next up previous
Next: Elaboration 55 Up: Elaborations Previous: Elaboration 53


Elaboration 54

Naturally, little boys and grown-ups in Homer's days must have observed drops of water on their own skin (swimming, bathing, etc.) and the magnification by them. Real interesse also would soon lead to dissecting (sacrificial) animal's eyes. In bright daylight, when one looks at another person's eye from the side on, one can clearly see what a lens is like. Besides, coin makers even actually 'used' drops of water to examine their products. A glassy substance was amply possible in the days of Cicero. The same goes for printing. Herodotus mentioned Croesus as having known coinage, there were seals in existence, all of which 'is' printing. Wells even wonders why in Alexandria nobody set himself to invent a rolling mechanism for their clumsy books, avoiding the sweaty fingers that had to roll on and off in order to find a certain passage. A simple wooden case with two axles could have done the trick. No wonder Democritus had to laugh. Wells also paints accurately the result of the absence of printing for tedious tasks in the copying of books (by slaves). Even in the case of pictures (maps, etc.) could they not have invented a wooden stamp of some sort? Natural inquisitiveness was practically dead in Herodotus' time. The two necessities for it, leisure time and general absence of the pressure by overpopulation (war) were either allocated to a few or not at all. Without continuous war, war-threat or armistice, like we still suffer from today, all persons could have been fed and clothed by co-operative work of six months per year. The estimate for today may be even four or three months. But then, we must have (mentally) different humans.
next up previous
Next: Elaboration 55 Up: Elaborations Previous: Elaboration 53
Ven 2007-09-11