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A very brief history of hydraulic technology during antiquity

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Abstract

Hydraulic technology began during antiquity long before the great works of such investigators such as Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), Galileo Galilei (1564–1642), Evangelista Torricelli (1608–1647), Blaise Pascal (1623–1662), Isaac Newton (1642–1727), Daniel Bernoulli (1700–1782), and Leonhard Euler (1707–1783). The history of hydraulic technology even began long before Archimedes (287–212 BC). It is amazing to see what was accomplished in the application of hydraulic technology during antiquity, millenniums before the development of the concepts of conservation of mass, energy, and momentum used in present-day hydraulic design. The first developments of hydraulic technology occurred with the development of irrigation for agriculture, followed by the development of urban centers. A brief history is given of the development of hydraulic technology during antiquity.

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  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287-5306, USA

    Larry W. Mays

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  1. Larry W. Mays
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Correspondence to Larry W. Mays.

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Mays, L.W. A very brief history of hydraulic technology during antiquity. Environ Fluid Mech 8, 471–484 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10652-008-9095-2

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