Histories

On the times over millennia

Energy in taming

The five eras of history are:

1. Prehistoric 3e6   BC - 500  BC.

2. Classical 500   BC - 500  AD.

3. Medieval 500   AD - 1500 AD.

4. Early Modern 1500 AD - 1800 AD.

5. Modern 1800 AD - present.

Twelve thousand years ago, after the control of fire (the first form of Energy tamed by humans), the agricultural revolution happened in the Fertile Crescent allowing the birth of one of the first human civilizations, and marking a human lifestyle transition into settlement in large communities around domesticated plants and animals. The clothing, the cooking, the bread, the salt, the housing, the temples, the pyramids, the sculptures, the woodwork, the nails, the drawing, the paper, the writing, the glass, the clay, the ceramic, the compass, the boat, the wheel, the road, the press, the mill, the purple, the oil, the cheese, the wine, the tea, and the silk... They are precious pieces of knowledge developed by the first human civilizations of Mesopotamia, Canaan, and Egypt, than by Wales, India, China, Maya, and later by Phoenicia, Assyria, Persia, Israel, Greece, and Rome, until 500 ADn, the end of Classical era.

Seven thousand years ago, around Euphrates and Tigris rivers in Mesopotamia, Sumerians and Babylonians, were the first to use the base of 60. Indeed, 60 is the smallest integer divisible by all integers from 1 to 6, they used this property to share the land and build houses with precision. Indeed, 60 has many divisors (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30 and 60), the first 6 being consecutive making easy to measure the half, the third, the quarter, the fifth, and the sixth, etc. of any entity. They also gave an empirical estimate for π of 3.125, a reasonable approximation of the real value of 3.1416, and divided the circle in 360 degrees. The first World map, and the first calendar counting 360 days (12 months of 30 days) appeared in Babylonia... Later, Egyptians introduced the earliest fully developed base of 10 numeration system including zero and they were able to solve second-order algebraic equations. The golden ratio of 1: 1.618 appears in the pyramids design, they also knew the formula for the volume of a pyramid – 1⁄3 times the height times the length times the width. They were aware that a triangle with sides 3, 4 and 5 units yields a perfect right angle, and they smelted Gold, Silver, and Copper, and they made Bronze by mixing Copper with Tin. 

Babylon, Gebal, Petra, Memphis, Palmira, Aleppo, and Jerusalem concentrated the world knowledge for a while... The poems of Gilgamesh with the narratives of Noah, the 282 laws of Hammurabi's code, the Ishtar gate, the hanging gardens, the power of Pharaohs in Egypt around the Nile river, their herbal medicines, the multitude of Gods and symbols related to Nature forces, the gold in the tombs of pharaohs, and the cedars woods found in Pyramids are still astonishing nowadays. Among the pharaohs who marked the ancient times, Ramses, Tutankhamun, Nefertiti, Thutmose, Amenhotep, etc. Even though the African continent was dominated mainly by pharaohs, many other smaller kingdoms, languages, and cultures were spread in Ethiopia, South Africa, and Congo, etc... The fall of Babylon occurred around 500 BC after the Persian conquest led by Cyrus the Great, marking the end of the prehistoric era. Indus civilization appeared in the Indus Valley around the Ganges River and developed the Hinduism and Buddhism religions believing in Brahman and Buddha... China appeared around the Yellow River with Xia dynasty... 

Three thousand years ago, under the reign of Assyrians than Persians in the fertile crescent, on the Eastern Mediterranean coast around Adon River among other rivers, Phoenicians named after the Phoenix, built boats from the wood of cedars in kingdom-cities such as Byblos, Sidon, and Tyre, they made a huge step in the ancient World by setting the base of the first Alphabet that reduced the number of symbols used for writing to 22 consonant letters representing sounds. According to Greek mythology, the alphabet of Gebal (named Byblos for 'Biblion' by the Greeks as it was the mother city for writing) was spread by Cadmus over the Mediterranean sea, after he was sent by his royal parents to escort his sister Europa back to Tyre after she was abducted from the shores of Phoenicia by Zeus, alphabet is still graved on the coffin's rock of Ahiram, the king of Byblos. The Bible was named later using the same etymological roots. The Judaism, the first monotheism appeared in this period with prophet Abraham, the Genesis narrative, the Exodus narrative, and the 613 commandments were written in the Torah. These commandments were reduced to 10 by the prophet Moise who lead the independence of Hebrew people from Egypt and initiated Israel after crossing the Red sea and the Sinai desert with the Hebrew people. The temple of prophet Solomon the wise, son of David who wrote a considerable part of the Psalms, was constructed in Jerusalem using the wood of cedars from Phoenicia known nowadays as Lebanon, these events are still intriguing until today as well.

