Perspectives on Ancient Greek Technology

Lecture by Professor Markus Asper, Department of Classics, New York University

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
4:30-6:00PM
Babbio 122, Stevens Institute of Technology
Castle Point on Hudson
Hoboken, NJ 07030 USA
Questions may be addressed to Professor Susan Levin slevin@stevens-tech.edu

Presented under the auspices of the University Seminars Program of the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation (USA), the Perspectives on Ancient Greek Technology lecture addresses what often seem to be strikingly modern elements of ancient Greek technology.

This event is open to all and features a lecture by Professor Markus Asper, Department of Classics at New York University.

Professor Asper’s discussion will begin by introducing:

• Eupalinus’ tunnel
• Siege engines
• The Antikythera device
• Technological marvels
• Theoretical mechanics

He will then consider the position of ancient practitioners, their social contexts, their rewards for innovation as well as the question of progress and the general role of technology in ancient Greek culture.

This collaboration of Stevens and the Onassis Foundation integrates the study of classical Greek literature with Stevens’ signature institutional focus on technology, invention and entrepreneurship. Truly a one-of-a-kind educational series, the program reaches beyond the study of humanistic elements of Hellenic civilization and sheds light on a complex and innovative culture that remains an important resource in achieving our own advancements.

Susan Levin, coordinator of the Literature and Communications area at the College of Arts & Letters; Provost George P. Korfiatis, who specializes in environmental engineering and water resources; Constantin Chassapis, Director of Mechanical Engineering; and Christos Christodoulatos, Associate Provost for Academic Entrepreneurship worked together on formulating the concept and presenting it to the Onassis Foundation. Special consultant to the project is Onassis board member Alan Shapiro, W. H. Collins Vickers Professor of Archaeology, Department of Classics, The Johns Hopkins University.

Additional information about the Onassis Foundation can be found at http://wwww.onassisusa.org/

About Professor Markus Asper

Professor Markus Asper teaches in the Department of Classics at New York University. His work focuses on Hellenistic poetry, especially Callimachus, and the literature of ancient Greek science and technology. He has published three major books, many articles and book chapters, and has lectured extensively in this country and abroad. His current projects include books on the writing of science in ancient Greek medical and mathematical texts and on the Hippocratic corpus as well as essays on Apollonius Rhodius’ poetology, Callimachus’ geopoetics, and narratives in ancient scientific texts.

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