I’m still reading “The Lost Empire of Atlantis” and enjoying every minute of it.
One of the things I enjoy the most is the learning. The author takes the time to explain. He doesn’t just gloss over concepts and assume that you either know it or will step away from the book and “google” it.
For instance, he discusses the bronze age.
Well, it’s been a long time since I studied the bronze age. I’m familiar with the term, I remember my teachers talking about it, I remember reading about it here and there, but … don’t ask me anything about it. Because, I don’t have a clue! I can’t remember any of the salient facts. They’re gone from my memory. And, that’s assuming they were ever there in the first place.
Well, Gavin Menzies didn’t leave me hanging. He filled me in about the bronze age. All part of proving his case about the lost empire of Atlantis. Prove who these people were, where they came from, and what happened to them. And, it all hinges on the bronze age.
You see, before the bronze age, people had a difficult time building any substantial structures. They were missing a key technology; some way to cut wood, stone and other building materials relatively quickly and easily. The ancients had copper but, using copper as a cutting metal doesn’t work well; it’s too soft.
Then, some thousands of years BC, a clever person figured out, if you mix a bit of tin in with the copper you get a very hard metal. A metal that can be used to cut stone. I don’t know what these early people called it, but we call it bronze.
According to Menzies, once the ancients started producing bronze, amazing changes took place in the world. With bronze, you could manufacture an ax that could be used to cut down trees much more easily. The wood then used build homes, sailing ships and to fuel the “bronze” furnaces. And, the new metal was even strong enough to cut stone. The cut stone could then used to build amazing structures. Ever heard of Stonehenge?
The bronze age people began to trade, explore and conquer. They traveled in all the directions of the compass. Starting from Crete, they ventured out to Egypt, India, Sicily, Spain, Portugal, Britain, Ireland, Germany and according to Menzies, they even ventured across the Altantic ocean reaching the Americas!
The invention of bronze. A technology leap. A clever idea. And, when this technology was put to use, the world changed forever.