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+--- Thread: Technology Timeline: Possible improvements (/showthread.php?tid=2730)
Technology Timeline: Possible improvements - Avalancheon - 03-04-2017
Hi everyone. I've been reading through the article, Technology Timeline, and it seems to me that certain improvements could be made. Particularly with regards to all the 'early' inventions that occurred in the real world. The list of technology from 2500 B.C.E to 1900 A.C.E. is very sparse. Thats unfortunate because there was alot of important stuff being invented in this time span! I decided to come up with a few examples that could be inserted into the article.
-Vitrivius invents the water wheel in 25 B.C.E.
-Heron of alexandria invents the windmill in 50 A.C.E.
-Cai Lun invents paper in 100 A.C.E.
-During the 1400s, the west discovers how to melt and cast iron.
-Johannes Guttenberg invents the printing press in 1440.
-During the late 1400s, improved navigation and ship building techniques allow sailors to explore the oceans, and eventually to discover entirely new continents.
-During the 1500s, the theory of complex numbers is developed.
-Evangelista Torricelli invents the mercury barometer in 1643.
-Christian Huygens invents the pendulum clock in 1657.
-Daniel Fahrenheit invents the mercury thermometer in 1714.
-Chester Moore Hall creates the achromatic lens in 1733, which can be used in microscopes and telescopes.
-Eli Whitney devises the concept of interchangeable parts in 1798.
-Charles Bessemer invents a process to purify iron into steel in 1856.
-Henry Ford creates the assembly line (and hence mass production) in 1913.
-Alexander Fleming discovers penicilin in 1928.
-Theodore Maiman invents the laser in 1960.
I also have some minor corrections to make.
The article says that iron smelting was in use by 2500 B.C.E. This is simply not true. The technology to melt and cast iron did not become available until the 5th century B.C.E. in the east, and the 15th century A.C.E. in the west. However, they were able to heat iron to sufficient temperatures that it could be hammered and wrought into shape. Some people confuse those two developments...
The article also says that jenner developed smallpox inoculations in 1796. While this is true, ayurvedic medicine men had known about smallpox inoculations for centurys before this. Moreover, the prevalence of inoculations in the 19th century did nothing to convince physicians and doctors that germ theory was true. So the pverall relevance of jenners contributions are somewhat questionable...
RE: Technology Timeline: Possible improvements - stevebowers - 03-04-2017
I am reminded that Tutankhamun's tomb included a dagger made from meteoric iron; presumably this was made by hammering rather than smelting.
RE: Technology Timeline: Possible improvements - Avengium - 03-04-2017
I like these additions to the timeline.
RE: Technology Timeline: Possible improvements - stevebowers - 03-05-2017
I think I have found a cite for the 2500BC date;
Quote:One of the earliest smelted iron artifacts, a dagger with an iron blade found in a Hattic tomb in Anatolia, dated from 2500 BC.This is at least a thousand years earlier than other possible smelted artifacts, but it may be correct. Remember that the Encyclopedia Galactica is a work of reference that is imagined to exist more than 10,000 years in the future, at a time when archaeology on Earth can no longer be carried out. Any dates in the EG will be derived from the preserved data carried away from Earth during and before the Great Expulsion, and some of this would be debatable. Of course the completeists on Ken Ferjik would almost certainly keep a record of how 'reliable' any such historical data might be.
RE: Technology Timeline: Possible improvements - Avalancheon - 03-05-2017
(03-04-2017, 09:52 PM)Avengium Wrote: I like these additions to the timeline.
Thank you. Other possible candidates would be radar and liquid rockets. If you have any ideas, feel free to pitch in.
-Robert Goddard invents the liquid fueled rocket in 1926. (Reasoning: It paves the way for the saturn v, and the moon landing)
-Robert Watson-Watt develops radar detection in 1935. (Reasoning: Its another very important measuring device)
(03-04-2017, 09:52 PM)stevebowers Wrote: I think I have found a cite for the 2500BC date;
Quote:One of the earliest smelted iron artifacts, a dagger with an iron blade found in a Hattic tomb in Anatolia, dated from 2500 BC.This is at least a thousand years earlier than other possible smelted artifacts, but it may be correct.
''Meteoric iron has been used by humans since at least 3200 BC, but ancient iron production did not become widespread until the ability to smelt iron ore, remove impurities and regulate the amount of carbon in the alloy were developed. The start of the Iron Age proper is considered by many to fall between around 1200 BC and 600 BC, depending on the region.''
The blade doesn't represent the beginning of an iron smelting industry. So just to be safe, the date should be changed to 1200 B.C.E.
(03-04-2017, 09:52 PM)stevebowers Wrote: Remember that the Encyclopedia Galactica is a work of reference that is imagined to exist more than 10,000 years in the future, at a time when archaeology on Earth can no longer be carried out. Any dates in the EG will be derived from the preserved data carried away from Earth during and before the Great Expulsion, and some of this would be debatable. Of course the completeists on Ken Ferjik would almost certainly keep a record of how 'reliable' any such historical data might be.
The reasoning here isn't bad, but retaining information we know is inaccurate maybe not a good idea? It gives readers the wrong impression and makes things complicated when we have conflicting dates for technology. What do you think?
RE: Technology Timeline: Possible improvements - stevebowers - 03-05-2017
1200BC seems very reasonable.
RE: Technology Timeline: Possible improvements - stevebowers - 03-07-2017
Article updated.
http://www.orionsarm.com/eg-article/486e75a54a1ae
RE: Technology Timeline: Possible improvements - selden - 03-07-2017
You might want to consider adding
Approx. 200000 b.c.e. -- Emergence of Homo Sapiens
Approx. 170000 b.c.e. -- Homo Sapiens developed clothing
(see https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/28/1/29/984822/Origin-of-Clothing-Lice-Indicates-Early-Clothing)
RE: Technology Timeline: Possible improvements - Avalancheon - 03-07-2017
(03-07-2017, 12:47 AM)stevebowers Wrote: Article updated.
http://www.orionsarm.com/eg-article/486e75a54a1ae
Cool, its looking better already
Theres just a minor typo in the text. Heron of alexandria and cai lun are mentioned after the collapse of rome and the development of algebra, when they actually pre-dated those events.
RE: Technology Timeline: Possible improvements - stevebowers - 03-07-2017
Fixed; thanks!