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Minoan technologies are not well understood.The only one I can think of that we don’t have today is potentially an unusual prism type lens to reproduce a natural rainbow (see lenses below if in a hurry and look for the wedge crescent-shaped one, it is not clear if this was its purpose or coincidental, however, Minoan optics are superb for the time, they preceded the Nimrud lens by around 8 centuries and are of much higher quality and are precision ground from rock crystal (natural glass), Daedalus’ nephew is accredited with inventing the dividing calliper (a compass) and as you’ll see this dramatically improved their engineering tolerances which are as good as tool placement to within 20 micron, 0.02mm).We tend to think of technology (the art of science) as modern, however, some ancient civilisations were really good at developing new technologies and exploiting them to improve their lives.SummaryConsider the scene and oar arrangement on the flotilla fresco from Akrotiri, Thera (Santorini) to another Greek island, Delos at the centre of the Cyclades (it’s naval). Images can be zoomed by clicking on them. State of the art technology before circa 1628 BCE and a glimpse into the Minoan World, enjoy …Theran white-hulled FleetSmall boats of 10 rowing oars or less, are shown as plain wooden hulls in the fresco. Those over 10 oars are white hulls or copper in one case. The significance being that large plain wooden hulls over 10 oars (non-Minoan) for transporting goods can be identified as they pass through the Cyclades and duty potentially levied.Minoan Peak Sanctuary Observatories are present at elevated mountain tops and peaks which have a commanding view of the shipping lanes, farms (to estimate areas to establish quota for tax), the night sky noting the clear markers for measurement, potentially signalling and night fires providing a beacon for boats.Peak Sanctuaries have line-of-sight between them across most of the islands in the Cyclades. Line-of-sight to the horizon from a ship's deck is approximately 4kms by comparison. A method of island fire beacons is reported in the Illiad to report the fall of Troy to Argos within hours, not quite satellite communication, but for the time impressive, its over a 500 miles as the crow flies, there is nothing to touch this until radio communication over three thousand years later).Large Labyrs or double-axe (mirrors) could have been rested on the so-called stone ‘horns of consecration’ for signalling and coordinating fleet. Peak Sanctuaries likely used for solar observation and astronomy, as well of observing coastal approaches and shipping lanes. You can see the ware and repair on the artefacts below. N.B. The double axe is gravity cast flat in copper and would be approximately 85% reflective when polished on the ‘A’ side.In this way, large double-axe mirrors (3m high), could be rested against the ‘horns’ on the wall of the peak sanctuary and retained using a base and rocked to signal over a huge distance, a translation of Labrys is ‘bright’ or narrow street (e.g. a beam of light), interestingly ‘lightening’ means ‘star-axe’.Consider what is shown on this seal mirrors which could be seen from over 200kms away.Specific accounts of signalling being used in the Greek age[1][2] and according to Homer, fire beacons (on islands) although there are no earlier accounts (e.g. In Minoan times), this may have been and think likely a legacy from Minoan times.Talos (machines) possibly an early catapult (Minoans were proficient with standoff weapons, slings and archery, and as you can see are good at technical development). One can see on this seal, peak sanctuaries may be connected in some way and a catapult is implied for throwing rocks (likely protecting ports and or nature harbours), encouraging ship to anchor in ports where duty could be levied by throwing rocks at ships trying to anchor in natural harbours and circumventing the ports authority (and tax)!The historians generally concur that early machines likely existed as accounts refer to automatons, statues that move by themselves. Although there are no archaeological early examples that survive, my own view is that pulley wheels were within there manufacturing capability, these automatons delighted audiences with their movements and ‘sang’. I think we can reasonably assume Minoans were ‘nerds’, whether male or female they loved their technology. There are accounts of Hephaestus creating a serving automaton, likely three-wheeled trolley to serve food that could at least ‘walk in’ and return. The account of Daedulus alludes to how they might be powered, he used mercury which is 13.5 times denser than water, in this way the liquid can sequence movement when it fills a pot and under gravity falls, moving a spindle or pulley wheels to actuate movement of limbs, that could also draw in air (through a whistle) as it escaped which could explain how the machines were able to sing. Though how complex these machines were is difficult to say.The early craftsman may possibly have been able to achieve something like this, both of these are much later example and in this case, I think it is likely to be a much bigger device and would use pulleys rather than gears.There is an intriguing account of a palace of Baal having a door that opened with fire (steam), that is thought to be built by Minoan engineers. I think this possible, they had hot and cold running water using copper pipes to upper stories in palaces (so probably did have boilers but there are no surviving examples - this later example is from Samos around 700 BCE, I seem to remember it's now in the Met (NY).Minoan hydroengineering is generally considered to be comparable with 18th century Europe, the significance of this would be that they are exploring using machines to do significant mechanical work. Of all the civilisations at this time, the Minoans are on a trajectory to bring about an industrial revolution sooner, they are at the level of making many copies (batch production), then not quite there and then in 1628 BCE Thera erupted and they never fully recovered to the same level of sophistication and had other priorities.Carian marinesThe so-called ‘ship-wreck’ fresco is in the same room as the first flotilla fresco that may be part of the same story on the North Wall, that may suggest Carians are paid in head of herd, a hecatomb - 100 cattle [/island?] at a festival to Apollo on Delos, the centre of the Cyclades. This is aligned to the oral accounts for the founding of Delos.Delos, if you would be willing to be the abode of my son Phoebus Apollo and make him a rich temple –; for no other will touch you, as ou will find: and I think you will never be rich in oxen and sheep, nor bear vintage nor yet produce plants abundantly. But if you have the temple of far-shooting Apollo, all men will bring you hecatombs [hundreds of head of herd] and gather here, and incessant savour of rich sacrifice will always arise, and you will feed those who dwell in you from the hand of strangers; for truly your own soil is not rich.Homeric Hymn to Delian Apollo 51–60It is known that Carians lived on Delos and adjacent islands, including Naxos, a redistribution centre. Carians supplied crew and soldiers (marines) for Minos’ navy. Carians being accredited with many shield inventions, horsehair helmets and military dances (formations/drill), they were considered by the later Greeks to be the most disciplined fighters, for hire (later in history), full-time professional soldiers. Note the Ship Winter storage sheds.Delos today, is one of the most if not the most archaeological dense sites in the entire world.Carians were known to be driven out of the islands by Minos (ca. 1,600–1450 BCE) and resettled on Caria which is where they get their name from, sometime after the Thera eruption, possibly a civil war broke out as the islands did not have food surplus available. This seal may represent this, a Cretan athElite left and Carian right. This same scene is