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The naval shipworm helped bring about the Industrial Revolution

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Re: The naval shipworm helped bring about the Industrial Revolution

#41

Post by throw0101a »

dghughes wrote: post #39
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 i…

> 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.

This is covered in a chapter on glass in Steven Johnson's book How we got to now: six innovations that made the modern world.

Re: The naval shipworm helped bring about the Industrial Revolution

#43

Post by mannykannot »

varjag wrote: post #20

The business model was for Boulton & Watt to provide the engine for free while the mine owner paid them fees based on the tonnage of coal saved. A more sophisticated business model than a good chunk of 21st century tech startups!

The mine owners were not at all pleased with this arrangement, as they were well aware that they ended up paying much more than the cost of building the engine. I believe this business model only lasted as long as Boulton and Watt could enforce their monopoly on engine construction through patents (principally on the separate condenser.)

As for the 21st century, you may have noticed an enthusiasm for burdening simple products with subscriptions.

Re: The naval shipworm helped bring about the Industrial Revolution

#44

Post by sradman »

avian wrote: post #23
samb1729 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about Cape Bojador made it impassible for so long? I know essentially nothing about navigation or ships in general besides that they don't travel over land particularly well[0], so if you know of an easy to digest resource I'd really appreciate it. [0]: except near Constantinople, obviously

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.

> The way to avoid those was to sail around it...

The problem was that ships were swept out to sea and couldn't sail in any direction other than certain death (or the Americas). The Volta do Mar gave the Portuguese a safety net to experiment with navigating Cape Bojador without the certain death aspect. Careful data collection (speed/direction of the ship/wind/water-current) and vector math provided a set of sailing instructions that was akin to a set of dance steps. The Portuguese sailed around the Cape of Good Hope but they navigated Cape Bojador with an algorithm.

What I find fascinating is that such a monumental moment in history is not well known.

Re: The naval shipworm helped bring about the Industrial Revolution

#45

Post by mannykannot »

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…

Such stories are entertaining, but there is usually no analysis of whether the outcome would have been materially different had the specific chain of circumstances not played out in the particular way they did... Hence the occurrence of weasel words like 'helped' in most such narratives (and my use of 'usually', 'materially' and 'most' here!)

Re: The naval shipworm helped bring about the Industrial Revolution

#46

Post by PoachedSausage »

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!

Matthew Boulton was also pioneering mass production prior to making steam engines with Watt.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soho_Manufactory

Re: The naval shipworm helped bring about the Industrial Revolution

#47

Post by throw0101a »

mannykannot wrote: post #45
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…

Such stories are entertaining, but there is usually no analysis of whether the outcome would have been materially different had the specific chain of circumstances not played out in the particular way they did... Hence the occurrence of weasel words like 'helped' in most such narratives (and my use of 'usually', 'materially' and 'most' here!)

> Such stories are entertaining, but there is usually no analysis of whether the outcome would have been materially different had the specific chain of circumstances not played out in the particular way they did

Well, most of these things are 'infotainment' for the lay public. I'm sure if you go into the academic literature then there may be a more robust examination:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_discovery

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_multiple_discoveries

Both Newton and Leibniz came up with calculus for example. Bell generally gets the credit for the telephone, but (a) he built past developments, and (b) there's Grey:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_telephone

I think the shows are useful in that they help people realize that history can be messy and convoluted.

Re: The naval shipworm helped bring about the Industrial Revolution

#48

Post by jankotek »

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…

Phoenicians circumnavigated Africa, Greeks knew about that.

https://www.labrujulaverde.com/en/2018/11/the-egyptian-phoen...

Re: The naval shipworm helped bring about the Industrial Revolution

#49

Post by beerandt »

throw0101a wrote: post #47
mannykannot wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Such stories are entertaining, but there is usually no analysis of whether the outcome would have been materially different had the specific chain of circumstances not played out in the particular way they did... Hence the occurrence of weasel words like 'helped' in most such narratives (and my use of 'usually', 'materially' and 'most' here!)

> Such stories are entertaining, but there is usually no analysis of whether the outcome would have been materially different had the specific chain of circumstances not played out in the particular way they did Well, most of these things are 'infotainment' for the lay public. I'm sure if you go into the academic literature then there may be a more robust examination: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_discover…

It's much less messy if you accept that successful marketing is an essential component of (successful) invention.

Which to me is just an extension of the fact that novel "concepts" are not patentable, except as novel inventions (a product, not an idea).

Re: The naval shipworm helped bring about the Industrial Revolution

#50

Post by wazoox »

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…

Actually this theory comes from Raymond Mauny: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Mauny

See the original 1955 paper (in French) : https://www.persee.fr/doc/rea_0035-2004_1955_num_57_1_3523

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