Includes bibliographical references (pages 241-249) and index.
On definitions, approaches, and periodization -- Technologies of computation : mathematics and measurement -- Technologies of communication : written language, educational institutions, and the character of natural knowledge -- From technologies of divination to the science of astronomy -- Calendars, time keeping, and the increasing complexity of astronomy -- Empirical and religious medical practices -- Philosophical medicine, cosmology, and natural philosophy -- Construction technologies : materials, tools, and fixed structures -- Producing and processing food and clothing -- Minerals, metals, pigments, glazes, and the origins of alchemy.