> Try to imagine what a setback it would be to try to discover smelting or electricity underwater. It’s not an impossibility, but I suspect it’s inherently a sm

> Try to imagine what a setback it would be to try to discover smelting or electricity underwater. It’s not an impossibility, but I suspect it’s inherently a small fraction of underwater societies that discover it at all. It's interesting to think about. If you live entirely underwater you have no reason to harness fire, or develop even simple technologies like the wheel. If you don't harness fire, will you even be able develop basic metallurgy (bronze, iron, steel)? If you don't work with fire or metal you don't develop steam power. Without steam you don't have an industrial revolution, without an industrial revolution you lack the prerequisites to develop internal combustion or heavier than air flight, and without internal combustion you probably don't develop chemical rockets. I suppose it's possible that an aquatic civilization could take a totally different path to space than we did, but they'd definitely be playing the space race on hard mode.