Technology in Stories

I’m supposed to talk about what?

Only some of my DNA is mechanically inclined. The Dutch part. If you have the chutzpah to push the North Sea back for a little extra farmland, you better be technologically astute lest you wake up some night, six feet under water.

So maybe the spirit of my one great-grandfather, who was a stone mason, will help me with this subject? Nah, all that does is explain my fondness for rocks—especially those that sit, one on top of another and form something architectural.

OK. Let’s try this again.

I write about the medieval period, and, contrary to a few opinions, there really was technology. That trebuchet was pretty impressive. Having watched some TV program where moderns tried to recreate one and badly botched their shattering of a stone wall, I concluded that successful use of the weapon required more knowledge of math and science than most of us have. (For me, that would be near-zilch.) And, if you watched the recent Kate/ Wills marriage, you saw some great views of Westminster Abbey. Now that place required some impressive technology. Yes, a medieval cathedral or two is sinking due to bad site positioning, but few of us can quarrel with the skill required in building gothic churches, many of which were capable of surviving longer than innumerable modern structures.

For those of us who write historicals, we often run up against the assumption with modern readers that all the complex stuff was done by us while our distant ancestors were pretty much mud and wattle types. That allows writers the fun of putting a few technological surprises in our stories. Remember the pyramids or Stonehenge? We may have some theories about how those structures were built, but, for all our great knowledge, we are still very clueless. And one of my favorite stories is that of Filippo Brunelleschi who built the cathedral in Florence during the 15^th century with no concrete and only three construction deaths in sixteen years. The recipe for making concrete, by the way, was lost after the fall of Rome for several centuries. How much more have we lost or forgotten in technology that might improve on what we have? Now that is a perspective just dying for a good story!

 So have I included technology in my mysteries?

 Now is the time to quietly slink off and do some research…

Comments

[Camille Minichino]

So well put, Pricilla -- there's no end to the marvels of technology in earlier times. It would be so great to learn things like who came up with that formula for concrete and what happened to it. Please, more research!

And for comparison -- the Empire State Building was built in one year; it's taking 18 months to complete a freeway onramp near me.

[Priscilla]

Love the Empire State Bldg story, Camille!

[Ann]

Priscilla: Nicely done! I like your point that every era had its own "high tech" wizards: the church architects and engineers of the umpty-ump century (? when was Winchester Abbey built anyway ?), the mining engineers and geologists of the 19th century, and so on. Science and technology march onward...

[Liz]

A place to start your research -- http://ancienthistory.mrdonn.org/inventions.html

Lesson No. 1, Staying Cool, resonates with me right now.

[Priscilla]

Good question, Ann! Winchester Cathedral is very ancient and did suffer a bit from bad site construction. Good info on it is found on http://winchester-cathedral.org.uk/history-treasures/our-history/
Thanks, Liz, for a fascinating site!

[Mysti Berry]

My little brother pours concrete for a living (well, now he supervises people who do)--he'll love knowing it was an art learned then lost before our clans lost their lands in Scotland :)

thanks Priscilla!

[Priscilla]

If it had been up to the Scots, the formula would never have been lost, Mysti!

[Pandora UK]

I want all the stuff about Season 3 and I want no more loan comments! Now-se!