Mesoamerican Civilizations

Maya, Aztec, Inca

 Cradles of Early Science
Development of Science in Mesoamerica
 MESOAMERICA
•Entire area of Central
America from Southern
Mexico up to the border
of South America.
 Meso-America
• Meso-America was home to 3 major
civilizations in Pre-Columbian times.
• Pre-Columbian means before the time of
exploration (think before Columbus)
• The 3 highly developed civilizations were:
1. Mayans
2. Aztecs
3. Incas
 Mayans
• The Mayans were a powerful civilization from
1500BCE-1548CE
• Their economy was based on Farming, Trade, and
Artisans
• Their religion was polytheistic
• That meant they believed in more than one god
• The priests did human sacrifices to please these
gods.
People
-Included townspeople, skilled artisans,
and, officials, and merchants.
-Many people were peasant farmers
who worked on terraced hillsides
farming.
-Men did the fighting and hunting,
women made cornmeal and were
responsible for homemaking and raising
children.
Mayan Invention and Achievements
• The Mayans developed the concept of zero
independently
• The Mayans invented Chocolate
• The Mayans were the first to vulcanize
rubber and play football and basketball

• The Mayans developed an advanced

language and writing system as well as
books
The Fabled Mayan Calendar: Their most famous invention
Calendar
The Maya developed a calendar
that had two different parts.
It had a solar calendar with 365
days, divided into 18 months with
20 days each with 5 extra days at
the end.
A Lunar calendar and a Calendar
based on the movement of the
Planet Venus. This was a sacred
calendar with 260 days and 13
weeks of 20 days each.
The Mayan calendar says our
present world was created in 3114
B.C. and the current calendar
restarted on December 23 2012
A.D.
• Mayans built looms for weaving cloth
• Devised a rainbow glittery paints
made from a mineral called mica
• They are skilled in mathematics and
created a number system based on the
numeral 20.
• largest empire in pre-Columbian America, and
possibly the largest empire in the world in the
early 16th century
• flourished in ancient Peru between 1438 and
1533 AD
1. Roads paved with stones
2. Stone buildings that surmounted
earthquakes
3. Irrigation system and technique for storing
water
4. Calendar with 12 months
5. First suspension bridge
6. Quipu
7. Inca textiles
 Aztecs
• The Aztecs were a powerful
civilization from 1400-1520CE
• Their economy was based on
agriculture and warriors expanding
the empire by capturing goods and
prisoners
• Their religion was polytheistic
 Aztec Civilization
• Located in arid valley in central
Mexico
• Represented by Tenochtitlan
• Ruled by an emperor
• Economy based on agriculture and
tribute from conquered people
• Polytheistic religion: pyramids,
rituals
 Aztecs
• Their capital city was Tenochtitlan. It was
built on islands and floating rafts (current
day Mexico City)
• The Aztecs had many important
achievements: Strict legal system, they
used the death penalty, Education for
Aztec children, gold and silver jewelry
• The Aztecs were an advanced and prosperous
civilization who built beautiful and sophisticated
cities.
• The highly developed empire had an elaborate
leadership and society that consisted of four
classes.
 Nobles (highest in power)
 Commoners (the majority of population, were mostly
farmers)
 Serfs (worked land for the nobles)
 Slaves (consisted of those captured and indebted
who couldn’t pay)
Aztec Emperor
Ruled over the Aztec Empire.
Was the supreme leader of the people.
He claimed that he was divine.

People
Made up of commoners, indentured workers, and slaves.
Most people were farmers, but they also traded with
people in the surrounding areas.

