Mechanization

[Colon™]

I've been trying to look up a bit on the history of mechanical devices before the industrial revolution. I know the wine press has been existing in Rhine area ever since the Roman age (which is how Gutenberg came to the idea of using the technique for the printing press), that the water mill was used by the ancient Greeks and Romans and that the wind mill was invented during medieval Europe. However, I can't find any comprehensive texts about mechanization, specifically which other devices have been existing and whether any got invented or used outside of Europe.

[VetLegion]

I have read that water mills were not used by the Romans until the decline of the Empire beacuse of oversupply of almost free labour (slaves) during most of its duration.

The printing press also existed in China and/or Korea, where it was used for printing stuff, but didn't have moveable type like Guttenberg's.

Clocks are another mechanical device that was used and perfected for a long period of time before the IR. This one is Greek or Roman:


Fire engines were rarely used prior to IR, but sometimes they made an appearance, such as this one by Hero of Alexandria:


For medieval contraptions, "De re metallica" is a very good source. Pumps, smelting accessories, lifting devices, you name it, it has it. You can see the pictures here:

http://www.btinternet.com/~stephen.henley/agricola/

[Seeker]

There were a of things invented in the Classical World that never spread beyond unique because of slavery.

A steam driven engine was even invented, for the purpose of opening and closing large temple doors. Of course, for the romans the obvious question was "Why Not Just Get More Slaves To Do It??"

[Patroklos]

Yay for the CCC!

[Colon™]

Originally posted by VetLegion
The printing press also existed in China and/or Korea, where it was used for printing stuff, but didn't have moveable type like Guttenberg's.

What exactly do you mean with "printing press"? This is what I posten several hours ago (and which I how I got into looking up about mechanization):

"About this printing press thingy again. I'll try not to pretend I know a lot about this, I had to read some re-read texts about it several times for one, but there seems to be some fuzziness going on (and Wikipedia isn't a particularly good source).
Yes, the Chinese invented woodblock printing and the use of movable types, and perhaps the Koreans metal movable types, but those elements do not constitute a printing "press".
Gutenberg invented a punch and mold system to quickly create movable metal types. And then he combined such types, put together in a tray, with the use of a screw press. Screw-drive presses is something the Chinese simply did not have.
And the significance is so not much that it printed, but that allowed printing in large quantities."

[Urban Ranger]

For Chinese stuff your best reference is Joseph Needham's Science and Civilization in China. Your local library may have a copy. Lots of volumes, though. The Genius of China: 3,000 Years of Science, Discovery and Invention is a brief overview.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Colon
And the significance is so not much that it printed, but that allowed printing in large quantities.

I don't know if the Chinese had a screw-drive press, but they had been printing books in large quantities for a long time.

Don't forget that large cities in ancient China had as much as 1,000,000 in population, with city walls 5m thick.

[Dinner]

The oldest known western writing comes from the Greek Island of Crete and they've found stamps of the alphabet they used suggesting they were press printing documents in proto-greece long before any where else. The problem is no one knows how to read it and few examples of these clay tablets have been found intact.

[Colon™]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger


I don't know if the Chinese had a screw-drive press, but they had been printing books in large quantities for a long time.

Don't forget that large cities in ancient China had as much as 1,000,000 in population, with city walls 5m thick.

That's certainly not something I'm denying.

Fire engines were rarely used prior to IR, but sometimes they made an appearance, such as this one by Hero of Alexandria:

Any idea what that thing did?

[Main_Brain]

Any idea what that thing did?

Whirl
Unfortunatly the scientist failed to make a connection to actually use the Steam Power. This is sad as he was an expert using Power transmission (Wrote Spiritalia seu Pneumatica ). Heron invented a fully automated Miniature Theatre only depending on weights, which was a Huge hit back then. With great special Effects for that Time I might add. ( Moving Waves, Thunder Noises etc.)
To relate to the Question again: It was only used a Toy

[VetLegion]

What exactly do you mean with "printing press"?

A press, that is used for printing.

In a printing press you have to press the paper to the letters/image. What mechanism exactly do you use to do it is not that important in my opinion. You can have the apprentices sit on it, or design a complex device based on weights and levers, or use a screw. The important invention is the breaking of the single image that is printed into smaller blocks that can be recombined. Also proper inks are important, paper... the screw is unimportant.

About Hero's engine, what Main_Brain said. It had no practical purpose.

[Colon™]

The press allowed for sharp images and printing both sides of a sheet. You can't have a press without a press either.