recorded on many Minoan seals but this is one of the finest (ever found), it is 1.4″ in size.Zoomed in to approximately 10mm wide, the fidelity is extraordinary, the woollen kilt has clear raised lines with a fineness of less than 0.1mm (circa, 60 microns and very consistent, a human-hair fine). It does beg the question as to how this was made without optical magnification? Read on. If you download this image and zoom in you can see microdrill holes in the hairline - only a few, the artist missed, how they produced such fine rebated square sections I have no idea, it would be admired whenever it was produced, but this is circa 1500BCE, this entire width is 10mm, it is jaw-dropping).This is a 1mm square section and if you look carefully you can see some of the milling holes have not been worked. This suggests a tool bit of around 0.06mm and placement precision of 0.02mm, as you’ll see Minoans had lenses to realise this…It is worth adding that a compass may have been used to create this seal, the significance of this is that you can dramatically increase engineering tolerances. The dividing calliper (compass) is accredited to Perdix (Daedalus’ nephew), which archaeology seems to confirm is correct.This does tend to suggest that the majority of Minoan artefact currently found are Minoan brick-a-brac, what is needed is a deserted Minoan Citadel and there is one, see fresco, its around the Modern-day airport on Thera under a large amount of pumice that has likely preserved everything!The Theran eruption caused regional and to a less degree globe crop failure with the ash fallout (tree ring circles from Ireland had been used to date this eruption and there are other written accounts as far east as China) and with this the potential inability of the islands to pay the Marines in cattle!Vulcanologists generally concur, the Thera caldera had a single opening to the Sea to the West before ca 1628BCE when the eruption occurred, which implies that the fleet is heading North (to Delos) rather than South to Crete.Fresco orientated to North (left), e.g to Delos, noting this is shown on the North Wall of the room also, Thera pre-eruption (middle) and today (right).Weight assisted propulsion (lost in antiquity). The oars on the large ships appear to protrude mid-hull. This may be a counterbalanced oar, that uses a rope around the oar connected to weights. In this way, the weight of the oar, at some distance from the ship, is counterbalanced and crew can be adjacent to the hull rather than set away from it, saving useful stowage space.The fresco shows the end of the pull stroke, on the return stroke, the rope is extended further (outside the hull) and the internal weights within the hull are lifted. This would offer greater speed as work is performed continuously and unnecessary work is avoided, the oar is counterbalanced. Substantially faster passage could be achieved with this arrangement. Minoan technology is wonderfully simple. Not even Leonardo realised that work could be performed on the push and pull strokes who did explore how to harness human power for propulsion and flight.Minoan Marine TechnologyThere are many improvements over ships of this time shown in the fresco which include:a) Freestanding deployable masts, see main fresco.b) Composite reinforced hulls, a Minoan hull has been reconstructed (shown below) using a wooden frame with strong mortice and tenon joints and reinforced with flax linen cloth, in a pine resin matrix infused with limestone powders to make them white, the copper ship would suggest reinforcement was applied inside and out, the advantage is that if the hull runs into rocks although the wooden hull will fail, the inner composite will delaminate, keeping the hull watertight to make landfall and repair, saving the ship, crew and cargo.It is possible the Therans realised copper repels barnacles (that increase drag dramatically), the Royal Navy copper-bottomed ships for this very reason, the term today means the best. Fishing boats anchor within the Caldera to this day to clean the hull as copper is found within the islands rock formations. This seems to be limited to one ship (shown above), noting copper is a valuable commodity.To give an idea of what a copper hull may have looked like, this is a modern cold cast part (resin impregnated with copper filings and burnished). Splendid and would keep the hull clean to go faster too if the copper colour hull is using it. If the Minoans are using limestone powders I suspect they would experiment with other things too, the inner of this ship seems to be using lapis lazuli for example and is blue (need to zoom in to see it - at the rear of the vessel by the captain's cabin and blue being a feature colour on many hulls). Lapis Lazuli imported from Afghanistan coming into Phoenician ports, along with Tin (the other sources are Iberia, Cornwall/Britanny and there is a small deposits in the Anatolian mountains).I wonder if Orichalcum - Wikipedia which is referred to in the ancient text but only known by name in Plato’s time, is not a metal or an alloy as such, but rather a composite with metal powders for cold casting or applying a metallic surface finish? The issue being this would not age well using natural resin, so I’m not surprised it's not found in the archaeological archive. Second in value only to gold according to Plato.c) Devices that may be anemometers are shown on the ships hull which may deflect in wind, giving an indication to the captain and pilot of crosswinds so course correction can be made), bells appear to be shown on the line on some ships to give an audible indication of wind intensity to the crew, facing backwards.Minoan CompassOther artefacts suggest Minoans may have had superb navigational tools. Many Minoan buildings are aligned to magnetic North, which does suggest that they had a compass using magnetite, meteoric iron struck by lightning available from Skyros, although there is only a single example of a land-based compass. I cannot see that if they had this capability they would not use it at sea. The sub markers on this land-based example represent the fractional angle to True North (1 mark/total), the main pointer is West to indicate declination.It is worth noting that the four Minoan deities represent the four cardinal directions and seasons (solstice and equinox), a Minoan society working with these natural cycles to improve crop yields and developing conventions to assist navigation of the seas to facilitate trade.An Early Marine Sextant to establish Latitude (Jacob’s Staff) *.Consider Orion (the Hunter, male) and Ophiuchus (the Serpent-holder, female), in the star chart. Click to zoom.Labrys could have been used as a Jacobs staff to measure angles to reference stars, such as Orion’s belt or Ophiuchus, the Snake bearers [elbow] on the opposite side of the sky, called the serpent holder above (in English). The height of both these constellations approximates the extent of the axial tilt of the earth, the attitude or inclination of the stars position change by this extent over the year, these are the only constellation which expresses this, both being associated with moving the Zodiac constellations around the sky. The so-called ‘snake goddess’ may be little more than a Priestess explaining how to use Ophiuchus for navigation. Minoan used a lunar-solar calendar and added a 13th month every fourth year, an Olympiad when they celebrated by jumping the bull, so Ophiuchus is possibly their name for this intercalated month, this actually shown on the Orbit calculator later in this article (note that the lunar device flip-flops before advancing a position.There are a huge number of Labrys found, they are assumed to be of cultural significance, however, may have been a practical tool to assist with navigation and would also be a symbol of their naval power, Minos (Wanax or ruler) is accredited with creating the Worlds first Navy.Labrys being gravity cast in copper or gold in the case of small examples are practical mirrors when polished, B side shown. A signalling mirrors on board ship (ship to ship) and at peak sanctuaries (huge - 3m high shown above, shore to ship) to coordinate fleet perhaps.