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Animation of how bridges were built in Central Europe in the Middle Ages [video]

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Re: Animation of how bridges were built in Central Europe in the Middle Ages [video]

#11

Post by prennert »

coder1001 wrote: post #9
azepoi wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

there are many more https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puente_de_fábrica

yeah I imagine once a technique is mastered, it would be used all over the place! Not sure if one "company" started offering this service in many places, could explain the similarity.

These projects employed skilled journey men (level between apprentice and master). At some point they then traveled to work on the next project, spreading the know-how. Once something was working, it was often copied as modifications were risky.

Re: Animation of how bridges were built in Central Europe in the Middle Ages [video]

#12

Post by DavidHm »

DoofusOfDeath wrote: post #10

I used to be tempted to think that our modern generations are extra smart because of the cool gadgets we have. Seeing stuff like this, and reading ancient political / philosophical writings, gives me a much-needed reality check.

It's a pretty typical mistake.

We are just as smart as our predecessors. We just have a much higher population, a higher % of them are well educated, and we have an enormous body of historical knowledge (as well as easy ways for anyone to access it).

"On the shoulder of giants" etc.

Re: Animation of how bridges were built in Central Europe in the Middle Ages [video]

#13

Post by _Microft »

DoofusOfDeath wrote: post #10

I used to be tempted to think that our modern generations are extra smart because of the cool gadgets we have. Seeing stuff like this, and reading ancient political / philosophical writings, gives me a much-needed reality check.

I rather wonder what our descendants will marvel at that we are doing.

Will they think that it was ingenious to design machines in different parts, from different materials, then assembled and shipped to where they are needed? With the limited technology and methods of our time? That we used to engineer and create special machines for these different purposes because in their world, everything you can conceive will come out of replicators [0] instead? Fully functional, no matter which materials it consists of? And humans no longer involved in the design process because a solution was computer generated after stating the purpose of the tool?

[0] https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Replicator

Re: Animation of how bridges were built in Central Europe in the Middle Ages [video]

#14

Post by prennert »

It looks similar to the description of the bridge being built in "World without End" by Ken Follett. One bit that is missing from this animation is that there is no rubble placed in the water around the piers. In the book this had the all important function of preventing the foundations from being washed out by the river. Maybe that was fiction or it was too much detail for the animators since the water is not transparent.

Re: Animation of how bridges were built in Central Europe in the Middle Ages [video]

#18

Post by andreime »

_Microft wrote: post #13
DoofusOfDeath wrote: post #10

I used to be tempted to think that our modern generations are extra smart because of the cool gadgets we have. Seeing stuff like this, and reading ancient political / philosophical writings, gives me a much-needed reality check.

I rather wonder what our descendants will marvel at that we are doing. Will they think that it was ingenious to design machines in different parts, from different materials, then assembled and shipped to where they are needed? With the limited technology and methods of our time? That we used to engineer and create special machines for these different purposes because in their world, everything you can conceive will c…

the thermic engine would amaze the next generations

Re: Animation of how bridges were built in Central Europe in the Middle Ages [video]

#20

Post by _Microft »

dotancohen wrote: post #17

Seriously, why is the submission to a lower-quality, sped-up Twitter gif?

This GIF has been making rounds on Twitter for a few days already. I think if I had not searched Youtube for the video, I would not have seen any other version either.

Among others, I'm quite certain that it was also shared by former NASA astronaut Mike Massimo [0] who has quite a few followers on Twitter [1]. (More people might know him from a (few?) cameo appearances in Big Bang theory though.)

It is easy to have seen this on Twitter by now.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Massimino

[1] https://twitter.com/Astro_Mike

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