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Surprisingly fun for how simple it is. But also, actually very frustrating. It's almost like a tamagotchi but with lots of random deaths. Also, pretty funny to

Surprisingly fun for how simple it is. But also, actually very frustrating. It's almost like a tamagotchi but with lots of random deaths. Also, pretty funny to see civilizations that figure out rockets before e.g. steam engines and electricity.

nickff 3y ago
Humans figured out rockets before steam engines and electricity. Rockets being invented in 13th-century China, while the steam engine was only invented in 1606 and made useful in 1712. Electricity has a much more complicated history, and you could make the case that it was discovered before either of the other two, or invented later.
- underyx 3y ago
  Ah, fair point! I guess I was unaware of the range of things that are covered by the name 'rocket'
- noduerme 3y ago
  Before electricity, yes. Not before steam. The principle of a steam engine existed in ancient Greece. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeolipile https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeolipile Most likely the reason it remained a toy, rather than being put to productive use, was the abundance of slave labor.
  - littlestymaar 3y ago
    > Most likely the reason it remained a toy, rather than being put to productive use, was the abundance of slave labor. This is something that get said a lot, but it misses technological and socio-ebergetic factors as well: 1. at that time metallurgy was very rudimentary, compared to how it was in the late 18th century. Most they wouldn't have been able to craft an efficient steam machine back then even if they tried very hard. 2. They also didn't use coal (I don't even know I'd they knew it), which makes fuel (wood) really expensive and also removes the self-reinforcing retroaction where you can use the steam machine to mine more coal and really contributed to the exponential nature of the industrial revolution.
    - baq 3y ago
      They must've known coal and oil, it was present naturally close to surface or straight up on it in places, still is. The whole digging and drilling business, though - that's something else entirely.
      - NegativeLatency 3y ago
        And pumping out the water, helpful to have a steam engine to lift all that mass out of your mine.
  - z3phyr 3y ago
    And metallurgy support to actually build something more than a toy.
  - KineticLensman 3y ago
    If by steam engine you mean ‘kettle with no pressure valves mounted on an axle’, yes. But the aeolipile was in no way a functional engine that could do useful work.
    - Leszek 3y ago
      13th-century Chinese rockets weren't landing on the moon either so both are simplifications.
      - bluGill 3y ago
        13 century Chinese rockets were useful weapons or war though.
  - eigenket 3y ago
    Other people have mentioned that the metallurgy that was known in Britain at the time useful steam engines were developed was dramatically more advanced than what the makers of ancient stuff like the Aeolipile had. A fun fact is that the reason we developed the metallurgy required to put high pressure gasses to work inside cylinders was in large part due to work on improving cannon manufacture. Early cannons exploded a lot, but a cannon which occasionally explodes is a lot better at being a cannon than a steam engine that occasionally explodes is at being a steam engine. Having a "minimal viable product" for a cannon is much simpler than for a steam engine so they were able to iterate on the technology.
idlewords 3y ago
A fun thought experiment is to try to re-imagine human history if U-235 were the sole isotope of uranium.

nickff 3y ago

Humans figured out rockets before steam engines and electricity. Rockets being invented in 13th-century China, while the steam engine was only invented in 1606 and made useful in 1712. Electricity has a much more complicated history, and you could make the case that it was discovered before either of the other two, or invented later.

underyx 3y ago
Ah, fair point! I guess I was unaware of the range of things that are covered by the name 'rocket'
noduerme 3y ago
Before electricity, yes. Not before steam. The principle of a steam engine existed in ancient Greece. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeolipile https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeolipile Most likely the reason it remained a toy, rather than being put to productive use, was the abundance of slave labor.
- littlestymaar 3y ago
  > Most likely the reason it remained a toy, rather than being put to productive use, was the abundance of slave labor. This is something that get said a lot, but it misses technological and socio-ebergetic factors as well: 1. at that time metallurgy was very rudimentary, compared to how it was in the late 18th century. Most they wouldn't have been able to craft an efficient steam machine back then even if they tried very hard. 2. They also didn't use coal (I don't even know I'd they knew it), which makes fuel (wood) really expensive and also removes the self-reinforcing retroaction where you can use the steam machine to mine more coal and really contributed to the exponential nature of the industrial revolution.
  - baq 3y ago
    They must've known coal and oil, it was present naturally close to surface or straight up on it in places, still is. The whole digging and drilling business, though - that's something else entirely.
    - NegativeLatency 3y ago
      And pumping out the water, helpful to have a steam engine to lift all that mass out of your mine.
- z3phyr 3y ago
  And metallurgy support to actually build something more than a toy.
- KineticLensman 3y ago
  If by steam engine you mean ‘kettle with no pressure valves mounted on an axle’, yes. But the aeolipile was in no way a functional engine that could do useful work.
  - Leszek 3y ago
    13th-century Chinese rockets weren't landing on the moon either so both are simplifications.
    - bluGill 3y ago
      13 century Chinese rockets were useful weapons or war though.
- eigenket 3y ago
  Other people have mentioned that the metallurgy that was known in Britain at the time useful steam engines were developed was dramatically more advanced than what the makers of ancient stuff like the Aeolipile had. A fun fact is that the reason we developed the metallurgy required to put high pressure gasses to work inside cylinders was in large part due to work on improving cannon manufacture. Early cannons exploded a lot, but a cannon which occasionally explodes is a lot better at being a cannon than a steam engine that occasionally explodes is at being a steam engine. Having a "minimal viable product" for a cannon is much simpler than for a steam engine so they were able to iterate on the technology.

idlewords 3y ago

A fun thought experiment is to try to re-imagine human history if U-235 were the sole isotope of uranium.