`The use as Jacob’s staff is confirmed by this later Phoenician iconography that adopts Labyrs, becoming straight-edged.‘Double axe’ marks are used for datums on Minoan buildings as a shadow is cast on the mark precisely at typically Equinox or Solstice datums.In this case, to refer to stars and constellations (Phoenician).Natural Birds to estimate Longitude *Birds illustrated, which also feature on the bow and stern posts of Phoenician ships, unfortunately, no surviving Minoan white hulls have yet been found, however, a small Minoan Shipwreck has recently been found but results are yet to be published.A possible reason is that caged birds face (longingly) towards the port they were exchanged in, this has been well established by scientific studies, they scuff the bowl in the cage, cover one of the bird’s eyes and they lose this ability, incredibly it looks as if they exploit a quantum effect as light as a wave rather than a particle, e.g. the two-slit experiment. The Minoans would not understand this, just recognise that birds had/have this ability (they hone to the desired location with the migratory seasons, which is what the Minoan sailors wanted to do and did). From this longitude (tricky) can be estimated by triangulation, it will not be perfect but some indication of longitude in the middle of the Mediterranean would have been extremely useful.It is known that Minoans realised high sea passage, but not how this was achieved, a puzzle that has perplexed marine archaeologists. These technologies being millennia ahead of the time, fibreglass hulls were not ‘invented’ until the 1950’s AD for example, flax linen cloth is almost as strong in tension as E-glass cloth used for composite hulls (GRP) of today but flax has improved flexural qualities. This is a half-scale reproduction (video tour) Minoan white-hull - 20 oars (the mid-hull oar arrangement, freestanding masts and devices of metrology (measurement) not reproduced, but according to the fresco are used).Palace ShipyardsThe Minoans do not appear to give away their advantage and likely kept these technologies secret, which is why little about this is known, obviously, the white hulls are on plain view in port, but no-one else knew how to build these ships and probably thought this was for decoration, the ships are pretty, featuring the fastest animals to ‘fly’ or ‘porpoise’ across the sea at speed! Ships likely produced by Palace controlled shipyards. It is worth noting that when Theseus returned to Athens the ship was kept for many centuries as a prize, had the mainland finally learned the Minoan secret of the location of metals of the world and to navigate it? Well maybe, but the mainland didn’t see the advantages of reinforcing a hull! Theseus made a beeline for Skyros on his return, a source of magnetite (iron), he was thrown off a cliff, the islands clearly didn’t like what he (Athens) offered.Seals. The profusion of seals found, allude to Palace seal authorisation. It is often difficult to interpret Minoan artefacts, are these possibly clay imprinted tokens for the passage for tradespeople or a kind of promissory note to exchange commodities on the next visit to port perhaps or perhaps a receipt against which the holders personal account is credited when presented to the Palace after the goods are delivered to port? Most of these impressions are found on the Phaistos Disc - Wikipedia.Palaces had shutters over doors for air management and fountains for natural cooling, flushing toilets, sewers, aqueducts, flat concrete floors, clay interlocking plumbing for freshwater, hypocaust (for heating), steam rooms and communal bathing, alabaster glazing (before flat glass, hazy but light penetrates), paved roads and canals being evident, not just writing but blind embossed printing, lost wax casting and formers to make once well and scale production with apprentices making many copies, fancy stuff. Why would anyone want to leave? Then again, they need to gather raw materials to make these wonderful things.The Priestess set quota for farms and monitor variance and there is evidence of economic planning to make up shortfalls through trade, winter food storage and magazines will have had significant metal reserves that they likely call upon following the Thera eruption, significant ash fallout fell on Crete. It may look like pots but the treasury is likely under the floor and you can’t see it for pottery.This is what the ladies in Minoan society did, organise, everything!The Priestess seem to collect internal revenues, the Minos external revenues (duty) and this may have been stored in the caves (protected by the Dactyls), on can see metal ingots stored in the caves, in this seal. Minos (lion) went to the caves every nine years to bring in new laws, the nine olives of victory being shown, Minos was last to leave the Arena according to mythology, which suggests Minoan leaders were appointed by talent. Briefly, the Minoan deities are shown on the top left branch: Daught Moon (Artemis), Mother Earth (Demeter); the bees, Son the Sun (Apollo) and his consort Venus; the love birds. The Minoan names are respectively: Potnia Theron (the Mistress of Animals), I-DA-MA-TE, Kouros (the Master of Animals), (J)A-SA-SA-RA-ME (Venus).The Priestess (bottom right) have corresponding houses. Mother Superior is shown behind the Griffon that represents the Great Year (a 26,000-year cycle, yes they worked this out, it 26 are shown repeatedly on Griffon iconography). The populus bottom left.The Priestess (bees) are like civil servants with special powers, they understand the science of the day (astronomy) and administration (organisation), purposeful intervening to increase production capacity and yields (e.g. literally seedcorn loans) to support an expanding population: 100,000 in Knossos - huge, which is around 1% of the world population at the time. It is called a Palace but it is more an administration centre (Government).It is generally assumed that coinage was ‘invented’ in Lydia around the 6th century BCE by the Priests of Artemis. Now consider these token minted by the Priestess of Potnia Theron (the Mistress of Animals and the forerunner to Artemis) and Demeter, know as the bees, respectively responsible for the Harvest and Winter food storage. They likely represent a months salary for acolytes (young trainee priestess, eight is frequently shown which represent an Octaeteris - Wikipedia that is associated with Venus, one of their four deities, A-SA-SA-RA-ME). The tokens are of a standard bullion weight and design and are found in quantity (often in hundreds) and used from around 1800 BCE. They are likely used to facilitate trade transactions and could have been drawn from the Palace and deposited at another to setup an account which good could then be drawn down from magazines against, in the main Minoans used a system of credit and reconciled accounts, drawing down goods with seal authorisation (like a credit card). Palace records show quota being set for farms, repaid at harvest time (with tax) and variance monitored and rolling over to the next accounting period. How very organised.There is a duality in this society, robustness to defend their way of life that is tempered by the female fascination with how nature is organised (the cycles of life). This society prospered (before the Thera eruption). Minos is accredited with suppressing piracy (facilitating trade).Minoan Orbital Calculator and astronomyClosing thoughts here is a casting stone to make many copies of an orbital calculator (manual), it precedes the Antikythera mechanism by over a millennium and defines many of the periods used on the later device. The four main Minoan deities define periods of time, an Earth Day (mother), a Lunar month (daughter), a Solar year (son) and a four-year Olympiad or Octaeteris (lady - consort). The device can also predict Saros