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I think we could always find a thing that made the next big innovations possible. Newton said that we are standing on the shoulders of giants. I also wondered t

by ahoka 10y ago

I think we could always find a thing that made the next big innovations possible. Newton said that we are standing on the shoulders of giants. I also wondered the other day if humanity could rebuild the current level of technology given a select team of our brightest and all available knowledge, but no tools or machines. We would have to recreate so much in lock step to event get to the most basic things. Just think of how much effort and technology is required to manufacture a simple ball pen.

digi_owl 10y ago
Check out Connections, Burke's shows are all about this. There was also the backstory for Alpha Centauri. Firaxis' sci-fi Civilization where the landing of the space ship goes anything but smooth.
- dredmorbius 10y ago
  That is a fantastic programme, and other than the leisure suits, has aged phenomenally well. The opening sequence of the first episode, in and above lower Manhattan, gives me the chills. I'd also strongly recommend the subsequent programme, The Day the Universe Changed, which follows a similar, though temporally arbitrary, connect-the-dots motif. The two sequels to Connections aren't as good, though C3 is the better of the two. Also: if you're interested in the background of technology, look up the story of Joseph Needham and his extended exploration, Science and Civilisation in China. Begun in 1954, it remains in process, with 27 volumes. Needham himself died in 1995. Simon Winchester's written an excellent (and much shorter) biography of Needham.
egjerlow 10y ago
I remember reading an interesting theory about that quote - Newton coming off as kind of a jerk in other contexts, this quote, the theory goes, was a veiled sarcasm towards Robert Hooke, his to-be archnemesis later in life who was also short of stature. It seems, however, that this theory is not very well supported except for the general impression one might get reading about his behaviour in other situations - Newton doesn't seem to be the humble type. http://www.isaacnewton.org.uk/essays/Giants http://www.isaacnewton.org.uk/essays/Giants
padator 10y ago
There is one book doing that: http://the-knowledge.org/en-gb/the-book/ http://the-knowledge.org/en-gb/the-book/ It's a great book.
Retric 10y ago
Raw materials are the real limitation. Three thousand+ years ago people where transporting tin thousands of miles because few tin mines existed. So, if your starting with the correct raw materials and enough food you could probably get to early CPU's in 10 years or so.
- aab0 10y ago
  > Raw materials are the real limitation. Three thousand+ years ago people where transporting tin thousands of miles because few tin mines existed. I think that example demonstrates the opposite. Getting raw materials is not a problem; it's so easy that people thousands of years ago were shipping raw materials thousands of miles when there was a need for it. It's knowing the need and having the need which is the hard part... Tons of silicon can be found on your local beach and have been forever. But we only got computers a century ago.
  - Retric 10y ago
    People are not dumb, if there was a closer tin mine they would have used it because transportation costs jacked the price though the roof. It's a problem of geography not know how. Sure, now we can extract gold from sea water and it's just a question of cost. But, in a collapsed world your much more limited.

by ahoka 10y ago

digi_owl 10y ago

Check out Connections, Burke's shows are all about this. There was also the backstory for Alpha Centauri. Firaxis' sci-fi Civilization where the landing of the space ship goes anything but smooth.

dredmorbius 10y ago
That is a fantastic programme, and other than the leisure suits, has aged phenomenally well. The opening sequence of the first episode, in and above lower Manhattan, gives me the chills. I'd also strongly recommend the subsequent programme, The Day the Universe Changed, which follows a similar, though temporally arbitrary, connect-the-dots motif. The two sequels to Connections aren't as good, though C3 is the better of the two. Also: if you're interested in the background of technology, look up the story of Joseph Needham and his extended exploration, Science and Civilisation in China. Begun in 1954, it remains in process, with 27 volumes. Needham himself died in 1995. Simon Winchester's written an excellent (and much shorter) biography of Needham.

egjerlow 10y ago

I remember reading an interesting theory about that quote - Newton coming off as kind of a jerk in other contexts, this quote, the theory goes, was a veiled sarcasm towards Robert Hooke, his to-be archnemesis later in life who was also short of stature. It seems, however, that this theory is not very well supported except for the general impression one might get reading about his behaviour in other situations - Newton doesn't seem to be the humble type. http://www.isaacnewton.org.uk/essays/Giants http://www.isaacnewton.org.uk/essays/Giants

padator 10y ago

There is one book doing that: http://the-knowledge.org/en-gb/the-book/ http://the-knowledge.org/en-gb/the-book/ It's a great book.

Retric 10y ago

Raw materials are the real limitation. Three thousand+ years ago people where transporting tin thousands of miles because few tin mines existed. So, if your starting with the correct raw materials and enough food you could probably get to early CPU's in 10 years or so.

aab0 10y ago
> Raw materials are the real limitation. Three thousand+ years ago people where transporting tin thousands of miles because few tin mines existed. I think that example demonstrates the opposite. Getting raw materials is not a problem; it's so easy that people thousands of years ago were shipping raw materials thousands of miles when there was a need for it. It's knowing the need and having the need which is the hard part... Tons of silicon can be found on your local beach and have been forever. But we only got computers a century ago.
- Retric 10y ago
  People are not dumb, if there was a closer tin mine they would have used it because transportation costs jacked the price though the roof. It's a problem of geography not know how. Sure, now we can extract gold from sea water and it's just a question of cost. But, in a collapsed world your much more limited.