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Or consider how useless you would be if transported back 400 years. You would be able to offer great advice about washing hands or the solar system generalisat

Or consider how useless you would be if transported back 400 years. You would be able to offer great advice about washing hands or the solar system generalisations. But actually create something to show people....even the simplest things would be beyond most of us.

hdfbdtbcdg 7y ago
You could draw/paint modern devices which would then eventually inspire others.
WalterBright 7y ago
If you could figure out how to make wire, you could make a working electric motor.
- pushpop 7y ago
  You’d also need to make magnets, know their polarisation, create bearings, and have the skill to assemble all of that as well.
  - WalterBright 7y ago
    None of that is necessary. I built a working electric motor in cub scouts using several feet of wire, tape, some iron nails, some sheet metal cut from tin cans, a wood board to mount it on, and a battery. Tools required: tin snips and a hammer. A battery can be made from a jar, lemon juice, and two electrodes. Believe me, as an 8 year old, my skills were limited to using a hammer to mash my thumb with. :-) Electromagnets substituted for magnets, and bearings were a dent in the sheet metal that the point of a nail sat in and turned. Simple and effective. Once you showed this to a medieval craftsman, they could reproduce it and start improving it.
    - pushpop 7y ago
      I’m both impressed and have learned something new. Thank you :)
      - WalterBright 7y ago
        I found a variant that uses magnets: https://www.bu.edu/gk12/tommy/Electric_motors.pdf https://www.bu.edu/gk12/tommy/Electric_motors.pdf The version I built was far simpler, and used electromagnets instead of the magnets, but you can see the general idea. I didn't design it, I don't know where the Den Mothers got the design from. But I found it fascinating, as you could see and feel how it worked. I built several of them. One day, I got a little bolder and replaced the battery with an A/C cord. The motor buzzed loudly and burst into flames. I learned about alternating current that day :-)
- WalterBright 7y ago
  I looked it up, people knew how to make wire then. From that you could build a working telegraph system, even a telephone system, with what was available at the time.
josefx 7y ago
There is a good chance you might just end up as another Ignaz Semmelweis. The idea that washing hands would help against illnesses did not agree with the state of medical science.

hdfbdtbcdg 7y ago

You could draw/paint modern devices which would then eventually inspire others.

WalterBright 7y ago

If you could figure out how to make wire, you could make a working electric motor.

pushpop 7y ago
You’d also need to make magnets, know their polarisation, create bearings, and have the skill to assemble all of that as well.
- WalterBright 7y ago
  None of that is necessary. I built a working electric motor in cub scouts using several feet of wire, tape, some iron nails, some sheet metal cut from tin cans, a wood board to mount it on, and a battery. Tools required: tin snips and a hammer. A battery can be made from a jar, lemon juice, and two electrodes. Believe me, as an 8 year old, my skills were limited to using a hammer to mash my thumb with. :-) Electromagnets substituted for magnets, and bearings were a dent in the sheet metal that the point of a nail sat in and turned. Simple and effective. Once you showed this to a medieval craftsman, they could reproduce it and start improving it.
  - pushpop 7y ago
    I’m both impressed and have learned something new. Thank you :)
    - WalterBright 7y ago
      I found a variant that uses magnets: https://www.bu.edu/gk12/tommy/Electric_motors.pdf https://www.bu.edu/gk12/tommy/Electric_motors.pdf The version I built was far simpler, and used electromagnets instead of the magnets, but you can see the general idea. I didn't design it, I don't know where the Den Mothers got the design from. But I found it fascinating, as you could see and feel how it worked. I built several of them. One day, I got a little bolder and replaced the battery with an A/C cord. The motor buzzed loudly and burst into flames. I learned about alternating current that day :-)
WalterBright 7y ago
I looked it up, people knew how to make wire then. From that you could build a working telegraph system, even a telephone system, with what was available at the time.

josefx 7y ago

There is a good chance you might just end up as another Ignaz Semmelweis. The idea that washing hands would help against illnesses did not agree with the state of medical science.