cycles when the celestial bodies return to their original position, which can be used to predict eclipses, the device is 94% accurate in doing so. Rather impressive stuff. As you can see the device on the left, can be used to express angles as fractions of opposite and adjacent, that are the underlying elements of trigonometry, and particularly useful for orbital calculation, for example, to establishing the seasonal offset due to Earth’s axial tilt to accurately determine latitude. These people are geeks, they love their multifunction devices as do we today, theirs are a bit more basic but also very useful.The device on the right is for lunar periods but mostly for keeping a calendar, the first use of a 7 day week (lunar phase), the device flip-flops before advancing one position on the left solar device each month so that an accurate 29.5 day month can be maintained (clever huh), there is additional archaeology that confirms this. The solar device and notch systems allow a four-year Olympiad to be maintained, that the Minoans may have celebrated every four years with Bull-leaping (the first games), literally the leap month celebration, according to artefacts. Minos, the Cretan ruler, ‘being last to leave the arena.’ I suspect this device is more for the populous, the Priestess likely to have even better instruments, unfortunately, none of these has yet been found. It is mainly used for maintaining an accurate calendar but can perform some very useful mathematical functions, specifically, trigonometry for orbital calculation and seasonal offsets for determine latitude. It is a remarkable device and precedes the Antikythera mechanism by a full millennium, accepting its manual, non-mechanical, but still, the hard part is determining all these astronomical cycles and is self-evident that the Minoans clearly studied and define.One can see how the idea of the cog (a huge thing) may have evolved from this, but it is not in itself a meshed gear. There is no archaeology in-between this and the mechanism (or the North facing chariot with a differential that appears around the same time) for example. If you know of some any cogs around the first millennia BCE, please do drop me a comment!Minoans understanding of the solar system and particularly optics seems comparable to that of the time of Newton considered to be the start of the enlightenment (with amazingly far fewer materials, precision ground rock crystal lens shown below that are optically superior to a single Babylonian example), I don’t think they saw the value of tubes with fixed focal length, there seem to be extendable poles present at peak sanctuaries according to the artwork, two of the lens have elongated sections that seem to imply that the lens was attached to some form of pole (possibly fixed with linen thread and pine resin, it's how you attach an arrowhead to the shaft). Consider, the wedge crescent-shaped device it will recreate a Natural rainbow, the prism wasn’t invented until newtons time, then again prisms are found at mountain top workshops too, what on earth we’re they doing splitting light into a spectrum, we can only speculate as to what they may have used this for.The wedge-shaped crescent lens being remarkable, it may have been used to reproduce a natural rainbow, noting Newton is accredited with splitting light into its spectrum using a prism, he did not reproduce a rainbow, simulating nature is hard to do so shows a true understanding of optics. Minoan Palaces have both light and dark rooms to study these things, they watch the passage of Venus across the Sun in the reflection of water bowls for example.It is extraordinary what they achieved with the limited materials of the day.The meaning of the Griffons, is they protect the celestial cone which mother Earth wobbles back within throughout the Ages, a 26,000-year cycle, that they may have been trying to calculate, as the pole stars gradually drift over the centuries due to precession of the equinox (three pole stars being shown on each Griffons (2) wings in iconography, the lions digit front paws make 13 x 2 = 26, lions only have 4 digit claws on the rear shown on the each and probably represent four-year Olympiad and eight-year Octaeteris). They studied what we would call today Astronomy and Earth science, it is not just the heavens, but nature, plants and trees that can help identify metal ore, provide treatments, even a nice cuppa: a well-deserved chamomile mountain tea break!UPDATE: they have nailed the Great Year, 13 marks are shown on each griffon collar flanking the embodiment of Demeter (Mother Superior).This is confirmed on the Saffron gathering fresco, 26 ‘V’ are shown on the single griffon's wing.ConclusionI don’t believe Minoan artefacts can be understood in isolation, they need to be considered in a wider context and generally show the state of the art before bronze age collapse. The Minoans connected three continents in trade, the ideas and commodities of the known world flowed through their ports and technological advantage maintains the ‘Minoan Peace’.A hugely productive period in the story and advancement of civilisation, before ca. 1628 BCE when Thera erupted.This technology is almost divided (scattered), the Greeks get the Priestess, the Oracle of Delphi with priests of the Double Axe: the Pythia had her hands full trying to dissuade city-states from fighting amongst each other. The Islands to some degree preserve the astronomical knowledge. The Babylonians got a lens and trigonometry, the archaeology suggests trig in a basic form originally came from the British Isles of all places! The Phoenicians get some of the navigational tools. Composite hulls and this wonderful method of storing energy for propulsion is lost to time.I hope this shows that Civilisation is a privilege rather than a right. An unforeseen event can fundamentally change the course of human progress.These people celebrated life! The art appears modern, as Cycladic art (the indigenous people of the islands, leading to the Minoans), inspired the much later modern art movement.One way to consider the four Minoan deities being: Organisation (North), Creation (East), Commerce (South), and Science (West). In this Minoan fresco, the pigment wants to move around on the fresco wall. Art (state of), science (technology) and commerce are considered in a holistic way for the betterment of society (by organisation).This fresco summarises the Minoans for me, OK it looks highly stylised and pretty, but the artist embeds everything we need to know, 49 lunar months are shown in the horizontal border, a four-year Olympiad. The verticle count is 14 (years), that collectively give a saros when the organised ones (the celestial bodies, their deities) return to their starting positions. I’m so looking forward to a worldwide celebration next year, our own games!! This blaster virus has really upset the natural order of things.Have things really move forward or become complicated? What can you do in your lifetime? Get busy, go places, see what can be done! All speed. Go make something amazing!Footnotes[1] https://research.ncl.ac.uk/histos/documents/2017AA04MooreFire-SignalingInGreekHistoriography.pdf[2] The Lighthouses of Greece

