The naval shipworm helped bring about the Industrial Revolution • Hacker News Board

Re: The naval shipworm helped bring about the Industrial Revolution

#31

Post by KineticLensman » Fri, Jan 01, 2021, 2:03 PM UTC

pm90 wrote: post #5

sanxiyn wrote: post #2

I didn't realize Boulton & Watt, a steam engine manufacturing firm founded in 1775, was a beneficiary of a war between Great Britain and Thirteen Colonies that also broke in 1775. Military-industrial complex indeed!

The Modern MIC might be a new concept for Americans, but some of the largest and most successful European companies have a history of starting off for conducting trade but rapidly engaging in warfare and everything that comes with that (eg the East India Company, which literally collected Tax from lands larger than England at certain times in its life). Modern engineering practice could not have existed without the f…

> The Industrial Revolutions and many of the institutions and professions that we take for granted today could not have been possible if Nations didn’t spend so much resources making war on each other

Yes. For example, how the improvements in metal working and metallurgy required to make effective artillery pieces made 'precision-engineered' steam engines possible. Making a gun barrel that snugly matches the calibre of its shells gave people the ability to make pistons that fit snugly in their cylinders, without leaking steam everywhere.

Re: The naval shipworm helped bring about the Industrial Revolution

#32

Post by smoyer » Fri, Jan 01, 2021, 2:06 PM UTC

Copper cladding also dramatically reduces the external fouling on the hull that's mentioned in the article. I had a copper-based anti-fouling paint on the fiberglass hull of my (small) yacht simply for that property.

Re: The naval shipworm helped bring about the Industrial Revolution

#33

Post by throw0101a » Fri, Jan 01, 2021, 2:30 PM UTC

Stories like this, about how random, independent events tie together to create our sense of 'progress', always remind me of James Burke's Connections:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connections_(TV_series)

See for example how the Jacquard loom (i.e., punchcard 'programming') came about in episode four, "Faith in Numbers":

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itd-4lMoXgI

The search for artificial quinine to treat malaria led to the development of artificial dyes, with the first colour being mauve (a 'pale purple'). A fuller treatment of the subject of artificial dyes, and the rise of the chemical industry, can be found in Simon Garfield's book Mauve (ISBN 978-0393323139).

Re: The naval shipworm helped bring about the Industrial Revolution

#34

Post by throw0101a » Fri, Jan 01, 2021, 2:39 PM UTC

sradman wrote: post #7

> References in Greek texts from the 4th century BC are IMO suggestive of early voyages to the coast of West Africa, the nearest navigable mangrove forests (unless shipworm managed to somehow get carried across the Sinai isthmus) Simon Winchester discusses how Cape Bojador [1] was impassible until 1443 (in his book Atlantic [2]) so it is unlikely that early voyages reached any further south along the coast of West Af…

> a robust international trade system

A list of various trade routes, dating from ancient times to the Middle Ages:

* https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/86338/8-trade-routes-sha...

A cool map of Medieval trade routes:

* https://www.visualcapitalist.com/medieval-trade-route-map/

'Globalism' / global trade isn't anything new.

Re: The naval shipworm helped bring about the Industrial Revolution

#35

Post by throw0101a » Fri, Jan 01, 2021, 2:45 PM UTC

sradman wrote: post #7

> References in Greek texts from the 4th century BC are IMO suggestive of early voyages to the coast of West Africa, the nearest navigable mangrove forests (unless shipworm managed to somehow get carried across the Sinai isthmus) Simon Winchester discusses how Cape Bojador [1] was impassible until 1443 (in his book Atlantic [2]) so it is unlikely that early voyages reached any further south along the coast of West Af…

> Simon Winchester discusses how Cape Bojador [1] was impassible until 1443 (in his book Atlantic [2])

He also wrote Pacific. :)

Re: The naval shipworm helped bring about the Industrial Revolution

#36

Post by gabrielsroka » Fri, Jan 01, 2021, 2:47 PM UTC

throw0101a wrote: post #33

Stories like this, about how random, independent events tie together to create our sense of 'progress', always remind me of James Burke's Connections : * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connections_(TV_series) See for example how the Jacquard loom (i.e., punchcard 'programming') came about in episode four, "Faith in Numbers": * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itd-4lMoXgI The search for artificial quinine to treat malar…

Episodes 6 and 7 are about ship hulls and steam engines.

Re: The naval shipworm helped bring about the Industrial Revolution

#37

Post by Noumenon72 » Fri, Jan 01, 2021, 2:54 PM UTC

samb1729 wrote: post #26

avian wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Wikipedia article says it’s a combination of dangerous shallows and unfavorable winds all year near the shore. The way to avoid those was to sail around it, beyond the sight of land. This was something ancient ships couldn’t do because they relied on seeing the land for navigation.

Ah, you're right. I did actually click that link but something about the way that article is written made scanning for the specific thing I was after while tired very difficult. I'll re-evaluate this perception after I've slept, but it feels like key facts are buried in storytelling in a way I don't see often on Wikipedia. Could just be me, I'm not sure. Edit: I think what I'm describing is a textbook example of a bu…

I agree with you, it's overwritten. Would be interesting for a Wikipedia editor to explain how this tourist-history style differs from the accepted Wikipedia style.

Re: The naval shipworm helped bring about the Industrial Revolution

#38

Post by avian » Fri, Jan 01, 2021, 3:01 PM UTC

samb1729 wrote: post #26

avian wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Wikipedia article says it’s a combination of dangerous shallows and unfavorable winds all year near the shore. The way to avoid those was to sail around it, beyond the sight of land. This was something ancient ships couldn’t do because they relied on seeing the land for navigation.

Ah, you're right. I did actually click that link but something about the way that article is written made scanning for the specific thing I was after while tired very difficult. I'll re-evaluate this perception after I've slept, but it feels like key facts are buried in storytelling in a way I don't see often on Wikipedia. Could just be me, I'm not sure. Edit: I think what I'm describing is a textbook example of a bu…

I had similar thoughts when reading the article. It's written in a quite an unusual storytelling style without clearly summarizing the key points.

Re: The naval shipworm helped bring about the Industrial Revolution

#39

Post by dghughes » Fri, Jan 01, 2021, 3:06 PM UTC

throw0101a wrote: post #33

Stories like this, about how random, independent events tie together to create our sense of 'progress', always remind me of James Burke's Connections : * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connections_(TV_series) See for example how the Jacquard loom (i.e., punchcard 'programming') came about in episode four, "Faith in Numbers": * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itd-4lMoXgI The search for artificial quinine to treat malar…

The wine press using a screw instead of a heavy weight. The press was used to for printing press with movable type. Image how tedious it would be if printing presses needed heavy stones instead of a screw.

Books pretty much just the bible at this point were cheaper due to mass production. People wanted them in their own language. Reading more meant as people got older they couldn't see the small words. Glasses were invented then later the lenses used for making telescopes and then microscopes.

Re: The naval shipworm helped bring about the Industrial Revolution

#40

Post by dekhn » Fri, Jan 01, 2021, 3:09 PM UTC

throw0101a wrote: post #33

Stories like this, about how random, independent events tie together to create our sense of 'progress', always remind me of James Burke's Connections : * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connections_(TV_series) See for example how the Jacquard loom (i.e., punchcard 'programming') came about in episode four, "Faith in Numbers": * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itd-4lMoXgI The search for artificial quinine to treat malar…

Pretty much the entire origin of organic chemistyr- now a trillion dollar industyr- was artificial dyes. It's kind of amazing to realize now I can buy a dye, and put something in it and it will have a brilliant, long-lasting color- 200 years ago, that would have been magic.