Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Riley37" data-source="post: 7396989" data-attributes="member: 6786839">There is a story in which a time-traveller has significant successes, at least for a while, &quot;Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court&quot; by Mark Twain (aka Samuel Clemens). Follow-up stories include &quot;Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen&quot; by Piper. There is also a reversal of that story, &quot;Dies the Fire&quot; by Stirling, which starts on the day that gunpowder stops exploding, electronics stop working, gasoline and kerosene burn less quickly, and airplanes fall from the sky. Society as we know it collapses, and those who can most effectively mix old technologies which still work - such as bows - with *modern* methods which still work - such as washing hands in hot soapy water before surgery - tend to thrive and prevail. There is also a story in which someone tries, and fails disastrously, &quot;The Man Who Came Early&quot; by Poul Anderson.Common ground of those stories: on your own, no dice. If you can work with people around you, maybe, depending on what they bring to the project. In one such story, the hero manages to combine the ingredients for gunpowder, and produces a fast-burning paste, but not an actual explosive, and gives up. The local alchemist, however, observes the process, tries some variations, and discovers how to form gunpowder into kernels, and thus eventually into a useful propellant... because he didn't know the formula, nor does he know surface area ratios, but he DOES understand that texture can matter.There is also an MMO in which you can mine teflon, if you unlock the quest. (The mine also produces vinyl ore and velcro ore; it is at the bottom of The Sea, but you cannot mine for fish.)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Riley37, post: 7396989, member: 6786839"] There is a story in which a time-traveller has significant successes, at least for a while, "Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" by Mark Twain (aka Samuel Clemens). Follow-up stories include "Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen" by Piper. There is also a reversal of that story, "Dies the Fire" by Stirling, which starts on the day that gunpowder stops exploding, electronics stop working, gasoline and kerosene burn less quickly, and airplanes fall from the sky. Society as we know it collapses, and those who can most effectively mix old technologies which still work - such as bows - with *modern* methods which still work - such as washing hands in hot soapy water before surgery - tend to thrive and prevail. There is also a story in which someone tries, and fails disastrously, "The Man Who Came Early" by Poul Anderson. Common ground of those stories: on your own, no dice. If you can work with people around you, maybe, depending on what they bring to the project. In one such story, the hero manages to combine the ingredients for gunpowder, and produces a fast-burning paste, but not an actual explosive, and gives up. The local alchemist, however, observes the process, tries some variations, and discovers how to form gunpowder into kernels, and thus eventually into a useful propellant... because he didn't know the formula, nor does he know surface area ratios, but he DOES understand that texture can matter. There is also an MMO in which you can mine teflon, if you unlock the quest. (The mine also produces vinyl ore and velcro ore; it is at the bottom of The Sea, but you cannot mine for fish.) [/QUOTE]

Verification