Satellites can be classified by their function since they are launched into space to do a specific job. The satellite must be designed specifically to fulfill its role.Below are the names of nine different types of satellites. There are also nine pictures of satellites. Each picture is an example of one type of satellite. You can click either on the picture or on the name to learn more about that type of satellite, and its example.Communications satellites - Communications satellites allow radio, television, and telephone transmissions to be sent live anywhere in the world. Before satellites, transmissions were difficult or impossible at long distances. The signals, which travel in straight lines, could not bend around the round Earth to reach a destination far away. Because satellites are in orbit, the signals can be sent instantaneously into space and then redirected to another satellite or directly to their destination. The satellite can have a passive role in communications like bouncing signals from the Earth back to another location on the Earth; on the other hand, some satellites carry electronic devices called transponders for receiving, amplifying, and re-broadcasting signals to the Earth.Communications satellites are often in geostationary orbit. At the high orbital altitude of 35,800 kilometers, a geostationary satellite orbits the Earth in the same amount of time it takes the Earth to revolve once. From Earth, therefore, the satellite appears to be stationary, always above the same area of the Earth. The area to which it can transmit is called a satellite's footprint. FCommunications satellties can also be in highly elliptical orbits. This type of orbit is roughly egg-shaped, with the Earth near the top of the egg. In a highly elliptical orbit, the satellite's velocity changes depending on where it is in its orbital path. When the satellite is in the part of its orbit that's close to the Earth, it moves faster because the Earth's gravitational pull is stronger. This means that a communications satellite can be over the region of the Earth that it is communicating with for the long part of its orbit. It will only be out of contact with that region when it quickly zips close by the Earth.Navigation satellites - The first system known as GPS (Global Positioning System) was set up by the US DoD and was primarily intended for use as a highly accurate military system. Since then it has been adopted by a huge number of commercial and private users.Small GPS systems are available at costs that are affordable by the individual and are used for car navigation, and they are even being incorporated into phones in a system known as A-GPS (Assisted GPS) to enable accurate location of the phone in case of emergency.Satellites for navigation were developed in the late 1950's as a direct result of ships needing to know exactly where they were at any given time. In the middle of the ocean or out of sight of land, you can't find out your position accurately just by looking out the window.The idea of using satellites for navigation began with the launch of Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957. Scientists at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory monitored that satellite. They noticed that when the transmitted radio frequency was plotted on a graph, a pattern developed. This pattern was recognizable to scientists, and it is known as the doppler effect. The doppler effect is an apparent change of radio frequency as something that emits a signal in the form of waves passes by. Since the satellite was emitting a signal, scientists were able to show that the doppler curve described the orbit of the satellite.Today, most navigation systems use time and distance to determine location. Early on, scientists recognized the principle that, given the velocity and the time required for a radio signal to be transmitted between two points, the distance between the two points can be computed. The calculation must be done precisely, and the clocks in the satellite and in the ground-based receiver must be telling exactly the same time - they must be synchronized. If they are, the time it takes for a signal to travel can be measured and then multiplied by the exact speed of light to obtain the distance between the two positions.Remote Sensing satellites - Remote sensing is observing and measuring our environment from a distance. So, remote sensing satellites are usually put into space to monitor resources important for humans.For example, remote sensing satellites might track animal migration, locate mineral deposits, watch agricultural crops for weather damage, or see how fast the forests are being cut down.All of these things can be done best from space because a satellite in orbit can normally take photographs of large expanses of land all over the world.Since these satellites are able to take photographs (imagery and cartography) and observe areas all over the globe, the satellite is able to monitor areas in which the climate is very harsh, or which are nearly impossible tor reach by land.Weather satellites - Meteorologists use weather satellites for many things, and they rely on images from satellites. There are two basic types of weather satellites: those in geostationary orbit and those in polar orbit.Geostationary satellites usually measure in "real time", meaning they transmit photographs to the receiving system on the ground as soon as the camera takes the picture. A series of photographs from these satellites can be displayed in sequence to produce a movie showing cloud movement. This allows forecasters to watch the progress of large weather systems such as fronts, storms, and hurricanes. Forecasters can also find out the wind direction and speed by monitoring cloud movement.The other basic type of weather satellite is polar orbiting. This type of satellite orbits in a path that closely follows the Earth's meridian lines, passing over the north and south poles once each revolution. These 'strips' can be pieced together to produce a picture of a larger area. Polar satellites circle at a much lower altitude at about 850 km. This means that polar satellites can photograph clouds from closer than the high altitude geostationary satellites. Polar satellites, therefore, provide more detailed information about violent storms and cloud systems.Here are a few examples of those uses:Radiation measurements from the earth's surface and atmosphere give information on amounts of heat and energy being released from the Earth and the Earth's atmosphere.People who fish for a living can find out valuable information about the temperature of the sea from measurements that satellites make.Satellites monitor the amount of snow in winter, the movement of ice fields in the Arctic and Antarctic, and the depth of the ocean.Infrared sensors on satellites examine crop conditions, areas of deforestation and regions of drought.Some satellites have a water vapour sensor that can measure and describe how much water vapour is in different parts of the atmosphere.Satellites can detect volcanic eruptions and the motion of ash clouds.During the winter, satellites monitor freezing air as it moves south towards Florida and Texas, allowing weather forecasters to warn growers of upcoming low temperatures.Satellites receive environmental information from remote data collection platforms on the surface of the Earth. These include transmitters floating in the water called buoys, gauges of river levels and conditions, automatic weather stations, stations that measure earthquake and tidal wave conditions, and ships. This information, sent to the satellite from the ground, is then relayed from the satellite to a central receiving station back on Earth.Reconnaissance satellites - Reconnaissance satellites are used to spy on other countries. They provide intelligence information on the military activities of foreign countries. These satellites can even detect missile launches or nuclear explosions in space. Reconnaissance satellites can pick up and record radio and radar transmissions while passing over a country.They can be used as an orbital weapon by placing warheads on a low orbit satellite to be launched at a ground target.There are basically four types of reconnaisance satellites.Optical-imaging satellites that have light sensors that detect missile launches and "see" enemy weapons on the ground.Radar-imaging satellites-to observe the Earth using radar technology through cloud cover.Signals-intelligence or ferret satellites are super-sophisticated radio receivers that capture the radio and microwave transmissions emitted from any country on EarthRelay satellites that make military satellite communications around the globe much faster by transmitting data from spy satellites to stations on EarthSearch and Rescue satellites -Search and