Men were to be the warriors, while a woman’s role was to

be in the home. Women were allowed to own and inherit
property and enter contracts. Women wove textiles and
raised children. They could also be priestesses.
1. Mandatory education
2. Chocolates – cacao beans
3. Antispasmodic medication
4. Chinampa - irrigation systems
5. Aztec calendar
6. Invention of the canoe
Aztec Chinampa or
Floating Garden:
15ft. to 30ft. wide
Tenochtitlan - Chinampas
Aztec Sun Stone -- Calendar
Aztecs Sacrifice Neighboring Tribes
to the Sun God
Development of Science in Asia
 INDIA
Is a huge peninsula surrounded by
vast bodies of water and fortified
by huge mountains in its boarders
 India
• Known for manufacturing iron and in
metallurgical works
• Their iron steel is considered to the best and
held with high regard in the whole Roman
Empire
• Ayurveda-a system of traditional medicine
that originated in ancient India before 2500
BC, is still practiced as a form of alternative
medicine.
• Susruta Samhita- Ancient text
which describes surgical and other
medical procedures famous in
Ancient India.
• Ancient India is also notable in the
field of Astronomy:
-Developed theories on the configuration of the
universe
-The spherical self-supporting Earth
-The year of 360 days with 12 equal parts of 30 days
 Siddhanta Shiromani
• where Indians’ interest in astronomy in the
12 chapters of this text were written.
• The ancient text covered topics such as:
*mean of longitudes of the planets
*true longitudes of the planets
*the three problems of diurnal rotation
*syzygies
*lunar and solar eclipse
*the paths of the Sun and Moon
• Mathematics
– Tried to standardize measurement of
length to a high degree of accuracy
and designed a ruler, the Mohenjodaro
ruler
• ARYABHATA
– Indian astronomer and
mathematician
– Aryabhatiya:
• place value system
• Algorithms of Algebra
• Trigonometry
– Solar and lunar eclipses
were scientifically
explained by Aryabhata.
He states that the Moon
and planets shine by
reflected sunlight.
• BRAHMAGUPTA
– Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta
– defined the properties of the number zero, both as a
placeholder and a decimal digit
– Hindu-Arabic numeral system
– Suggested that gravity was a force of attraction.
 China
o Is one of the ancient civilizations with
substantial contributions in many areas of
life like medicine, astronomy, science,
mathematics, arts, philosophy, and music.
o Chinese civilizations greatly influenced
many of its neighbor countries like Korea,
Japan, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand,
Cambodia and other countries that belong
to the old Silk Old.
China
• Traditional medicine – acupunture
• Compass, papermaking,
gunpowder, printing tools
• Astronomy – heavenly bodies, lunar
calendars
• They also invented iron plough,
wheelbarrow, and propeller
China
• They developed a deign of
different models of bridge
• Invented the first seismological
detector
• Developed a dry dock facility
Development of Science in Middle East
• Dominantly occupied by Muslims
• Greater value on science experiments

• Hasan Ibn al-Haytham

– was an Arab mathematician,
astronomer, and physicist of the Islamic
Golden Age
– Father of Optics
• Muhammad ibn Musa
al-Khwarizmi

– concept of the algorithm

in mathematics
– Algebra from al-jabr
(Hisab al-Jabr wa-al-
Muqabala)
– calendars, calculating
true positions of the sun,
moon and planets, tables
of sines and tangents,
spherical astronomy,
astrological tables
 Ibn Sina
 Pioneered the science of experimental medicine
and was the first physician to conduct clinical
trials.
 His two most notable works in medicine, The
Book of Healing and The Canon of Medicine,
were used as standard medicinal texts in both
the Muslim world and in Europe during the 17th
century.
 Among his many contributions are the discovery
of the contagious nature of infectious diseases
and the introduction of clinical pharmacology
Development of Science in Africa
• Africa is blessed with natural
and mineral resources.
• Science emerged in this part
of the planet long before the
Europeans colonized it.
• Ancient Egyptian Civilization
• The development of geometry was a
product of necessity to preserve the
layout and ownership of farmlands of
the Egyptians living along the Nile
River.
• The rules of geometry were developed
and used to build rectilinear structures.
• Development of geometry
• Center of alchemy
• Studied human anatomy and pharmacology
• Astronomy: used 3 types of calendar; lunar,
solar, stellar
• Metallurgy was known in the African regions during the
ancient times
• North Africa and Nile Valley imported iron technology
from the Near East region that enabled them to benefit
from the developments during Bronze Age until Iron
Age.
• Invented metal tools used in their homes, in agriculture,
and in building their magnificent architectures
• Mathematics was also known to be
prominent in the life of early people in the
African continent.
• The Lebombo Bone from the mountains
between Swaziland and South Africa, which
may have been a tool for multiplication,
division, and simple mathematical
calculation
Seatwork
1. How did society shape science and how did
science shape society?
2. How do social and human issues influence
science?
3. Considering the current state of our
society, do you think science literacy
among people has contributed to the
growth of our economy?
4. How can science influence government
policies?