3 ms·

Showing up prior to the Reconquista in Europe with a working knowledge of 0 and the Hindu–Arabic numeral system would go a long way. You could probably also fig

by ch4s3 5y ago

Showing up prior to the Reconquista in Europe with a working knowledge of 0 and the Hindu–Arabic numeral system would go a long way. You could probably also figure out distillation. If you aren't too early you could probably invent telescopes, microscopes, and germ theory. And that's without bringing anything other than knowing that those things could exist. There's probably a good book on practical engineering stuff that would really come in handy. Simple recipes for things like clear glass, gunpowder, interesting properties of coal, navigation, etc.

RosanaAnaDana 5y ago
Yeah idk. Lenses are hard.
- samatman 5y ago
  It's not the lenses which are difficult, it's clear glass. With a piece of pure glass, the rest is some emory and a great deal of patience. Clear glass is also more about knowhow than raw technical difficulty, it isn't the Bessemer process, it's knowing how to flux with soda + add some lead to get the melting point down, then pouring it on lead to get nice flat sheets.
  - ch4s3 5y ago
    It’s not like you’d be distracted by Twitter, just knowing how it works you could probably work it out with a few skilled glass makers.
bolasanibk 5y ago
Something like this? How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler [https://www.amazon.com/How-Invent-Everything-Survival-Stranded/dp/0735220158/ref=asc_df_0735220158/ https://www.amazon.com/How-Invent-Everything-Survival-Strand...]
ahartman00 5y ago
Hope a website will work, assuming your trip is not too imminent :) https://simplifier.neocities.org/index.html https://simplifier.neocities.org/index.html
speed_spread 5y ago
Careful, come back with too much knowledge / science and the catholic church will have you killed.
- ch4s3 5y ago
  I think as long as you kept your mouth shut about doctrinal matters, you'd be fine. Almost all of the scientists who go in trouble with the church were busy writing commentary on religious doctrine outside of their scientific work, and that's what got them in trouble generally speaking. The Catholic Church for its faults funded a lot of astronomers and other scientists in the medieval period and into the Renaissance.

by ch4s3 5y ago

RosanaAnaDana 5y ago

Yeah idk. Lenses are hard.

samatman 5y ago
It's not the lenses which are difficult, it's clear glass. With a piece of pure glass, the rest is some emory and a great deal of patience. Clear glass is also more about knowhow than raw technical difficulty, it isn't the Bessemer process, it's knowing how to flux with soda + add some lead to get the melting point down, then pouring it on lead to get nice flat sheets.
- ch4s3 5y ago
  It’s not like you’d be distracted by Twitter, just knowing how it works you could probably work it out with a few skilled glass makers.

bolasanibk 5y ago

Something like this? How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler [https://www.amazon.com/How-Invent-Everything-Survival-Stranded/dp/0735220158/ref=asc_df_0735220158/ https://www.amazon.com/How-Invent-Everything-Survival-Strand...]

ahartman00 5y ago

Hope a website will work, assuming your trip is not too imminent :) https://simplifier.neocities.org/index.html https://simplifier.neocities.org/index.html

speed_spread 5y ago

Careful, come back with too much knowledge / science and the catholic church will have you killed.

ch4s3 5y ago
I think as long as you kept your mouth shut about doctrinal matters, you'd be fine. Almost all of the scientists who go in trouble with the church were busy writing commentary on religious doctrine outside of their scientific work, and that's what got them in trouble generally speaking. The Catholic Church for its faults funded a lot of astronomers and other scientists in the medieval period and into the Renaissance.