rescue satellites are designed to provide a way for vessels at sea and in the air to communicate from remote areas. These satellites can detect and locate emergency beacons carried by ships, aircrafts, or individuals in remote or dangerous places.The first rescue aided by spacecraft was in September of 1982 when a Soviet satellite, Cosmos-1383, detected a distress beacon from a pair of small airplanes that had crashed. The satellite was able to give rescuers the location of the two downed planesSatellites equipped with search and rescue equipment fly over a beacon that is releasing an emergency signal. Using mathematical calculations involving the doppler effect, scientists can translate that signal into coordinates, and determine the location of the distress signal within four kilometres.Space Exploration satellites - Space exploration satellites are not really satellites at all; they are properly known as space probes. e.g., NASA's Galileo, ISRO MOM, A satellite is defined as something that's orbiting something else, but space probes instead travel deep into the solar system. However, they are similar to orbiting satellites in design and function. On their journeys, space probes send back detailed pictures and other data of faraway planets and other stellar phenomena. Space exploration satellites are responsible for many of astronomy's most important achievements. Jupiter's rings, for example, were discovered by a space exploration satellite. Space exploration satellites must be built to last because it takes so long for the satellites to reach their destinations. Space exploration satellites are different from astronomy satellites because they do not operate from Earth orbit; they are actually sent out into deep space on their own.Astronomy satellites - An astronomy satellite is basically a really big telescope floating in space like - Hubble Space Telescope. Because it is in orbit above the Earth, the satellite's vision is not clouded by the gases that make up the Earth's atmosphere, and its infrared imaging equipment is not confused by the heat of the Earth. Astronomy satellites, therefore, can "see" into space up to ten times better than a telescope of similar strength on Earth. By analyzing the electromagnetic spectrum, the different wavelengths of light (for example, ultraviolet, x-ray, visible spectrum, microwaves, and gamma rays) make a picture of something far away in space. So, the pictures that come from Hubble and other astronomy satellites are not photographs from a regular camera, but images created from the analysis of electromagnetic waves - the waves that make up the light spectrum. Astronomy satellites have many different applications:they can be used to make star mapsthey can be used to study mysterious phenomena such as black holes and quasarsthey can be used to take pictures of the planets in the solar systemthey can be used to make maps of different planetary surfacesAtmospheric Studies satellites - Atmospheric studies satellites were some of the very first satellites launched into space. They generally have pretty low Earth orbits so that they can study the Earth's atmosphere. E.g aurora borealis, or northern lights - disturbances of the ionosphere

This is an extremely complicated question, since unlike most modern democracies, Brazil had its share of outright dictatorial periods plus some "grey historical eras" where the ruling president was sort of democratically elected.Most historians and sociologists say that Brazil only truly became a democracy after its 1988 constitution and this is excessively close to the present to let us decide who our best presidents were.Besides these issues, the fact that the country went through long periods of military dictatorship also means that it had a very weak and censored press throughout its history (and most journalism academics will say, still has nowadays), making information gathering a very complicated issue. There is also the matter of political persecution, imprisonments and disappearances of many academics during these periods, which also damaged the Brazilian capability of keeping unbiased records and critical posture towards its own leaders.Finally but definitely not least, these factors led Brazil to have a narrow oligopoly on media and press, meaning that the predominant public opinion and posture about politics (even from "well educated" rich individuals) is dramatically different than the academic consensus. This has sparked some recent phenomena on historical revisionism that try really hard to water down humanitarian crimes during the military dictatorship, downplay or demoralize insurgent groups that fought dictators and review traditionally praised Brazilian achievements as mere patriotic fabrications (like dreadfully misleading books such as "The Politically Incorrect History of Brazil" and so on).These are all important factors to understand the different takes on the most relevant presidents in Brazilian history, especially the ones that came after the 1988 constitution. All you can assume is that most of the views will be biased (including my own), so try to give more credits to the least "Good vs Evil" among them.As for the "Best" president... I think it would be wrong to simply elect one, but better to define which the most relevant ones are.And in my opinion they were:- Getúlio Vargas- Juscelino Kubitschek- Fernando Hernique Cardoso- Luis Inácio "Lula" da SilvaAll of them have their merits and flaws. I chose these four because they have undeniably caused significant changes in Brazilian reality.Getúlio Vargas (1930-45 and 1951-54):He was unquestionably a very complicated, ambiguous (or outright paradoxal), infamous figure in Brazilian history. He ascended to power through dictatorship at first, but was elected for his second term.This guy was a quasi-fascist that refused to join the Axis and later declared war on Germany aiding the Allies. He was a notorious communist hunter that stablished some of Brazilian most extensive and important pro-laborer laws. He can be widely considered a conservative, but stood for his time's most progressive stances.His most important legacy consists in Brazil's shift from an agrarian economy to an urban/industrial one. He marked the power shift from the traditional semi-aristocratic landowners to the urban bourgeois. In doing that, he was also the first president to set Brazil in the motion of trying to be a mostly middle-class nation, which meant a significant change in economic policies and goals.It can be said that he played well with his ambiguous ideological stance, getting good trade deals with Germany at first and then changing his coat to a strongly US aligned government when offered better trade deals and investments. This allowed him to vastly accelerate Brazilian industrialization in the years after WW1 and throughout WW2.He also nationalized strategical mineral and fuel resources, which shielded Brazil from US and European corporations’ exploitation while our own industry was not yet fully developed to productively harness them. He was also one of the main figures that pushed Brazil to find oil when no significant deposits were known. This led to the creation of Petrobras which had an ENORMOUS part in Brazilian economical and geopolitical history and is arguably its most important strategical asset.On the other hand, he flirted WAY too much with fascism. The "Integralista" ideology that he advocated was extremely close to Mussolini's fascism and Hitler's iconography. The fact that this guy simply sent a pregnant Jewish communist rebel as a "gift" to Hitler tells you a lot about his dark side.