The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Our World From Scratch Read Online Free Page A
Author: Lewis Dartnell
Tags: Science & Math, Technology, Science & Mathematics
see how to relearn medicine, harness mechanical power, master the generation and storage of electricity, and assemble a simple radio set. And since
The Knowledge
contains information on how to make paper, ink, and a printing press, the book itself contains the genetic instructions for its own reproduction.
How much can one book invigorate our understanding of the world? I obviously can’t begin to pretend this single volume represents a complete documentation of the sum total of human knowledge of science and technology. But I think it provides enough of a grounding in the fundamentals to help survivors in the early years after a Fall, and broad directions for tracing an optimal route through the web of science and technology for a greatly accelerated recovery. And, following the principle of providing condensed kernels of knowledge that unravel under investigation, a single volume can encapsulate a vast treasure trove of information. By the time you put down this manual, you’ll understand how to rebuild the infrastructure for a civilized lifestyle. You’ll also, I hope, have a firmer grip on some of the beautifulfundamentals of science itself. Science is not a collection of facts and figures: it is the method you need to apply to confidently work out how the world works.
The purpose of a quick-start guide is to ensure that the fire of curiosity, of inquiry and exploration, continues to burn fiercely. The hope is that even in the maw of a cataclysmic shock the thread of civilization is not broken and the surviving community does not regress too far or stagnate; that the core of our society can be preserved; and that these crucial kernels of knowledge, nurtured in the post-apocalyptic world, will flourish once again.
This is the blueprint for a rebooting civilization—but also a primer on the fundamentals of our own.
CHAPTER 1
THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT
The most glorious moment for a work of this sort would be that which might come immediately in the wake of some catastrophe so great as to suspend the progress of science, interrupt the labors of craftsmen, and plunge a portion of our hemisphere into darkness once again.
D ENIS D IDEROT,
Encyclopédie
(1751–1772)
THE SEEMINGLY OBLIGATORY SCENE in any disaster movie is a panning shot across a broad highway gridlocked with tightly packed vehicles attempting to flee the city. Instances of extreme road rage flare as drivers grow increasingly desperate, before abandoning their cars among the others already littering the shoulders and lanes and joining the droves of people pushing onward on foot. Even without an immediate hazard, any event that disrupts distribution networks or the electrical grid will starve the cities’ voracious appetite for a constant influx of resources and force their inhabitants out in a hungry exodus: mass migrations of urbanite refugees swarming into the surrounding countryside to scavenge for food.
TEARING UP THE SOCIAL CONTRACT
I don’t want to get stuck in the philosophical quagmire of debating whether mankind is intrinsically evil or not, and whether a controlling authority is a necessary construct to impose a set of laws and maintain order through the threat of punishment. But it is clear that with the evaporation of centralized governance and a civil police force, those with ill intentions will seize the opportunity to subjugate or exploit those more peaceful or vulnerable. And once the situation seems sufficiently dire, even previously law-abiding citizens will resort to whatever action is necessary to provide for and protect their own families. To ensure your own survival you may have to forage and scavenge for what you need: a polite euphemism for looting.
Part of the glue that binds societies together is the expectation that the pursuit of short-term gains through deception or violence is far outweighed by the long-term consequences. You’ll be caught and socially stigmatized as an untrustworthy partner or punished by
The Knowledge
contains information on how to make paper, ink, and a printing press, the book itself contains the genetic instructions for its own reproduction.
How much can one book invigorate our understanding of the world? I obviously can’t begin to pretend this single volume represents a complete documentation of the sum total of human knowledge of science and technology. But I think it provides enough of a grounding in the fundamentals to help survivors in the early years after a Fall, and broad directions for tracing an optimal route through the web of science and technology for a greatly accelerated recovery. And, following the principle of providing condensed kernels of knowledge that unravel under investigation, a single volume can encapsulate a vast treasure trove of information. By the time you put down this manual, you’ll understand how to rebuild the infrastructure for a civilized lifestyle. You’ll also, I hope, have a firmer grip on some of the beautifulfundamentals of science itself. Science is not a collection of facts and figures: it is the method you need to apply to confidently work out how the world works.
The purpose of a quick-start guide is to ensure that the fire of curiosity, of inquiry and exploration, continues to burn fiercely. The hope is that even in the maw of a cataclysmic shock the thread of civilization is not broken and the surviving community does not regress too far or stagnate; that the core of our society can be preserved; and that these crucial kernels of knowledge, nurtured in the post-apocalyptic world, will flourish once again.
This is the blueprint for a rebooting civilization—but also a primer on the fundamentals of our own.
CHAPTER 1
THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT
The most glorious moment for a work of this sort would be that which might come immediately in the wake of some catastrophe so great as to suspend the progress of science, interrupt the labors of craftsmen, and plunge a portion of our hemisphere into darkness once again.
D ENIS D IDEROT,
Encyclopédie
(1751–1772)
THE SEEMINGLY OBLIGATORY SCENE in any disaster movie is a panning shot across a broad highway gridlocked with tightly packed vehicles attempting to flee the city. Instances of extreme road rage flare as drivers grow increasingly desperate, before abandoning their cars among the others already littering the shoulders and lanes and joining the droves of people pushing onward on foot. Even without an immediate hazard, any event that disrupts distribution networks or the electrical grid will starve the cities’ voracious appetite for a constant influx of resources and force their inhabitants out in a hungry exodus: mass migrations of urbanite refugees swarming into the surrounding countryside to scavenge for food.
TEARING UP THE SOCIAL CONTRACT
I don’t want to get stuck in the philosophical quagmire of debating whether mankind is intrinsically evil or not, and whether a controlling authority is a necessary construct to impose a set of laws and maintain order through the threat of punishment. But it is clear that with the evaporation of centralized governance and a civil police force, those with ill intentions will seize the opportunity to subjugate or exploit those more peaceful or vulnerable. And once the situation seems sufficiently dire, even previously law-abiding citizens will resort to whatever action is necessary to provide for and protect their own families. To ensure your own survival you may have to forage and scavenge for what you need: a polite euphemism for looting.
Part of the glue that binds societies together is the expectation that the pursuit of short-term gains through deception or violence is far outweighed by the long-term consequences. You’ll be caught and socially stigmatized as an untrustworthy partner or punished by
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