Rediscovering a Lost Technology of the Ancient World
In this book Robert Temple reconstructs a wholly forgotten story: the story of light technology in ancient civilisation. Dating back at least to 2600 BC in Old Kingdom Egypt, but unknown to modern archaeologists and historians, a science of optics and a sophisticated technology for the manufacture of lenses was widespread and fundamental in ancient times. It inspired awe in cultures who used it, so became encoded in their mythologies and religions.