And then when you’ve got his attention, show him decimal notation.
And stirrups for his horse. And lances.
Once he’s hooked, show him why things float. And how a ball rolling down an inclined plane moves 1, 4, 9, 16 as it accelerates.
Show him Cartesian geometry. And how to play go with lines scratched in the ground and coloured stones. Make a recorder and play him some songs.
He’ll teach you Greek.
Show him how to send messages using flashing mirrors. Show him Playfair’s cipher. Perspective drawing. How to make a magnifying glass. Newton’s cradle. Make a model boat out of bronze.
I suspect in a day in Ancient Greece, you’d see so many easily solved problems that my list would look naive. You don’t need modern technology. You need the things that were discovered just after the mediaevals recovered what the Greeks already knew.
I suspect in a day in Ancient Greece, you’d see so many easily solved problems that my list would look naive.
This is one of the more interesting approaches to the Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (as I dub this species of thought problem) - that you don’t need any special preparation because your basic background means that you’ll spend the rest of your life in the past rushing around yelling ‘don’t do that, you idiot, do it this way!’
Show him how to send messages using flashing mirrors.
Oh god. That is actually just humongous in it’s possible effect on warfare.
I mean add simple ciphers to it and you literally add another whole dimension to warfare.
Communication lines setup this way are almost like adding radio. Impractical in some situation, but used in regional warfare with multiple engagements? This is like empire forming stuff just from reflective stone plus semi-trivial education equals dominance.
And then when you’ve got his attention, show him decimal notation.
And stirrups for his horse. And lances.
Once he’s hooked, show him why things float. And how a ball rolling down an inclined plane moves 1, 4, 9, 16 as it accelerates.
Show him Cartesian geometry. And how to play go with lines scratched in the ground and coloured stones. Make a recorder and play him some songs.
He’ll teach you Greek.
Show him how to send messages using flashing mirrors. Show him Playfair’s cipher. Perspective drawing. How to make a magnifying glass. Newton’s cradle. Make a model boat out of bronze.
I suspect in a day in Ancient Greece, you’d see so many easily solved problems that my list would look naive. You don’t need modern technology. You need the things that were discovered just after the mediaevals recovered what the Greeks already knew.
This is one of the more interesting approaches to the Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (as I dub this species of thought problem) - that you don’t need any special preparation because your basic background means that you’ll spend the rest of your life in the past rushing around yelling ‘don’t do that, you idiot, do it this way!’
Diplomacy might actually be the best preparation.
Oh god. That is actually just humongous in it’s possible effect on warfare.
I mean add simple ciphers to it and you literally add another whole dimension to warfare.
Communication lines setup this way are almost like adding radio. Impractical in some situation, but used in regional warfare with multiple engagements? This is like empire forming stuff just from reflective stone plus semi-trivial education equals dominance.