The Greeks employed the lever, the tackle, and the crane, the force-pump, and the suction-pump.

They had discovered that steam could be mechanically applied, though they never made any practical use of steam.

In common with other ancients they knew the principle of the mariner's compass.

The Egyptians had the water-wheel and the rudimentary blast-furnace.

The pendulum clock appears to have been an invention of the Middle Ages.