| In 2480 B.C. a development occurred which was to have a tremendous impact on Mocsian society. A small group of civil engineerine teachers at the most advanced institution worked out a new techniLlue for designing a building. Key elements of this technique were several new structural geometries and the application of a newly developed mathematical method to the problem of calculating stresses in complicated structures of load carrying elements. Using this new technique, multistory buildings could be designed and built which were much larger than any built before. Perhaps even more importantly, the proper application of the new technique could reduce construction costs to about one tenth of their previous levels.
Not surprisingly, this unexpected new development was followed by a sudden, sharp increase in the demand for new construction. Larger versions of traditional types of buildings (houses, apartments, shops, offices, sports arenas, etc.) were in great demand. Many peasants who had previously lived in self-made mud and straw huts could now afford housing of a type previously available only to the middle and upper classes. The political leaders decided to build several huge monuments to the glory of Mocsian society. Religious leaders commissioned important new structures for use as temples and as astrological and astronomical observatories.
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