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Basic Premise

The story of a person going back in time, bringing with them material from the future is one that dates back at least as far as 1838. Sometimes, the character brings a boomstick. Other times, they bring nothing but their clothes.

I want to send a character back in time with a single book. What I want to know is, what is the most revolutionary material they could deliver?

Specifics

I want to send an Israeli technical professional (doctor, researcher, economist, political scientist, etc) fluent in English, Arabic, and Hebrew to Jerusalem in 30 BCE.

He can bring a single book the size of a college textbook (8.2' x 1.4' x 10.2' or so if you need a starting point) or smaller written in modern English, Hebrew, or Greek. This book does not need to actually exist, but it needs to be something that could reasonably exist.

When I say revolutionary, I mean it in the sense of advancement. An optimally revolutionary book would quickly and easily allow the reader to advance the understanding of the ancient world to modern levels. A poorly revolutionary book would advance the knowledge by only a few years (30 BCE technology improved to 20 BCE tech) or not at all. This can mean advancements in the organization of labor, improvements to metalurgy or farming techniques, or even new political ideas.

My Guess

If I had to make a guess, it would be Auerbach's Wilderness Medicine or a textbook on the history of mechanical engineering.

Any suggestions or critiques of the question are welcome.

Dent7777
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  • This sounds like an excellent story you're working on but this question seems more interested in concerns of the story (What textbook should my character bring back?) rather than concerns of building the world. – sphennings Jan 04 '18 at 19:18
  • @sphennings Yeah, I was thinking about the suitability of this question, but I wasn't sure how else I could phrase it or where else I could post it. – Dent7777 Jan 04 '18 at 19:24
  • If you're wanting help formulating questions you can post in the sandbox to get feedback on questions before asking it on the main site. – sphennings Jan 04 '18 at 19:26
  • I'll do that. Should I delete this question or put it on hold or? Where is the sandbox? – Dent7777 Jan 04 '18 at 19:27
  • It's your call.I'd put it on hold. – sphennings Jan 04 '18 at 19:28
  • The sandbox is on our meta site. – sphennings Jan 04 '18 at 19:32
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    Couple of potential gotchas: Would he need to speak Aramaic? Greek at the time was a trade language. Certainly later it's referred to as Koine. Substantially different from either classical or Modern. You will need to go to at least old Arabic. Do present day scholars know how it was spoken? – Sherwood Botsford Jan 04 '18 at 19:41
  • @SherwoodBotsford I don't particularly think so. From what I've read, historic hebrew is close enough to modern hebrew for normal literate Israelis to read historic hebrew. The spoken form has gone through substantive changes but it is alleged that Arabic-speakers who then learn hebrew speak similarly to historic hebrew. – Dent7777 Jan 04 '18 at 19:45
  • @sphennings How do you put a question on hold? I googled for it but didn't get any instructions. – Dent7777 Jan 04 '18 at 19:46
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    There should be an option labeled close. Probably near share, and edit. – sphennings Jan 04 '18 at 19:49
  • Frankly, this is a good question, but without an explanation of the nature of the change you're worried about, it's primarily opinion-based. @A.C.A.C.'s point about porn would change sociology and culture, a gradeschool science book would change technology, almost anything by John Locke would change politics. Frankly, an encyclopedia would change the most. But otherwise, it's too broad and opinion-based. Might be easier to just delete it than to close it until it's sandboxed. – JBH Jan 04 '18 at 20:03
  • @Dent7777 Was just wondering if the language list was sufficient. I thought Aramaic was spoken on the street. Even by then that Hebrew was a liturgical language, and Greek a trading language. Once a language is written down, and there is a literate class, it doesn't change very fast. But Old Arabic wasn't written that much, so could be radically different from the classical arabic of the Quran period. – Sherwood Botsford Jan 04 '18 at 20:05
  • @JBH I was worried that that was the case. Do you know where I could post the question instead? I am basically looking for people's opinions on the matter. – Dent7777 Jan 04 '18 at 20:08
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    go here, read the instructions, and post your question as an "answer" to the "sandbox question" (in other words, the "sandbox" is a question on Meta where proposed questions are listed as "answers" for comment and editing until they graduate). After posting there, delete it here so there is no confusion. Please do this, it's an interesting question. – JBH Jan 04 '18 at 20:12
  • In 30 BCE Hebrew had been a dead language for about 3 centuries, very few people could read it and nobody spoke it in everyday life. (And Modern Hebrew is is quite different from Biblical Hebrew.) Most people in Palestine spoke Aramaic. Greek might also be useful -- upper and middle class people knew Greek, specifically Common (aka Koinê) Greek, the last stage of Ancient Greek. Arabic was not spoken in Palestine at that time. – AlexP Jan 04 '18 at 20:17
  • @AlexP Wups, guess I was mistaken. Thank you. – Dent7777 Jan 04 '18 at 21:13

