The Ancient Engineers [antikvár]

PREFACE The system of indicating dates ia this book is based upon those used by the late George Sarton in his History of Science and by Joseph Needham in his Science and Civilisa' tion in China, Centuries are indicated by Roman nimierals preceded by + or — according to whether they are centuries of the Christian era or B.C.; hence —VIII means eighth century B.C. Years are treated likewise, with Arabic instead of Roman numerals; for instance, +412 = A.D. 412. The plus sign is, however, omitted from years after +1000, because the meaning of the numeral is obvious in such cases. In the text, most Greek names are spelled in the Greek manner, instead of the Latin (hence Keraunos instead of Ceraimus) because I like it better and think it will in time prevail. But in the notes and bibliography, most names of Greek writers are given in Latinized or Anglicized form to make it easier to find standard editions and translations. For help in one way or another with this work—^procuring books for me, answering questions, checking my translations, and criticizing parts of the text—am grateful to Allen T. Bonnell, Lionel Casson, Jack Coggins, Bern Dibner, Caroline Gordon Dosker, A. G. Drachmann, I. E. S. Edwards, R- J. Forbes, Umberto Forti, Samuel Freiha, Samuel N. Kramer, Willy Ley, William McDermott, Robert P. Mul-thauf, Derek J. de Solla Price, Pellegrino Claudio Sestieri, Guido Ucelli, Donald N. Wübur, Howard H. Williams, and Conway Zirkle; and to the Bumdy Library (Norwalk, Conn.) the Swarthmore College Library, the Union Library Catalogue, and the University of Pennsylvania Library. Finally, my wife's work of editing the manuscript has gone far b^» yond the call of duty.