Forgotten Inventions - Keller, Hans

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Résumé :
Imagine a world where the strongest concrete ever made crumbles under our feet while harbours built two thousand years ago still stand firm against the sea. Where blades forged in medieval furnaces cut cleaner and last longer than steel crafted in today's labs. Where a corroded relic from a shipwreck reveals itself as a computer so advanced it could map the heavens with uncanny precision. These are not tales of fantasy-they are the mysteries of forgotten inventions that continue to puzzle modern science. This book takes readers deep into the puzzles of lost technologies, from the endurance of Roman concrete to the enigmatic brilliance of Damascus steel, the astonishing gears of the Antikythera mechanism, and the ocean-spanning skills of Polynesian navigators. Each chapter uncovers not only how these marvels worked, but why they vanished-through war, collapse, or simple neglect-reminding us that progress is never guaranteed. For the curious mind, the history buff, the scientist at heart, or anyone who suspects the past holds lessons for the future, this book offers both wonder and warning. You will discover: - How ancient engineering feats rival and sometimes surpass our own - Why innovation depends on fragile chains of memory and culture - What today's society risks if it repeats the same mistakes of forgetting By the final page, you will see technology in a new light-not as an unstoppable march forward, but as a delicate archive of human ingenuity, one we must actively protect if we hope to build a more resilient future....