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《Joseph Gies, Frances Gies - Cathedral, Forge and Waterwheel_ Technology and Invention in the Middle Ages (1995)》由会员上传分享，免费在线阅读，更多相关内容在学术论文-天天文库。
1、1NIMROD'STOWER,NOAH'SARKNTHECENTURIESFOLLOWINGTHEMIDDLEIAges,thinkersoftheEuropeanEnlightenmentlookedbackonthepreviousperiodasatime"quietasthedarkofthenight,"1whentheworldslumberedandman'shistorycameto"afullstop."2Aspiritofotherworldlinessandapreoc•cupationwi
2、ththeologywereperceivedasunderlyingavastmedievalinertia.ThemostinfluentialspokesmanforthispointofviewwashistorianEdwardGibbon,whoinhisDeclineandFalloftheRomanEmpiredescribedmedievalsocietyas"thetri•umphofbarbarismandreligion."3Imagesoflethargyandstagnationwer
3、epersistentlyappliedtotheMiddleAgeswellintothetwentiethcentury.Eventodaythepopularimpressionremainstoagreatextentthatofamil•lenniumofdarkness,athousandyearswhen"nothinghap•pened."Totheaverageeducatedperson,themostsurprisingnewsaboutmedievaltechnologymaybethef
4、actthattherewasany.YetnotallintellectualsofthepastsharedthenegativeviewoftheMiddleAges.In1550ItalianphysicianandmathematicianJeromeCardanwrotethatthemagneticcompass,printing,andgunpowderwerethreeinventionstowhich"thewholeof2•CATHEDRAL,FORGE,ANDWATERWHEELantiq
5、uityhasnothingequaltoshow."4Agenerationlater,theDutchscholarJohannesStradanus(JanvanderStraet,1528-1605)inhisbookNovarepertalistedninegreatdiscoveries,allproductsoftheMiddleAges.'Gibbon'seighteenth-centurycontemporaryAnne-Robert-JacquesTurgot,financeministert
6、oLouisXVI,lookedbackontheMiddleAgesasatimewhen"kingswerewithoutauthority,nobleswithoutconstraint,peoplesenslaved...commerceandcommunicationcutoff,"whenthebarbarianinvasionshad"putoutthefireofreason,"buthesawitalsoasatimewhenanumberofinventionsunknowntotheGree
7、ksandRomanshadbeensomehowproduced.Turgotcreditedthemedievalachievementtoa"successionofphysicalexperiments"undertakenbyunknownindividualgeniuseswhoworkedinisolation,surroundedbyaseaofdarkness.6Today,onthecontrary,theinnovativetechnologyoftheMiddleAgesappearsas
8、thesilentcontributionofmanyhandsandmindsworkingtogether.Themostmomentouschangesarenowunderstoodnotassingle,explicitinventionsbutasgradual,imperceptiblerevolutions—inagriculture,inwaterand
