hedrals such as the scissors arches or delicate flying buttress, came through the need to stop the central tower from collapsing and as a warning sign should the foundations be about to give in. "...architecture was indeed the greatest and most characteristic expression of medieval thought and technique. It was, however, a purely technical rather than a scientific achievement. The marvelous construction of vault and buttress, far more daring than anything the Romans or the Greeks attempted, was the result of a series of ad hoc solutions to practical difficulties" (Science, Technology & Human Values, S
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