The ancient Greeks thought big. Their architecture was grand and bold, and the rocky, heavily-forested terrain called for innovative engineering solutions in order to make real their ambitious designs. Buildings such as the Parthenon in Athens, the theatre at Epidauros, and the many temples to the gods are fine examples of both Greek architecture and engineering. Such projects required large-scale quarrying of the country’s extensive marble resources, accurate cutting and the development of the crane, as well as ground drainage and stabilisation. All of these things called for the application of complex mathematical formulae. That ancient Greek technology didn’t develop further was due to the structure of their society, which relied on a great many poor, unskilled and uneducated workers directed by an elite few.
