Technology and culture in Greek and Roman antiquity

The technological achievements of the Greeks and Romans continue to fascinate and excite admiration. But what was the place of technology in their cultures? Through five case-studies, this book sets ancient technical knowledge in its political, social and intellectual context. It explores the definition of the techne of medicine in classical Athens, the development of new military technology in Hellenistic times, the self-image of technicians through funerary art in the early Roman Empire, the resolution of boundary disputes in the early second century AD, and the status of architecture and architects in late antiquity. Deploying a wide range of evidence, it reconstructs a dialectic picture of ancient technology, where several ancient points of view are described and analyzed, and their interaction examined. Dr Cuomo argues for the centrality of technology to the ancient world-picture, and for its extraordinarily rich political, social, economic and religious significance. • Offers five in-depth, varied case-studies, each with a slightly different methodological focus • Covers a broad period from classical Athens to late antiquity and a wide range of disciplines • Only book of its kind to make extensive use of non-textual material and of the newest historiographical approaches from both classics and the history of science and technology Contents Introduction; 1. The definition of techne in classical Athens; 2. The Hellenistic military revolution; 3. Death and the craftsman; 4. Boundary disputes in the Roman Empire; 5. Architects of late antiquity; Epilogue

The sinews of war: ancient catapults

Although they were probably already used in ancient Mesopotamia, catapults became increasingly common in the Mediterranean area from the 4th century B.C. Their design was improved over time through a combination of trial-and-error and geometrical procedures. By the 1st century A.D., it was possible to compile accurate tables of specifications for catapults of different size, and to build engines capable of hurling heavy projectiles at a distance of more than a hundred meters. In her essay, Cuomo asks who the men behind these machines were. What motivated the ancient military engineers, and how did they relate to their artifacts? And who did they work for? The author shows that ancient catapults provide unique insights into the interface of science and war, theory and practice, politics and knowledge

Notes on divisible MV-algebras

In these notes we study the class of divisible MV-algebras inside the algebraic hierarchy of MV-algebras with product. We connect divisible MV-algebras with $\mathbb Q$-vector lattices, we present the divisible hull as a categorical adjunction and we prove a duality between finitely presented algebras and rational polyhedra

An analysis of the logic of Riesz Spaces with strong unit

We study \L ukasiewicz logic enriched with a scalar multiplication with scalars taken in $[0,1]$. Its algebraic models, called {\em Riesz MV-algebras}, are, up to isomorphism, unit intervals of Riesz spaces with a strong unit endowed with an appropriate structure. When only rational scalars are considered, one gets the class of {\em DMV-algebras} and a corresponding logical system. Our research follows two objectives. The first one is to deepen the connections between functional analysis and the logic of Riesz MV-algebras. The second one is to study the finitely presented MV-algebras, DMV-algebras and Riesz MV-algebras, connecting them from logical, algebraic and geometric perspective

Purchasing the Practice: How the World of Wellness Sells Yoga as the Ultimate Self-Care

Yoga has the potential to bring a healing paradigm into the world and re-awaken the practitioner’s infinite capacity for love and compassion. Unfortunately, Western yoga carries many stereotypes in opposition to this understanding. In the US, yoga is more closely associated with fitness, whiteness, wealth, and youth than it is connected to a deeply complex spiritual tradition that has spanned centuries. The Westernization and industrialization of yoga has the potential to be spiritually harmful to practitioners who participate in yoga as a product to be consumed, rather than a practice to be engaged in. In addition to the Western values of fitness and health that have been attached to modern yoga practice, the yoga tradition has been brought into the formal structure and cultural trend of “self-improvement” as a tangible form of self-care. For the purposes of this paper, I refer to “self-care” as the practical application of caring for oneself in multiple dimensions: physical, emotional, and spiritual. Self-care, like yoga, has been commodified and become a global multi-billion-dollar industry. In this paper, I explore the social and ethical problems associated with selling yoga as a product of consumer culture, as it pertains to the branding of yoga as a form of individually focused self-care. Through a deeper understanding of the commodification of yoga in the US, I argue that the Western appropriation of the eight-limbed path of yoga, as well as the imposition of Western ideals of beauty, thinness, and health, are harmful to both the yoga tradition and to those who practice yoga