Meanwhile, Pythagoras coined both words “philosophy” (“love of wisdom”) and “mathematics” (“that which is learned”). While Thales was fascinated by water as a source of understanding the whole Universe, “The Elements”, was the first compilation of the elements of geometry by Pythagoras, and his work was an important source for Euclid's work on 'Euclidean' geometry and optics. Hippocrates developed the modern medicine based on the healing diseases rationally instead of using magical practices. The wood of cedars, the glass, the wine, the olive oil, and the purple of Murex shells were among the best productions of the Phoenicians known to be the best traders of the Mediterranean Sea, the central sea of the ancient world. Even though Egyptians were accumulating power, gold, and glory, with gigantic pyramids in a tremendous kingdom around the Nile river, Phoenicians dominated the sea and knew how to orient their navigation with the stars, they set important cities and strategic ports all over the Mediterranean in Cyprus, Israel, Malta, Italy, Sardinia, Corsica, Greece, Algeria, Morocco, France, Spain, Portugal, etc. giving the name to Europe (sister of Cadmus), Carthage (new town) and Britain (land of tin)... Even though 'mediterraneum' is a latin word for 'in the middle of the earth' and Greeks called it 'the great sea', the same sea was called the 'the great sea of Phoenicia' after the expansion of the Phoenician Empire around it on the coast. These dynamics lasted for several centuries before the Phoenician, Persian, and Egyptian Empires started to decline after the conquest of Alexander the Great conquering the Levant from Macedonia.

The Hellenistic era started in the Levant after the conquest of Alexander the Great to Persia and Phoenicia. Thanks to silver mining, the Greek civilization flourished in Athena in this period adding a considerable layer of knowledge and wisdom, Homer wrote ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’, poems from ancient Greek literature. Olympic games were initiated in Olympia, including running, jumping, combat, discus, marathon, pentathlon, and decathlon with the myth of the Olympic flame. Greeks enlarged the basis of Philosophy with Socrates, Platon, Aristote, and others meeting in Agoras. Empedocles proposed the four classical elements: fire, earth, air, and water as the main constituents of the Nature. Democritus, most famous for his prescient ideas about all matter being composed of tiny atoms, was also a pioneer of mathematics and geometry and set the base of the existence of atoms, indivisible particles of matter. Note that this theory was contradicted by Mochus the Phoenician who has considered as divisible the smallest particles of matter, the tomes. Many philosophies were issued from the Greek civilization, they are still at the basis of our current society, democracy is most probably the best example. 

Meanwhile in Alexandria, Eratosthenes was the first to set the system of latitude and longitude, and calculated the circumference of the earth to a remarkable degree of accuracy. As a mathematician, his greatest legacy is the “Sieve of Eratosthenes” algorithm for identifying prime numbers. Heron, best known in mathematical circles for Heronian triangles (triangles with integer sides and integer area), wrote Heron’s Formula for finding the area of a triangle from its side lengths, and Heron’s Method for computing a square root. Menelaus was the first to recognize geodesics on a curved surface as the natural analogues of straight lines on a flat plane. His book “Sphaerica” dealt with the geometry of the sphere and its application in astronomical measurements and calculations, and introduced the concept of spherical triangle (a figure formed of three great circle arcs, which he named “trilaterals“). Diophantus was the first to recognize fractions as numbers, and is considered an early innovator in the field of what would later become known as algebra. Meanwhile, the rise of Rome civilization led to the decline of Greece, but also Egypt with the latest great pharaoh, Cleopatra.

After winning the Punic wars (or 'Phunic' for Phoenicians) against Hannibal from Carthage (new city), founded by Phoenicians in North Africa, Romans have conquered the entire Mediterranean surroundings and reached England in quest of mines, the main source of wealth. Even though they burned the library of Carthage that held a considerable part of Phoenician knowledge; they made considerable developments in e.g. architecture, engineering, and laws. The cement to build e.g. the Pantheon and the Colosseum that are still standing in Rome and the big temples in Heliopolis. The Aqueducts to bringing clean water into towns and cities and developing sanitation. The roads for transportation throughout Europe and the Mediterranean. The Julian calendar, for Julius Caesar, with 365 days split into 12 months (two of them are for Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar namely July and August). Elements of Surgery e.g. Caesarean section. Elements of modern legal system in Berytus, e.g. the concept of being innocent until proven guilty. Newspapers as handwritten sheets of announcements. The education system to normalize knowledge and rules... They were all developed during the Roman era that lasted until 500 Anno Domini gathering the fifth of the World population at the time. 

