Would you have the knowledge
Discussion
Was just thinking the other day (like you do) if by some miracle you got transported through time, to say the Middle ages a bit like A Conneticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court, and you survived not being burnt as a Witch (or Wizard) would you have enough basic knowledge of Science to be able to kick start the Industrial revolution off earlier ? for example would you know how to create an Atmospheric Steam engine from scratch
Would you also need to know the history of the industrial revolution, so as to avoid the butterfly effect?
For example, if you did 'invent' the steam engine, and used it to build a car instead of a mill, you'd have leapfrogged a couple of hundred years. What might the effects of that be?
For example, if you did 'invent' the steam engine, and used it to build a car instead of a mill, you'd have leapfrogged a couple of hundred years. What might the effects of that be?
williamp said:
Turbobanana said:
You could probably make a name for yourself by simply inventing electricity, which is not hard to do with some wires, magnets and a means of drive. Or a tray full of lemons.
Would they have lemons, magnets or wire i the middle agesAnd the tray...
Apart from knowledge, it also depends where you are located, and whether the time machine has the ability to travel geographically as well as in time.
For example, some people assume that by going back to 1066 that brings you to the Battle of Hastings. That may be true if you step into your time machine near Hastings, but you're going to have a job to get to the battle if you entered the time machine in California.
For example, some people assume that by going back to 1066 that brings you to the Battle of Hastings. That may be true if you step into your time machine near Hastings, but you're going to have a job to get to the battle if you entered the time machine in California.
It was the making of improved materials such as steel which came first. Can't really make something complex like a steam engine with bloomery iron, certainly not if you want to make lots of them.
So first you'd need to come up with a better iron smelting and steel making process. Then you can make castings for large parts, and make things like rolling mills to produce stock. Then you need to solve things like, how to make a reliable flat surface? How do you make the first accurate screw thread to drive machine tools to make parts? There'd be a lot to do before you got to something complex like boilers and engines.
So first you'd need to come up with a better iron smelting and steel making process. Then you can make castings for large parts, and make things like rolling mills to produce stock. Then you need to solve things like, how to make a reliable flat surface? How do you make the first accurate screw thread to drive machine tools to make parts? There'd be a lot to do before you got to something complex like boilers and engines.
Probably what I'd do is find a cave or two and do some drawings on the walls of helicopters, aeroplanes, stars and constellations, funny animals, maps, future predictions, random codes, and the odd big cock and balls to leave future archeologists utterly baffled. Maybe after I return to the future I'd go and "discover" my earlier works and monetize the situation somehow.
JuniorD said:
Apart from knowledge, it also depends where you are located, and whether the time machine has the ability to travel geographically as well as in time.
For example, some people assume that by going back to 1066 that brings you to the Battle of Hastings. That may be true if you step into your time machine near Hastings, but you're going to have a job to get to the battle if you entered the time machine in California.
Except that Hastings, California, and indeed the rest of the planet, have all buggered off to somewhere else in space entirely, so you'd step out into empty space where Earth used to be back in 1066, and presumably die rather horribly in a cold, dark vacuum. For example, some people assume that by going back to 1066 that brings you to the Battle of Hastings. That may be true if you step into your time machine near Hastings, but you're going to have a job to get to the battle if you entered the time machine in California.
The first job would be getting accepted with a strange accent and vocabulary and C21 clothing. You'd probably have to say you were from abroad, and hope to be adopted as a curiosity, rather than pitchforked to death by peasants thinking you were the devil. Take lots of sweets and trinkets to make friends... if successful you'd then try to make influential friends, be presented at Court etc.
Simpo Two said:
The first job would be getting accepted with a strange accent and vocabulary and C21 clothing. You'd probably have to say you were from abroad, and hope to be adopted as a curiosity, rather than pitchforked to death by peasants thinking you were the devil. Take lots of sweets and trinkets to make friends... if successful you'd then try to make influential friends, be presented at Court etc.
C21 Clothes 
You obviously havent seen in my Wardrobe recently Douglas Quaid said:
You’d probably just be stabbed to death very quickly before you even managed to find somewhere to go for a piss.
I was just thinking this. I read a couple of Ian Mortimer's Time traveller's guides which left an imprint on me that if you suddenly found yourself in the middle ages, you'd be in a world with practically no formal education, low life expectancy, no real police force & only a rudimentary understanding of public health. The net effect being you have a population of youths who drink beer all day long running around armed to the teeth.JuniorD said:
Probably what I'd do is find a cave or two and do some drawings on the walls of helicopters, aeroplanes, stars and constellations, funny animals, maps, future predictions, random codes, and the odd big cock and balls to leave future archeologists utterly baffled. Maybe after I return to the future I'd go and "discover" my earlier works and monetize the situation somehow.
An atmospheric steam pump shouldn't be too hard as it only has to withstand 1 bar. A barrel-maker should be able to knock up a suitable cylinder
Gassing Station | Science! | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff