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Technology Levels of Safehold in 890

This fascinating series is a combination of historical seafaring, swashbuckling adventure, and high technological science-fiction. Join us in a discussion!
Re: Technology Levels of Safehold in 890
Post by JRM   » Sun Jul 26, 2015 10:58 am

JRM
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AirTech wrote:
Keith_w wrote:As for the sailing master skills, they were primarily knowledge based from previous voyages based on wind, currents and known speeds, and the records of other sailing masters (ie, rutters), not sextant based mathematical navigation.


Depends on the level of technology you have. The Polynesians sailed from Taiwan to the coast of Peru with no instruments at all and maps made of bamboo and twigs. The sailing masters training took a decade or more to master however. Better instruments make navigation a more precise art and accurate published maps make it repeatable. (BTW we are still massive finding map errors in 2013 - Google Sandy Island as an example). The script contained accurate maps however the punching of Armageddon Reef (amongst other holes) would have altered the currents and terrain quite a bit.


Hi Air Tech,

I live in Honolulu, and we get updates on Hokulea's worldwide voyage. Currently they are about half way between Australia and Bali. Nainoa Thompson, the navigator uses the stars, the sun, current swell and other signs of nature to navigate.

My comment on Safehold was on the contrast between the innovation of documenting sailing directions, and the acceptance of galleon structure and sail plans.

James
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Re: Technology Levels of Safehold in 890
Post by Keith_w   » Sun Jul 26, 2015 1:05 pm

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AirTech wrote:
Keith_w wrote:As for the sailing master skills, they were primarily knowledge based from previous voyages based on wind, currents and known speeds, and the records of other sailing masters (ie, rutters), not sextant based mathematical navigation.


Depends on the level of technology you have. The Polynesians sailed from Taiwan to the coast of Peru with no instruments at all and maps made of bamboo and twigs. The sailing masters training took a decade or more to master however. Better instruments make navigation a more precise art and accurate published maps make it repeatable. (BTW we are still massive finding map errors in 2013 - Google Sandy Island as an example). The script contained accurate maps however the punching of Armageddon Reef (amongst other holes) would have altered the currents and terrain quite a bit.


You may want to read the current Scientific American which contains a very interesting article discussing homo saps spread across the world including the leap of faith that took them to Australia all the while altering every ecology they touched.
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A common mistake people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
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Re: Technology Levels of Safehold in 890
Post by SWM   » Sun Jul 26, 2015 6:56 pm

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JRM wrote:Hi Air Tech,

I live in Honolulu, and we get updates on Hokulea's worldwide voyage. Currently they are about half way between Australia and Bali. Nainoa Thompson, the navigator uses the stars, the sun, current swell and other signs of nature to navigate.

My comment on Safehold was on the contrast between the innovation of documenting sailing directions, and the acceptance of galleon structure and sail plans.

James

Note that the use of instruments such as sextants is a new innovation by Charis. But Safehold sailing masters have been documenting sailing directions for hundreds of years.
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Re: Technology Levels of Safehold in 890
Post by evilauthor   » Sun Jul 26, 2015 11:07 pm

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From Mahklyn's thoughts right before Merlin rescued him from the fire, I got the impression that the state of mathematics on Safehold was little more than basic arithmetic and some geometry (gotta know how much land is owned by whom after all).

IOW, LESS advanced than the Greeks and Romans because the "Archangels" wanted Safehold to get by on as little math as possible. If they hadn't created a society with money and property rights, the Archangels likely wouldn't have given Safehold even that much.
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