the technologies we create to help us eventually bring us to harm? Addressing these questions, O'Connell presents a profound, provocative, often laugh-out-loud-funny look at an influential movement. In investigating what it means to be a machine, he offers a surprising meditation on what it means to be human.

Ancient civilizations accomplished great works of engineering without electricity. From the Great Wall of China to Machu Picchu, discover the machines ancient civilizations used to build and how they influenced modern machines.