The Knowledge
"How would you go about rebuilding a technological society from scratch? If our technological society collapsed tomorrow, perhaps from a viral pandemic or catastrophic asteroid impact, what would be the one book you would want to press into the hands of the postapocalyptic survivors? What crucial knowledge would they need to survive in the immediate aftermath and to rebuild civilization as quickly as possible-a guide for rebooting the world? Human knowledge is collective, distributed across the population. It has built on itself for centuries, becoming vast and increasingly specialized. Most of us are ignorant about the fundamental principles of the civilization that supports us, happily utilizing the latest-or even the most basic-technology without having the slightest idea of why it works or how it came to be. If you had to go back to absolute basics, like some sort of postcataclysmic Robinson Crusoe, would you know how to re-create an internal combustion engine, put together a microscope, get metals out of rock, accurately tell time, weave fibers into clothing, or even how to produce food for yourself? Regarded as one of the brightest young scientists of his generation, Lewis Dartnell proposes that the key to preserving civilization in an apocalyptic scenario is to provide a quickstart guide, adapted to cataclysmic circumstances. The Knowledge describes many of the modern technologies we employ, but first it explains the fundamentals upon which they are built.
Stats for nerds
24recommend
34mentions
31people
2015–2025years
74% recommend26% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- There's a book about this! Lewis Dartnell's "The Knowledge". I'm not saying it's actually a real answer, but it's fun in a sort of mental Dwarf Fortress kind of way.
- Depending on how far you want to go, you might like to read The Knowledge by Dartnell. It covers smelting, etc.
- Jamie O'Shea's Immaculate Telegraphy video series (2009) - "It's the ultimate salvagepunk experiment" -- https://www.tumblr.com/immaculatetelegraphy -- https://www.google.com/search?q=immaculate+telegraphy
But also Lewis Dartnell (The Knowledge: How to Rebuild our World from Scratch) https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-make-a-telegraph-from-scr... -- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Knowledge:_How_to_Rebuil... -- "a great read, even if civilization does not collapse"
- The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Civilization in the Aftermath of a Cataclysm
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Knowledge-Rebuild-Civilization-Afte...
- -Demon Haunted World A Candle In The Dark - Carl Sagan I enjoy his writing in general, but this one talks a lot about being a skeptic and critical thinking which is paraphrasing strongly.
-The Pillars Of The Earth - Ken Follett. Could not stop thinking about it when I wasn't reading it and was pretty bummed when it was over. Its about a cathedral being built in the 1100's. My most favorite book this year and probably ever.
-The Knowledge - Lewis Dartnell If all people were to suddenly disappear leaving the current world infrastructure still in place, how you could go about restarting civilization. Its more a manual than a story, but I enjoyed learning how so many different things work.
-Alas Babylon Pat Frank - A story about a family and some friends and how they survive in Florida after a nuclear attack on the US.
- Anyone interested in this should check out the book, The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Civilization in the Aftermath of a Cataclysm by Lewis Dartnell.
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