We note the beginning of Christianity with Jesus Christ in Israel under the Roman domination, with the estimated roles of his mother Saint Mary, and Saint Joseph as well as John the Baptist, his mother Elizabeth and his father Zechariah, marking the year zero Anno Domini (AD). The advocation of Love and peace by the disciples of Jesus, as the messages of a new testament of the Bible (centered around the Life and lessons of Jesus) spread all over the Roman Empire despite a lot of Resistance and executions. With the letters of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, and the new testament written by Saint Lucas, Saint Matthew, Saint Marc, Saint John, etc. as well as the setting of a Pentarchy formed by five Church Chairs in Jerusalem, Antioch, Constantinople, Alexandria, and Rome, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in 312 A.D. with the conversion of the emperor Constantine thanks to his mother Helena (known for finding the relics of the cross used to crucify Jesus Christ) and the Edicts of Milan (313 AD) and Thessaloniki (380 AD) without forgetting the synod of Nicaea in 325 AD that united the Church with one Creed. While Rome power was in contraction, the Byzantine empire was centered in Constantinople. Antioch and Alexandria chairs were held by Maronites and Coptes who encountered many invasions and executions in the Levant. Meanwhile Saint Augustine wrote his autobiography, the Confessions, in Hippo Regius.

Despite governance success, the decline of Rome started because of the decadence of the Roman Elite, and marked the end of the classical era and the beginning of the Medieval era. In addition, the 'Berberian' (term used to represent those who lacked Greek and Roman traditions i.e. German, Celtic, Hunnic, Slavic) invasions in Europe around 500 AD favored the end of Roman Empire and the beginning of Medieval dark ages. The burning of the library in Alexandria, the Arab invasions after the appearance of Islam in the Arab peninsula with the prophet Muhammad advocating the Quran, the Vikings invasions in Europe, the Crusades conquests to take back the holy land of Jerusalem, and the Genghis Khan invasions in Asia, did not allow a knowledge prosperity and big developments in this time. Despite many wars and conquests, the principles of optics, algebra, algorithm, and alchemy were set by the Arabs El-Haytham, Al-Jaber, Al-Khawarizmi, and Al-Azdi consecutively, in this period. The so-called dark ages led to a severe knowledge decline that lasted around one thousand years. During this period, Franks were led by king Clovis, and later by king Charlemagne. This latter defeated the Saxons led by Widukind, and converted them to Christianity. 

After the division of the Church between Catholics (Western Rome, Rome capital of Italy now) and Orthodox (Eastern Rome or Byzantium, Istanbul capital of Turkey now), in 1054, and the defeat of Scandinavian Vikings, who became Normans for Normandy in 1066 with William the Conqueror who governed England as well. For five centuries later, the feudalism was the main governing model in Europe dividing people between Noble, Clerge, and Lords and peasants. The construction of the splendid Louvre under Philip II Augustus and Notre Dame under Louis VII in the 1200s prepared Paris, built around the Seine River, for a central role in the new world. Meanwhile Marco Polo traveled the silk road and discovered the cultures of Asia in 1271 and the Great Famine ravaged Europe between 1315 and 1317. Even though the 'war of 100 years' has followed between the French and the English powers between 1337 and 1453, the king Charles VII won after a courageous offensive initiative of a young girl called Jeanne D'Arc.  While the Ottoman empire raised in the Levant after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Russian Empire expanded to dominate the widest surface in Eurasia and centered the power in Moscow, inheriting the Orthodox legacy of the Byzantine Empire and defeated most of the invasions due to its extremely cold weather.

The early modern era started in occidental Europe in the same time with the works of Leonardo Da Vinci and Michel Angelo in Vatican, unique fusions of science and arts, seeking Beauty and Truth in Nature. The significant works of Erasmus on human values appeared in the same period, Machiavelli as well. The French and British empires prospered in the same period and the north American continent, discovered by Columbus and others in 1492, was shared between these two Empires, in continuous competition to rule the World. The south American continent was shared between Portugal and Spain marking the end of the civilizations of Maya, Oztec, Olmec, and Inca that were developed around the Mississippi River and all indigenous American civilizations in the new continent even though many tribes still exist in the Amazon forest, the biggest on Earth, new food appeared was brought from the new continent e.g. potato, tomato, corn, chewing gum, and chocolate, etc. Vasco da Gama came back with nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and peppercorns, from India in 1497, and Magellan discovered the Philippines in 1521. The Renaissance begins in this period and its spark, known as the scientific revolution, is still enlightening our Modern era until now.

