Napoleon the science fanatic
- Thread starter Fabilius
- Start date
He was also known to be an amateur mathematician
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon's_theorem
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon's_problem
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon's_theorem
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon's_problem
Ok, so no takers
Anyway. One possible result of Napoleon being more supportive of industrialization could be a France that´s not as far behind Germany and Britain even if it loses the Napoleonic wars.
Also if he really goes wild in funding, some important 19th century inventions might end up being French. That´s sort of what I was going for, but what would apart from Fulton´s steam boats be plausible funding material.
Anyway. One possible result of Napoleon being more supportive of industrialization could be a France that´s not as far behind Germany and Britain even if it loses the Napoleonic wars.
Also if he really goes wild in funding, some important 19th century inventions might end up being French. That´s sort of what I was going for, but what would apart from Fulton´s steam boats be plausible funding material.
Well, historically France has been pretty good when it comes to railways.
WI, Napoleon decides to create a railway system? The initial idea would be to make it easier to move troops from northern France and Paris into the Rhine area and Germany. The cost of the railways factors into the eventual defeat of Napoleon, but the railway is there to stay and has a major impact on trade between France and the Rhine area. The restored monarchy decides to continue this program and starts an initiative to connect all of France through railways.
There was some of that OTL--his experience in artillery gave him skills in math and logistics.
His main failure seemed to be of the imagination--he dismissed Fulton's idea for steamships on the grounds that fire on a wooden ship was insane.
His main failure seemed to be of the imagination--he dismissed Fulton's idea for steamships on the grounds that fire on a wooden ship was insane.
All you need is a receptive Nappy to the ideas of Robert Fulton and you could theoretically have steamships AND submarines. No idea why this isn't done more...
I'm betting that while Fulton would have produced some interesting results, he probably wouldn't change the outcome of the war. But it could speed up things and change what nations would lead in technology.
Another interesting effect could be Britain and France both spending money on steamboats and submarines in a cold war-ish sort of way. Then by 1815 we might have a far more advanced European shipping fleet?
Not just balloons; the French led the way inb the development of dirigibles. If they could come up with a means of motive power, you could have Opération Lion de Mer...