Submission + - How Ancient Mechanics Thought About Machines (nytimes.com)
friedo writes: "The NY Times has an interesting piece about Prof. Mark Schiefsky, a Harvard classicist with an interest in the history of science. Schiefsky pores over ancient texts in Greek, Latin and Arabic to decipher the origin of knowledge that's been taken for granted for millennia. For example, a Greek treatise published long before Archimedes' proofs of the lever laws explains why, if you were a boat slave, you'd want to work the oars near the center of the ship instead of the ends."