“God - Country - Family”It is much discussed whether his corporatists and protectionists stances actually hampered Brazilian development or shielded it from foreign manipulation.In the end he unquestionably left a significant legacy and is known as the president who transitioned Brazil into a modern XX century state.Juscelino Kubitschek, AKA "JK" (1956-61):JK was a completely different deal, he was by far a less controversial man than Getúlio, but his legacy is perhaps the most controversial of all Brazilian presidents.If Getúlio was the one who ushered the transition to a "modern" Brazil, Kubitschek is regarded as the man who fathered this new era. He ran for presidency on an accelerated development platform that could be seen as a weird capitalist spin-off of the "5 Year Plan" concept adopted by the communist party.He steered away from Getúlio's protectionist policies and opened Brazil to international private investment (even though he didn't set motion to privatize its major state companies Titans such as Petrobras). This led to a extremely accelerated growth of industry with a major focus on the automobile sector, mimicking U.S.' auto & oil centered economy. Consequently, Brazil had an infrastructure sprout, with highways and roads being constructed everywhere, connecting regions that were mostly isolated until then. The road network expansion was aimed at bringing development to the Brazilian interior, which was (mostly) dramatically less developed than the coast side, including even a very ambitious and ultimately flopped project of constructing a trans-Amazonian highway.The apex of these projects aimed towards huge infrastructure and interior-development was the construction of a new capitol: Brasília. JK was the president that moved Brazilian federal government from its historical base in Rio to a city built out from scratch in the middle of "nowhere".JK led Brazil to an impressive economical and infrastructural growth, to an unseen stage of geographical interconnection and ultimately change the Brazilian "face" to the rest of the world, what was once seen as a major agricultural power based on coffee, was now unquestionably an industrial nation.On the other hand, most of his legacy waned rather catastrophically. His accelerated progress was built upon enormous loans that tripled the national debt. He made Brazilian economy strongly oil dependent (in a time that Brazil was not self sufficient in its production). He abandoned virtually all investments in railroad infrastructure and arguably gave away too much financial and political power to foreign auto industries such as GM, Ford and VW.The oil crisis of the 70s coupled with the ever increasing interests in the external debt led Brazil to such an economical mess that by the 80's inflation was so high, retail prices would change twice a day. Until today, Brazil has a broken railroad infrastructure, relying on way more expensive diesel trucks to transport heavy load exports such as grains and ore. Brazilian industry became a hostage to the automobile sector as most of the jobs became directly or indirectly linked to the assembly plants. GM, Ford and VW became an all powerful lobby oligarchy, it took long years before any competition (from Japan or France) could set foot in the country while any dream of having a strong national auto industry was forever crushed. It could be said that he made the whole country into one big Detroit.This all set in motion the crisis were decades later emerged the next president in this list...Fernando Henrique Cardoso, AKA "FHC" (1995-2002)Now we enter an age of extremely recent presidents and it is really hard to actually measure their true legacy. Anyway, it is undisputed that Brazil has been into a deeply transforming phase since the late 90's and even though we can't accurately measure FHC's and his successor merits and flaws, we cannot deny their impact as presidents.He was perhaps the most academic and highly educated president in Brazilian history, initially referred as "The Prince of Sociologists" for being a famous figure among the traditionally left-aligned social sciences landscape despite coming from an arguably aristocratic family. This guy stacks honors and degrees that would put most presidents in the world to shame, having lectured in places such as Cambridge, Brown, Stanford and Berkley.He's credited as the president that untangled the Gordian knot of post-military hyperinflation (which could be traced to a combination of JK's reforms and the subsequent military dictatorship that took place in Brazil from 1964 to the early 80's). He's wrongly regarded as the father of the "Plano Real" (the economic plan that stopped the hyperinflation), but that doesn't mean that he hasn't his fair share of credit in its success, since his political articulations and executive decisions were essential for the plan's survival.In a nutshell, the Plano Real consisted in attaching the local currency to the dollar but initially keeping it at a greater value, while raising interest rates dramatically and cutting government expenses. This created a strong influx of foreign capital and goods, holding up international reserves as the availability of cheaper imported goods (since a Real was worth more than a dollar) pressured the internal market not to raise prices. The dollar pairing was gradually released as inflation levels grew from zero to natural and manageable levels until the point that it achieved relative "freedom" from the dollar exchange in 1999.Inflation in Brazil from May 1993 to November 1994The plan itself was developed by economists of the Brazilian Federal Bank during the previous presidency (Itamar Franco) when FHC was the Finance Minister. His role was more important as a political articulator between congress and the executive power, and as the plan's figurehead holding on public opinion to enable the necessary changes.Current political forces in Brazil give him almost complete credit for the plan, as he is the historical backbone of the present opposition. One of their greatest credos is that the development achieved by his successor (and rival) in the last 12 years, was a direct consequence of his adversary reaping the benefits of the Plano Real that ultimately Brazil would be in a much better place now if this economic rebirth was managed by the people who made it happen. The truth is, of course, somewhat more complex than this and while he was undeniably important for the fruition of the Plano Real, his role tends to be over dimensioned, since he's not an economist, nor was part of the federal bank team, nor was the president when the plan took place. It is quite possible that the plan would have succeeded regardless of his election to the presidency afterwards, but that falls to the realm of speculation.Another important legacy of FHC, was the massive privatization of public companies. Most notably the state owned mining company: CVRD, a behemoth of global proportions in the ore commodity business. He also ushered the privatization of the telecomm business, which by that time couldn't keep up with the minimal market demands (a phone line used to be an asset as value as real state in some cases). All the privatized companies displayed increased profitability after their privatization, although much of it is disputed.If Vargas and JK were the ones that pushed Brazil to a status of modern nation, FHC certainly is the one who made it globalized. The stable currency enabled an age of easier credit that boomed consumerism and the greatest influx of imported goods (and culture) since Varga's protectionist measures.But, on the other hand...Plano Real scheduled independence from the dollar and increase in inflation (which should have been gradual), happened in a leap only after his reelection to keep Brazilians under the impression of a stronger economy and guarantee votes, causing a serious economic crisis in 1999 (where the real lost considerable value overnight). Plus, the artificial maintenance of the exchange rates was kept by huge IMF loans.He worked uncomfortably close to conservative parties made up of big plantation-style landowners. During his presidency Brazil suffered with severe famine issues, while the urban centers experienced visible advances, the rural population lived in conditions akin to some of Africa's poorest nations.