Other Historical Contexts

Other Historical Contexts for the Development of Horticulture

The chronology listed before provides a classic sequence based on generally-recognized events or institutions. It may also be helpful to consider chronological outlines for the development of Horticulture based of major issues that have affected it. Horticulture is just one of many areas of human endeavor and it is greatly affected by other social forces prevalent at different times. For example, commercial horticulture is primarily an agricultural technology and, as such, has been influenced by general developments in agriculture and in science. See historical sequences for each of these three areas below (detailed information on these topics can be found in appropriate historical textbooks):

Development of technology

The ancient world: -to c. 3000 BC - The beginnings of technology: emergence of the earliest communities, use of stone tools and weapons, beginnings of mining and agriculture; -3000-500 BC - Near East- The urban revolution: early civilization in the valleys of the Nile and Tigris-Euphrates, waterworks for irrigation, urban manufacturing; -500 BC - AD 500 - Greece and Rome -Technological achievements: mastery of iron, invention of mechanical contrivances, architectural and constructional works
The Middle Ages to 1750: -AD 500-1500: harnessing of wind power and waterpower; construction of canals, tunnels, and bridges; construction of full-rigged ships; invention of printing; -1500-1750 - The emergence of Western technology: invention of early scientific instruments and tools, birth of steam power, development of agricultural and constructional techniques
The Industrial Revolution (1750-1900): -Advances in power technology: development of steam power, internal-combustion engine, and electric power; exploitation of mineral and fossil fuels; -Development of industries: iron and steel, textiles, chemicals, transportation, communications
The 20th century: -Early developments: exploitation of hydroelectric power; synthesizing of fibres, plastics, rubber, dyes, and drugs; rationalization of production; -Space Age technology: atomic power, automation and the computer, rocketry and space exploration, advances in agricultural technology, advances in transportation and communication

The history of agriculture

: -Origins of agriculture in the Near East, the Americas, China, and Europe; -Early agricultural societies: Sumer, the Nile Valley, Mesoamerica, and Peru; -Agriculture in ancient China, India, and eastern Asia; -to 1600 - Improvements in agriculture in the West; -1600-1800 - The crop-farming revolution in Europe; -1792-1914 - The 19th-century power revolution; -1914 - Scientific agriculture in the 20th century: mechanization, new crops and techniques, development of new strains, applications of genetic engineering

The history of science

: -to AD1400 - Science in ancient and medieval Western civilization & Science in other civilizations: Islamic science; science in India, China, and Japan; -1400 - 1700 - European science in the early modern period; -1700 - 1800 - Science in the age of modern revolutions; -1800 - 1900 - Science in the 19th century: difference in styles of research; progress in physics, chemistry, and biology; -1900 - Science in the early 20th century: the social organization and style of science, the common pattern of advance in scientific research

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