255
votes
Accepted
Would somebody from the middle ages be able to identify an atomic / nuclear bomb?
Let's try to do this.
(They told you it can't be done. They're right. Realistically, it can't. So, disclaimer: I'm going to employ industrial quantities of high-grade Improbability).
Notes
I had to ...
- 55.9k
87
votes
An environment where round beds are easier to build than rectangular
Basket beds.
Beds made of long rigid elements will be polygonal. Baskets are made of flexible elements and so are round or ovoid. There are lots of basket beds for animals, even big dogs the size ...
- 306k
82
votes
Would somebody from the middle ages be able to identify an atomic / nuclear bomb?
For your reference: some years ago in Brazil a scrap thief, while salvaging through the remnants of a hospital, found a piece of material which emitted a nice glowing blue light. He was smart enough ...
- 301k
63
votes
Only Three Books: Restarting Physics after civilization collapses
The textbook University Physics by Sears, Zemansky, Young, and Freedman is going to be far superior to Isaac Newton's work. For one thing, it's designed as a textbook for people who are not familiar ...
- 25.3k
54
votes
Accepted
Value of ice during the Renaissance
There really wasn't an Industry for ice until 1805 when the first guy named Frederic Tudor tried to sell ice from new England in the Caribbean. Literally nobody wanted to buy it, and he spent 13 years ...
- 21.2k
51
votes
Only Three Books: Restarting Chemistry after civilization collapses
I don't know exactly about the other two, but one would be the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. This is a monster of a book is ~2600 pages of very small type, weighing about 8.5 pounds, listing ...
- 25k
44
votes
An environment where round beds are easier to build than rectangular
Big Trees
Many beds historically had wood frames. Wood is easy to cut and provides a relatively stable building material. We cut wood into long rectangular pieces of lumber because most lumber trees ...
- 1,332
41
votes
Accepted
An environment where round beds are easier to build than rectangular
What about mosquito nets. It's easier to make a round net which would fit better on a round bed. See #4.
But an even better drive would be some sort of natural circular construction material. Perhaps ...
- 8,787
39
votes
Snowshoe design for satyrs and fauns
Such a thing already exists
Below is a picture of some antique horse snowshoes. On most ungulates, the hooves are wider than the "wrist"; so, you can simply insert them into a belt harness ...
- 106k
38
votes
Would somebody from the middle ages be able to identify an atomic / nuclear bomb?
I admit up front, that my first reaction was to consider the comedy potential of this situation, as the device might have labels on it. That would make a big difference - think of the warnings on a ...
- 6,895
38
votes
Is an economy based on piracy possible?
Most of the nations of the time utilized pirates in one form or another.
England called them privateers and made itself rich off plunder brought in by Sir Francis Drake and others, but essentially ...
- 28.4k
36
votes
Only Three Books: Restarting Chemistry after civilization collapses
What makes a good book?
I argue that whatever is currently being used as a textbook now is not very important; there are some assumptions of modern society or culture that these textbooks may make ...
- 85.8k
36
votes
Traveling from place to place in 1530
There was no way to go directly from Florence to Bologna in a carriage before modern times. In 1530, a willful traveller who insisted on going straight from Florence to Bologna would travel 2 or 3 ...
- 98.1k
35
votes
Would somebody from the middle ages be able to identify an atomic / nuclear bomb?
They would have no idea whatsoever about what they were dealing with. None. Zero, nada, zilch. Some time later than the Middle Ages, people would start to recognize the conventional explosives, though ...
- 2,546
31
votes
Mining Based Civilisation
The Ore Mountains
As luck would have it, there actually was an area in Europe during the Renaissance which had a mining based economy and a near monopoly on various metal resources, mostly silver, ...
- 98.1k
29
votes
An environment where round beds are easier to build than rectangular
If your world has a type of plant (or possibly giant fungus) that grows plentiful circular shaped mattresses that are better than any manufactured bedding, I imagine any beds your society makes will ...
- 1,772
28
votes
An environment where round beds are easier to build than rectangular
Round beds fit better in round rooms than rectangular ones, so start with your structure design. Consider the yurt as a basis:
Resort yurts are actually a thing in some places today, and I've heard ...
- 19.6k
27
votes
Would somebody from the middle ages be able to identify an atomic / nuclear bomb?
Not really.
To understand how a nuclear weapon works, they would need an understanding of nuclear physics. That is 20th century science, and even an "inspired" medieval thinker would be ...
- 120k
27
votes
How might airships be made using 18th century technology?
Sorry but no. No aluminium and no internal combustion engines means no airships.
You must have aluminium -- there is no substitute for its combination of strength and lightness; and to smelt ...
- 98.1k
26
votes
Accepted
Hollow Earth - how to measure it?
This actually is pretty easy using the similar methods to what you mention.
The "sun" is rotating, meaning that if you look up at night when the shaded side is toward you, you can see the inside of ...
- 34.9k
25
votes
Is an economy based on piracy possible?
No. Piracy as a way of life can work within the context of a rich trading network, you basically disrupt trade in order to steal stuff.
Economies however are based on specialisation and cooperation ...
- 753
24
votes
How could a Renaissance level feudal society get into space?
Not strictly "medieval", but we're going with sci-fi, so...
Lost Precursor Technology
There were ancient people at a much higher level of technology. Are they the ancestors of the current ...
- 33.7k
23
votes
Value of ice during the Renaissance
Would this method be able to generate signficant income for the mages?
Yes, it would. In a time when electric power was unknown, this would be the only viable way to have ice made easily available ...
- 142k
23
votes
How would medieval/Renaissance-era castles protect themselves from air raids?
Self-contradictory question is self-contradictory
"My fictional universe is set in a time period akin to the european Middle Ages/Renaissance. Think of the 1400s-1500s for reference."
"Gun powder ...
- 98.1k
23
votes
Ancient space exploration
The problems
I'm having a hard time being optimistic about this. The technological gap between the Renaissance and the present day is enormous. Our understanding of science and our abilities in ...
- 102k
23
votes
How hard magic could make bows, swords and other early/mid- medieval weapons relevant alongside fairly advanced gunpowder weapons?
Melee Weapons -- Shield and Teleport
The era of gunpowder is also the era of the pike-block and cavalry charge. Cavalry beats musket; Musket beats pike; and pike beats cavalry.
The reason melee ...
- 66.3k
21
votes
How would medieval/Renaissance-era castles protect themselves from air raids?
The good news is that without gunpowder and its derivatives, there's a limit to how much damage your airships could do. They don't have bombs or rapid-fire guns, and while they could drop incendiaries ...
- 38.8k
20
votes
Ancient space exploration
If the medievals were correct about the structure of the universe, then all you need to get to the stars (and everything else in the heavens) is a big enough ladder or staircase, not unlike the ill-...
- 11.9k
20
votes
What could prevent my world from progressing past the early industrial age?
I am surprized nobody mentioned lack of materials. Lack of coal or metals would prevent most machinery from being made.
In addition, use of any fossil fuel in a closed environment of a cave will ...
- 10.7k
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