How Ancient Mechanics Thought About Machines 76
friedo writes "The NYTimes 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 a generation before Archimedes' proofs of the lever laws explains why, if you were a galley slave, you'd want to work the oars near the center of the ship instead of closer to the hull."
Galley slaves had other worries... (Score:2, Insightful)
You'd want to be near the center of the ship only if you were interested in being more efficient at your slave job. Since the slave near the hull has to move his arms over a lesser distance, it could be argued that the hull seat was the better one.
Of course, if you were rammed by another ship, you'd have a greater chance of being killed or sustaining horrible injury if you were in the hull seat...but since a rammed ship usually sank, and the galley slaves were usually chained to their oars, the outcome would probably be much the same, in the end...
Re:Galley slaves had other worries... (Score:3, Insightful)
"That took scholars to figure out. "Think of the oar as a lever," Prof. Mark Schiefsky of the Harvard classics department said. "Think of the oarlock as a fulcrum, and think of the sea as the weight."
The longer the lever arm on the rower's side of the fulcrum, the easier to move the weight. In the middle of the ship, as the rowers knew, the distance from hands to oarlock was longest.
This explanation is given in Problem 4 of the classical Greek treatise "Mechanical Problems," from the third century B.C., the first known text on the science of mechanics and the first to explain how a lever works. It preceded, by at least a generation, Archimedes' "On the Equilibrium of Plane Figures," which presented the first formal proof of the law of the lever.
Re:Oh, the irony! (Score:5, Insightful)
Not all slaves would be illiterate ... (Score:3, Insightful)
Now granted literacy through the ages hasn't perhaps been as high as it could but some of those galley slaves are going to be literates that couldn't be trusted with book work or who's masters wished to drive into the deck.
Your point on access to the library is probably valid. But as they say "information wants to be free"
I would say as a tyrannical slave-master I'd want to get the best from each slave, or know where to put those most in need of subduing.
Galley slave would want to be toward the hull (Score:2, Insightful)
A galley slave doesn't give a damn whether the boat goes fast or slow. He just wants to look like he is working whilst working the least.
So since the lever moves the furthest distance near the center, the motion is greater, meaning more work. Also the effects of a slave pretending to row are felt most acutely when the slave is seated in the middle of the boat.
Also, the guy with the whip is closest to the slaves in the center, however having some distance between the whipper and the whippee may make the speed of the lash higher for slaves further away.
Another consideration is whether being near the hull of the boat conferred any advantages/disadvantages in terms of ventilation/warmth/being out of the rain/being in the rain/etc.