After the discovery of Australia by Willem Janszoon in 1606, Louis XIV, and the building of Versailles castle in the 1600s, Louis XV, and the building of the Pantheon in the 1700s (despite 200 years of Religion wars between Catholics and Protestants in Europe), the immense spread of Napoleon I power in Europe before the battle of Waterloo, the renovation of Paris by Haussmann under Napoleon III in the 1800s, Spinoza, Voltaire, Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche, Van Gogh, Monet, Shakespeare, Moliere, Vivaldi, Bach, Mozart, the industrial revolution was ignited in Europe almost in the same time as the French Revolution in 1789 dividing the assembly in left and right wings i.e. progressive and conservative, a division that indirectly led to a beginning of decline in the power of the French Empire in the World, especially after the independence of USA in 1776 and the Louisiana purchase in 1803. However, the French-British competition has continued through the development of the industries while understanding thermodynamics. Carnot and Clapeyron from France, Clausius and Mayer from Germany, Joule and Kelvin from England were the heroes of this scientific-industrial competition joining a long list of big Scientists who were philosophers as well like Naiper, Euler, Pascal, Newton, Descartes, Fourier, Boltzmann, Le Chatelier, Arrhenius, Gibbs, etc. They made a big contribution to human kind and transformed the World Economy with different schools  that raised with Colbert, Malthus, Ricardo, and Marx. Eiffel tower, named after Gustave Eiffel, was built for the World's fair between 1887 and 1889 and chemical processes were later developed by Bayer, Solvay, Haber, Bosch, Fischer, and Tropsch. This was also the time Schopenhauer and Nietzsche developed his great philosophies.

Even though petroleum was discovered from ancient times, the modern exploitation of hydrocarbons expanded in 1847 with the works of James Young refining paraffin from crude oil to produce heat for the machines. Since, wells were drilled everywhere on Earth and refining technologies are still developing as petroleum is still the first source of Energy. It goes without saying, conflicts have followed as Energy is Wealth, John Rockefeller understood very well and accumulated a considerable wealth and power in the USA. These events preceded the sinking of Titanic in 1912, the beginning of the first World war in 1914, the sinking of Lusitania in 1915, and the decline of Ottoman Empire after the first World war in 1918. During this period, the quantum physics bloomed with Maxwell, Faraday, Planck, Schrodinger, De Broglie, Heisenberg, Einstein, Born, Bohr, and Pauli. Thanks to the new vision of physical interactions these Scientists brought, many technologies were developed after Tesla has developed alternative electricity currents that allowed the transportation of electricity on long distances. 

Meanwhile, after the independence of America, the rise of its power started in 1944 after its contribution in ending the second World war in Europe with the Normandy landings on June 6th involving Churchill and De Gaulles that allowed the reconstruction of Europe after the war with the Economic Recovery Act of 1948, known as Marshall plan, under Truman. A considerable scientific progress was made in this period as a consequence of war-related investigations, based on the quantum physics principles, NMR and zeolites are the best examples. While NMR was developed thanks to Edward Purcell and Felix Bloch among others, it served to evaluate chemical compounds and led to MRI technology, the first technique to image and decipher the human brain; Zeolites – natural porous minerals discovered by Cronstedt in 1756 – were synthesized in a laboratory scale in 1950 by Barrer in UK before their application for adsorption and catalysis in the chemical industry with Breck, Milton, and Flanigen in USA. The European Union was initiated by Adenauer from Germany, De Gasperi from Italy and Schuman from France, in the 1993, after the fall of the Soviet Union and the Berlin wall in 1989, being initiated by Russia to gather the power of Eastern Europe countries in 1922. The British Empire transformed into Common Wealth under Queen Elizabeth II in 2000.

The recent rise of considerable technological advances such as computer, internet, and mobile phone, and artificial intelligence recently, led to the information age creating new dynamics in human interactions in the all directions between Orient and Occident referring to the Sun or East and West referring to the magnetic compass pointing to the North in line with the 50 µT Earth Magnetic field, These dynamics are still leading to big progresses despite many geopolitical and economic conflicts with 7000 languages spoken on a blue dot in the immense universe.

'There is nothing new under the sun' in a dynamic history where human identity is of extreme complexity and the only constant is the change. Indeed, the most frequent dynamics of interactions - both attraction and repulsion - occur at interfaces. Boundaries are everywhere, so interfaces. Waves, Cultures, Charges, Thermodynamics, Times, Languages, and Beliefs… They all have boundaries and gradient profiles governed by the strengths and weaknesses of their diversities.

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