tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5927870683677181756.post3669523685744528779..comments2023-10-15T04:48:05.528-04:00Comments on Free the Princess: Steampunk OpticsMatthew Delmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11452378192874048547noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5927870683677181756.post-61719709364566885322010-05-10T21:38:55.981-04:002010-05-10T21:38:55.981-04:00Your trivia for the day:
Goethe, who thought he w...Your trivia for the day:<br /><br />Goethe, who thought he was a physics genius, was actually a man 2,000 years behind his times. Goethe believed as Euclid did, that sight worked by light traveling from the eyeball to the object seen.<br /><br />Goethe of course had a massive influence on the evolution of the German language.<br /><br />And that is why to this day, when you say in German that you're looking at something, you have to put the phrase in the dative case, which normally indicates "movement towards".Gary Corbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14759372069119740227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5927870683677181756.post-46060254706459324212010-05-10T18:43:00.075-04:002010-05-10T18:43:00.075-04:00Once again a very enlightening post! so sorry for ...Once again a very enlightening post! so sorry for the pun. Every time I read your posts on steampunk it sends me back to fiddle with my second steampunk story which I keep thinking is finished. And then voila, some bit of erudite epherema lights up the synpases in my brain and I have to go ramp up my story. Thanks! B. Miller, my writing partner, has noticed the differences in before I read your research and afterwards!ggrayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06794262315030983630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5927870683677181756.post-81098004379636331722010-05-10T18:34:01.008-04:002010-05-10T18:34:01.008-04:00As always, quite interesting! Thanks!As always, quite interesting! Thanks!Cynthia Reesehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13128418037470085123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5927870683677181756.post-21659705530728078592010-05-10T14:28:38.581-04:002010-05-10T14:28:38.581-04:00Very cool. Also; good to know about the electricit...Very cool. Also; good to know about the electricity-- I'll have to re-think a few things.L. T. Hosthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12448176940211118898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5927870683677181756.post-46248181994031745672010-05-10T13:55:52.927-04:002010-05-10T13:55:52.927-04:00Matt - And this is where I go off the rails, becau...Matt - And this is where I go off the rails, because I'm not setting my story on Earth ... it's steampunk in Space! Er, and it's not a comedy. Oh dear.<br /><br />Anyway, that was about what I remembered (without looking it up) - that electricity wasn't common until well after 1900, and actually was the precursor to the industrial age. Interesting that flashlights were patented before that. I was, in fact, in search of a light source for my MC, sneaking off in the dark, so I'm thinking portable oil lamp, closable shade for steathery. :)<br /><br />I'd obvs have to do a LOT more research if I was writing this story for realz, not just for a contest. Fun nonetheless.<br /><br />Thanks!Susan Kaye Quinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07348197999397141067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5927870683677181756.post-21808338915683941172010-05-10T13:27:49.070-04:002010-05-10T13:27:49.070-04:00Susan --
Electricity/batteries existed in the 19t...Susan --<br /><br />Electricity/batteries existed in the 19th Century, but weren't tremendously commonplace. For example, the first truly electric streetlights came on in Paris outside the Louvre in 1875. They wouldn't have reached ubiquity until well into the 20th Century (think circa 1930s).<br /><br />If you want to have a random flashlight kicking around, those were patented in 1896. It all depends on where in the Victorian/Edwardian era you set your story.<br /><br />Electricity was known but they didn't use it with anywhere near the way we do. Gears and mechanical methods powered everything.Matthew Delmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11452378192874048547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5927870683677181756.post-58752738516193087232010-05-10T12:54:49.236-04:002010-05-10T12:54:49.236-04:00I am attempting my first steampunkish story (for R...I am attempting my first steampunkish story (for Rick Daley's contest). I shall be digging through your archive to seek out cool tech tidbits. I'm a bit befuddled at the moment about the state of electricity and batteries, but I can rectify that. FUN!Susan Kaye Quinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07348197999397141067noreply@blogger.com