I’ve taken another of The Great Courses. The premise is that the Middle Ages weren’t stagnant but had great technological advancements. This course is a thousand times better than History of Engineering a required course for my mechanical engineering degree. The primary reason is that Dr. Ressler has working models to demonstrate everything. Although I graduated with enough science to help design the Space Shuttle, I still didn’t know how many machines worked. In addition, the thorough course is entertaining because he puts developments into surprising historical contexts.

The biggest surprise was Dr. Ressler describing Cistercian monasteries as centers of technology development. According to the Rule of St. Benedict monasteries should be self-sufficient. But monks had many demands on their time including meeting for prayer and worship eight times daily. Therefore the monks became great innovators in human-labor saving technology such as indoor plumbing.

I meet a lot of older people who appear to be stagnant in personal development. This is counter to what aging experts recommend. I’m grateful for a nerdy sense of curiosity that makes learning things I don’t NEED to know enjoyable. Nerdy in my case makes life fun and more-than-ordinary.

Drew