Earliest Possible Space Age?
- Thread starter loneranger
- Start date
I want to state my agreement, because this is a very important point when we're asking how to get a space-faring civilization. OTL, there were zero pre-1650 civilizations that had accepted the Scientific Method. Accepting the Scientific Method, and fully integrating it into the nation's research and development efforts, is not optional for something like space travel. The margin of error for manned space travel is incredibly small, and the tweaks and finesses necessary to stay within that margin are competely non-obvious without a proper theoretical grounding in why the spaceship and its human occupants encounter stresses. A "rational" civilization with no Scientific Method, if they even got to the test rocket stage, would lose their first couple prototypes and conclude that the whole enterprise is impossible, because they'd have no systematic way to accept failure and tease out its lessons.
Pythagoras died in 490 BC, before Rome ever expanded out of Latium. He never was stabbed by a Roman soldier in OTL.
You are thinking of Archimedes of Syracuse.
I remember one claim that if the Roman Empire had survived,then overall human technology would be at least 1,000 years more advanced.
RealityX
Banned
What about a different renaissance? The early studies on magnetism and mathematics develop into a systematic study of nature and physics. The catholic church, instead of opposing such studies, encourages them under the explanation that these studies only further demonstrate the Greateness of God (any doctrinal point can be easily dealt with). This pod will lead to people like Galileo, Kepler and others to have freedom of research. Hopefully all this could lead to a manned expedition in the late 19th century.
Definitly a possibility, but there's a long way anyway. I would consider Bukhara too, the observatory built there was pretty advanced for the times.[/quote]
Yes this POD is a great one! Monotheism dosen't have to be against science, in fact much of the christian bibles faulty logic can just be explained as the reasoning of the higher power that seeks to makes us the best souls we can be. Physics and Mechanics would probably make the best progress as they have fundamental laws- biology, medicine, and the social sciences would be taboo however as they challenge the establishment more often.
Definitly a possibility, but there's a long way anyway. I would consider Bukhara too, the observatory built there was pretty advanced for the times.[/quote]
Yes this POD is a great one! Monotheism dosen't have to be against science, in fact much of the christian bibles faulty logic can just be explained as the reasoning of the higher power that seeks to makes us the best souls we can be. Physics and Mechanics would probably make the best progress as they have fundamental laws- biology, medicine, and the social sciences would be taboo however as they challenge the establishment more often.
AmIndHistoryAuthor
Banned
That strikes me as a strange claim. Every major civilization had some form of the scientific method, Arab, Aztec, Chinese, Indian, Mayan, etc. You're defining it in such a Eurocentric and presentist way. Given enough time, historical circumstances, and leaders who wanted the goal, there's no reason any of the aforementioned couldn't get to space.
Err.. No. All those civilizations had ways of doing science, but did not have 'the scientific method', which really, genuinely was a major advance.
The term "Dark Ages" was originally intended to denote the entire period between the fall of Rome and the "Renaissance"
Not sure the 'Christian' label can be accurately attached considering the religion was before and is after such a hold ... if anything you might just blame those pesky barbarians and poor Romans unable to buy enough mercs.
As to the possible races after such a German victory ... you would have the US most likely starting behind but eventually closing the gap right? Japan depending on the POD. German victory doesn't have to mean global domination (or at least North American). Perhaps if the Library of Alexandria wasn't burned ... all that lost knowledge might have been scooped up by the Muslims, added to their own and sprung up a Middle Eastern centric knowledge boom???
