The Romans never considered science to be really important subject. Only a few scientific discoveries were found in Rome. They were the first to include a Leap Year day every four years, and borrowed the idea of sundials from Egypt and Greek and improved it. The Romans also created a number system that used letters of the alphabet to stand for numbers. Each letter had a fixed value. Their system is still used today in clocks and copyright dates for films and television programs. In the field of medicine, a scientist called Celsus wrote the book “On Medicine” containing all the Roman methods of medicine.
Roman inventions helped them a lot in times of war and peace. They developed two kinds of siege engines for crushing buildings, the ballista, and the “scorpion” catapult. These war machines helped the Romans tear down walls
during a siege. The Romans improved boats and ships for travel and trade. Surprisingly, those vehicles of the sea were both very strong and waterproof. To water their crops, dams and reservoirs for irrigation were built. Because of the invention of pulleys and levers, cranes were created to lift heavy blocks into the right position. Of course, the Romans also had a writing system that is known as Latin. It is almost identical to our language, with only the letters J, U, and W missing. Also, t heir postal system was very organized, with a giant network of couriers, ships and staging posts to deliver messages and packages.
Many miles of roads and bridges were built to hold the vast empire together. By the second century A.D, the Romans had built around 78,000 kilometers of roads. The most important Roman invention for construction is probably concrete. It is made of crushed stones, lime, and sand. Many of their buildings were made out of concrete, though marble and granite were considered the best for decorative purposes. The Romans also built aqueducts -a human made channel that is constructed to carry water from one location to another. Their buildings were mostly made out of stone, so tools like hammers, chisels, and files were needed to shape the blocks.
We have many things similar to the Romans. The Roman's writing system is the root of many other writing systems, including ours, and their construction techniques are still seen today in buildings. Many of their inventions like cranes and irrigation systems are used in the present times. In conclusion, the Romans influenced many parts of our modern world.