“‘It’s a good thing I don’t haev to eat geckos’ - young boy eating donated rice and beans”The positive impact of some privatizations is highly debated as some of them meant huge profit for foreign companies (such as Spain's Telefonica) and an exchange from a state monopoly to a private oligopoly with outstanding lobbying power. These companies valuations were (and still are) a huge issue as investigations showed they were sold considerably below their market price.Vale had and EBITDA close to US$400MM in 1996, in 1997 it was privatized for US$3.3B, in less than a decade its profits predictably skyrocketedUltimately, FHC's government greatest issue was its excess of neoliberal ideology that led to a submissive stance regarding the U.S., including plans such as weakening and subsequently privatizing Petrobras and opening oil exploration rights to foreign companies. Brazil became strongly reliant on U.S.' economy as it harbored (together with the EU) most of Brazilian exports.Luís Inácio "Lula" da Silva, AKA "Lula" (2003-2010)P.S.: He is the most recent president in this list and therefore the most difficult one to precisely evaluate as almost every single Brazilian has a positively or negatively biased opinion on him.Probably the most peculiar of Brazilian heads of state, Lula was the first left wing, labor party aligned, humble-origin elected president. He had no college education (actually only learned how to read after 10) and was a blue-collar worker in the automobile industry (to the extent where he lost a finger in an industrial accident). His political career was born among the syndical movement, where he was a founding member of the Workers' Party.This causes most of the population to have very opposite views about his origins. While most of the poor view him as a beacon of hope, an example of how anyone can rise and lead, a politician that is sympathetic to their condition, most of the rich see him as unprepared, ignorant and outright stupid due to his lack of formal education.But no matter your stance on Lula, you have to be really blinded by prejudice to not admit the man is a brilliant politician. He took office amidst an economic crisis caused specifically by the financial market's fears of his presidency, he faced a hostile and biased mainstream media (the same few families that composed the oligopoly created by the dictatorship years), an uncooperative congress held up by an alliance with the most mercenary party in Brazilian politics... and he thrived. Weaving unexpected alliances, making peace with old enemies, balancing the most dramatic demands of his left-aligned electorate and playing the game (yes, this includes Brazilian historical and endemic corruption) he managed to push the most important goals in his agenda which were vital to Brazil's 21st century awakening.His 1st and most focused objective was to extinguish extreme poverty and hunger. He tackled that with extensive welfare programs called "Bolsa Família" (aimed at providing financial aid to families below the poverty line) and "Fome Zero" (aimed at extinguishing hunger). To be true, "Bolsa Família" was created during FHC's mandate, but had a very shy, almost symbolic, impact until Lula.His 2nd legacy was aimed towards greater independence from the US-UE axis, national sovereignty and Brazilian rise as a major player in the geopolitical landscape. For that, his government amplified Brazilian diplomatic missions greatly, aiming to spread trade among a more diversified portfolio of partners. It is important to note that this was done while keeping good and strong relations to US-EU, despite historical divergences with US' pressures and interferences in Brazilian politics, his administration never boarded on an anti-American speech. Despite the early skepticism displayed by Brazilian press and businessmen, by the end of his 2nd term, China had surpassed the US as Brazil's biggest trading partner while new channels had been stablished with Africa, middle east and Russia. Thanks to this Brazil went relatively unscathed through the 2008 crash, since it wasn't so strongly reliant on US capital by then (the fact that federal bank didn't jump into the subprime hype boat helped a lot to, but this is more a merit of the bank itself than of his policies).During his terms, international perception of Brazil rose significantly along with its soft power, helping to land not only the rights to host a World Cup, but also the first Olympic Games in Latin American history. Brazil even managed to help (in cooperation with Turkey) in opening channels to Iranian nuclear agreements.His government greatest geopolitical achievement is probably being part of the creation of the BRICS block, which fits Lula's foreign policy of placing Brazil as a sovereign nation in a multi-polar world. It is too soon to correctly predict what will come from this, but it is likely that the BRICS and their soon to be created monetary fund, will have a big impact in the global balance of power.Another important aspect of his government was the empowerment of Petrobras (which was inherited in a very weakened condition) and the government pressure made to have a more "strategical resource" focus than a profit-oriented one. This enabled the company to spend significant capital in the discovery and exploration of the Pre-Salt Santos Basin Oil Reserves, which could be considered a game changer for Brazil in the long run.In the end, Lula's government experienced some of the greatest rises in social and economic aspects ever experienced by Brazil. While most of criticism aimed at him give credit to FHC's stance on the Plano Real, it is clear to most academics worldwide that his wealth redistribution efforts and foreign policy had a strong role on this prosperity.Now, to the final "In the other hand"...While he triumphed on his short/middle term goals, it can be said that he failed in the preparations of his succession. His pax politica was built upon the same corrupt practices of conservative Brazil and while he did little to undo these schemes, he lost his party a lot of political power by catering unfaithful alliances that blew up as a grave institutional crisis in his successor hands. He supported his former chief-of-staff Dilma Roussef to be his successor even though she was not as politically versed as him (although she was a competent bureaucrat who really helped him keep things running) and would have great issues in juggling a hostile legislative branch. This ultimately led to the corrosion of executive-legislative relations that opened a back door for foreign interference again (such as a senate bill that would take away from Petrobras exclusive rights to the Pre-Salt Basin exploration thanks to US-Chevron pressure).He also missed great opportunities to boost industry and business by centering most of Brazilian economical focus in commodities instead of manufactured goods with aggregated value (this was probably his greatest sin). Besides that, his party's government has postponed some urgently needed tax reforms for more than a decade, making Brazil a less dynamic and attractive country for entrepreneurship.In the end, his lack of long term planning might have cost Brazil one of its greatest opportunities for finding a "developed vocation" (such as, being a biotech powerhouse or a leader on renewable energy technology, etc).Final P.S.: Many will come a wail about corruption. I did not place it as a significant aspect of these presidents as all of them (save Getúlio, perhaps) were directly or indirectly implicated in a plethora of scandals… as is the rule for Brazil since early colonial days. Brazilian press has been especially caustic about Lula’s presidency but any quick search and simple math will make clear that it was no better or worse than before in that matter. Plus, from Justinian to Lincoln, history is filled with leaders that were surrounded by grey knights that were outright corrupt themselves but did great jobs, or used corruption to exert power in order to achieve greater goals, in the end, it is more about the legacy they left behind.