Science And Technology

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
In the 12th and 13th centuries, Europe saw a number of innovations in the management of the means of production and economic growth. Major technological advances include theinvention of the windmill, the first mechanical clocks, the first investigations of optics and the creation of crude lenses, the manufacture of distilled spirits and the use of the astrolabe.[160]Glassmaking advanced with the development of a process that allowed the creation of transparent glass in the early 13th century. Transparent glass made possible the science of optics by Roger Bacon (d.1294), who is credited with the invention of eyeglasses.[161][g]
A major agricultural innovation was the development of a 3-field rotation system for planting crops. The development of the heavy plowallowed heavier soils to be farmed more efficiently, an advance that was helped along by the spread of the horse collar and the horseshoe, both of which lead to the use of draught animals in place ofoxen. Horses are faster than oxen and require less pasture, factors which aided the utilization of the 3-field system.[115]
The development of cathedrals and castles advanced building technology,leading to the development of large stone buildings. Ancillary structures included new town halls, houses, bridges, and tithe barns.[162] Shipbuilding also improved, with the use of the rib and plankmethod rather than the old Roman system of mortice and tenon. Other improvements to ships included the use of lateen sails and the stern-post rudder, both of which increased the speed at which ships couldbe sailed.[163] Crossbows, which had been known in Late Antiquity, returned to use with the increase in siege warfare in the 10th and 11th centuries.[164] Gunpowder was known in Europe by themid-13th century with a recorded use in European warfare by the English against the Scots in 1304, although it was merely used as an explosive and not as a weapon. Cannon were being used for sieges in the...