Victoria/Lanth

[Orr]

I would wonder why they haven't gone to bio/organic tech there.

Develop bio/organic tech with what tools? Are they going to be able to do polymerase coding with an abacus and clay pots?

 

[Timerover51]

Hmm, our ancestors did pretty well with selective breeding without even an abacus. The Atom Bomb was designed with slide rules. The article does indicate that:

The flora and fauna of Victoria show apparent influences of reseeding and genetic manipulation. Many of the varieties of animal and plant life appear to have been placed on the world after the bombardment; in fact, several distinct types of life-forms are present, obviously originally evolved on other worlds.

Some biological modification using selective breeding and cross-breeding might well be possible.

At Tech Level 4, actually at Tech Level 1, glass is readily made and glass blowing would be practiced, along with glass molding. It you look at a painting from the 1600s depicting an alchemist laboratory, as can be seen at the Grohmann Museum in Milwaukee, dedicated to Man at Work, the glassware looks quite modern. A metal-poor, read iron-poor world, would not be short of silica for making glass.

At the planet was settled, according to the article, by sub-light ships carrying colonists, it would also depend on how much technology had been preserved or remembered, and what was done before the technology declined.

One comment on the article, about metal being reserved for fishhooks. Very efficient fish hooks can be made from wood or bone, and with the Ivory Gazelle being present, a ready source of fish hooks is available. Also, for any large-scale fishing, nets would be used.

Note: If you are ever in the area of Milwaukee and have an interest in the development of technology, I would strongly encourage a visit to the Grohmann Museum at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. It is the one art museum that I have happily spent hours in.

 

[Orr]

Hmm, our ancestors did pretty well with selective breeding without even an abacus.

Selective breeding isn't quite genetic engineering, let alone the bio/organic Jame was thinking about. Sequencing a genome, let alone manipulating one, is going to be impossible without computers and other instrumentation, all of which require metals for both their own fabrication and the fabrication of the tools which build them.

The Atom Bomb was designed with slide rules.

Slide rules require precision instruments to first design and then produce. It's no coincidence that they were first developed during the instrumentation boom of the early 17th Century along with the first cooks which could reliably measure seconds, accurate sextents and astrolabes, accurate surveying equipment, and the like. None of these can be manufactured out of bone, wood, and ivory.

The article does indicate that:

The article indicates that Victoria is an Ancient site and that the genetic engineering found there is a result of their efforts.

... and glass blowing would be practiced, along with glass molding.

No. You can make glass all you want but you're not going to mold or blow it without metal tools.

A metal-poor, read iron-poor world, would not be short of silica for making glass.

It will, however, be desperately short of the metals needed to handle, form, mold, and blow glass. The 16th Century alchemist in your print had metal tools. Victoria does not.

If you're ever able to visit, the Thinktank in Birmingham, UK is well worth spending days in.

 

[Timerover51]

Selective breeding isn't quite genetic engineering, let alone the bio/organic Jame was thinking about. Sequencing a genome, let alone manipulating one, is going to be impossible without computers and other instrumentation, all of which require metals for both their own fabrication and the fabrication of the tools which build them.



Slide rules require precision instruments to first design and then produce. It's no coincidence that they were first developed during the instrumentation boom of the early 17th Century along with the first cooks which could reliably measure seconds, accurate sextents and astrolabes, accurate surveying equipment, and the like. None of these can be manufactured out of bone, wood, and ivory.



The article indicates that Victoria is an Ancient site and that the genetic engineering found there is a result of their efforts.



No. You can make glass all you want but you're not going to mold or blow it without metal tools.



It will, however, be desperately short of the metals needed to handle, form, mold, and blow glass. The 16th Century alchemist in your print had metal tools. Victoria does not.

If you're ever able to visit, the Thinktank in Birmingham, UK is well worth spending days in.

I would suggest you read the article. It is metal-poor, not totally absent of metals. And I think that I have discussed this sufficiently with you. Have fun.