2 Answers2

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I'm going to suggest the Pocket Ref.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_Ref

This has a lot of information across a huge variety of topics.

"...how-to guide containing various tips, tables, maps, formulas, constants and conversions... 864 pages in length... Described as an 'oracle of all things DIY'..." - Wikipedia

It has tables and charts on conversion (weight, distance, area, volume, etc.), formula on a huge variety of disciplines (geometry, electronics, much more), and that's just barely scratching the surface of what's all in this book.

I'm pretty sure it has chemistry and metallurgical information as well.

I'm sure it has translations into the necessary language(s).

computercarguy
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  • In general it's a bad idea to answer questions that will be put on hold. It's not always obvious but since the OP was asking how to close the question I'm pretty sure it will be. – sphennings Jan 04 '18 at 19:56
  • @sphennings, why is it a bad idea? Closed questions remain on the site for search engine queries. Despite the question not meeting WB standards, it (and its answers) may still serve someone in the future. I understand the need to close some questions to keep the forum focused, but why not add as much value to the site as possible along the way. My 2nd highest scoring answer was to a question which closed while I was writing it. I begged meta to reopened so that I could post. – Henry Taylor Jan 04 '18 at 20:32
  • @HenryTaylor As per the checklist for good answers "If the question should be closed you should focus on either getting the question closed or editing the question to keep it open rather than answering the question. By answering questions that are off topic, too broad or primarily opinion based we are encouraging more people to ask such questions in the future." – sphennings Jan 04 '18 at 20:45
  • I guess that makes sense, and since it is in the checklist, I will abide by it. Still seems a little contrary to the whole SE idea to me. – Henry Taylor Jan 04 '18 at 20:47
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    Most of the questions asked on WorldBuilding could be considered as "opinion based", so should all the questions be closed as such? I don't think so. – computercarguy Jan 04 '18 at 20:48
  • @computercarguy It's not opinion based but too opinion based. This article explains the rational for why some opinion based questions are allowed. On worldbuilding we generally look for questions that provide some mechanism for clearly distinguishing good from bad answers. – sphennings Jan 04 '18 at 20:51
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    I've found good answers on SE sites where the questions was marked as too broad, too whatever, and I've been burned a couple times, writing a thousand words, and had the question close while I was writing. Son now I try to get an answer in fast. – Sherwood Botsford Jan 07 '18 at 00:55
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Possibilities:

A: If I knows he's going, then he can prepare his own book.

B: If he doesn't know he's going, or only has 27 seconds to choose his book, then he's most likely to take one related to his field. Which may be too modern to be useful. If he's a historian of his field he may have something useful.

Ideas:

  • Principles of Civil Engineering -- Sewage systems.

Sewage disposal had a huge death toll. Couple this with basic hygiene, and the germ theory of disease, which he would know, and wouldn't require a book. Such a book would have at least hints on surveying, laying out level lines and so on.

  • An Illustrated History of Industrial Chemistry

Chem, but with a historical context, with drawings.

  • The Village Blacksmith
  • Basic Metalurgy

Probably want something between these.

  • A technical history of the Industrial Revolution

Such a book would have a mix of chemistry, weaving, steam engines, smelting and steel making.

  • Mathematical Tables and Formulas

Often such books are a mix of tables of trig functions, log tables, formulas for geometry, integrals. I went to university when an HP calculator cost 400 hours of minimum wage work. I used sliderule and tables.

Sherwood Botsford
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  • In general it's a bad idea to answer questions that will be put on hold. It's not always obvious but since the OP was asking how to close the question I'm pretty sure it will be. – sphennings 10 mins ago – sphennings Jan 04 '18 at 20:07