Science/History Question

[DainBramaged]

Say we took a 1950ish car back to the year 1770. Do you think the scientists of that day would be good enough to examine the car and figure out how it worked just on observation. Say it had an unlimited amount of refined gasoline to keep it running while they examined it. Would they be able to replicate it?

 

[drsafety]

Yes, I beleive a good scientist would be able to figure out how it works easily.

As far as building a new one from scratch, I beleive it could be done, but it would most likely be a very crude car (think Model T)

my $.02

 

[Cpt Cupcake]

Originally posted by: drsafety
Yes, I beleive a good scientist would be able to figure out how it works easily.

As far as building a new one from scratch, I beleive it could be done, but it would most likely be a very crude car (think Model T)

my $.02

I agree. If they were already experimenting with the idea of electricity, why couldn't they do the rest of it? The biggest obstacle that I see them encountering is their lack of proper fuel.

 

[IronWing]

I think the tires and plastics would be the most revolutionary items to them.

Edit: Also the precision grinding on the engine, power train. 1770s instrument makers could do that kind of work on a small scale but to see it on large pieces would be new.

 

[Legend]

Yes. Not a new one because of embedded systems, but one from the 1950s.

 

[sixone]

Originally posted by: DainBramaged
Say we took a 1950ish car back to the year 1770. Do you think the scientists of that day would be good enough to examine the car and figure out how it worked just on observation. Say it had an unlimited amount of refined gasoline to keep it running while they examined it. Would they be able to replicate it?

Do you have any idea how rare metal was in the 1770's? Replication would be impossible.

 

[IronWing]

Originally posted by: sixone

Originally posted by: DainBramaged
Say we took a 1950ish car back to the year 1770. Do you think the scientists of that day would be good enough to examine the car and figure out how it worked just on observation. Say it had an unlimited amount of refined gasoline to keep it running while they examined it. Would they be able to replicate it?

Do you have any idea how rare metal was in the 1770's? Replication would be impossible.

Steel was rare. They might be able to work it out in brass or cast iron.

 

[Cooler]

they used taste to see if an object was made of lead.

 

[sixone]

Originally posted by: ironwing

Originally posted by: sixone

Originally posted by: DainBramaged
Say we took a 1950ish car back to the year 1770. Do you think the scientists of that day would be good enough to examine the car and figure out how it worked just on observation. Say it had an unlimited amount of refined gasoline to keep it running while they examined it. Would they be able to replicate it?

Do you have any idea how rare metal was in the 1770's? Replication would be impossible.

Steel was rare. They might be able to work it out in brass or cast iron.

In that quantity? Not likely.

 

[ElFenix]

when was the micrometer invented?

 

[DAGTA]

Originally posted by: DainBramaged
Say we took a 1950ish car back to the year 1770. Do you think the scientists of that day would be good enough to examine the car and figure out how it worked just on observation. Say it had an unlimited amount of refined gasoline to keep it running while they examined it. Would they be able to replicate it?

Yes, some one or group would be able to figure out it's workings. Able to replicate it? Maybe in a larger, heavier, more crude model.

 

[mercanucaribe]

How the hell do you think they would manufacture a car? They didn't have CNC mills back then... Go look up "science" then look up "technology". YOu're probably thinking of engineers anyway.

 

[IronWing]

Originally posted by: sixone

Originally posted by: ironwing

Originally posted by: sixone

Originally posted by: DainBramaged
Say we took a 1950ish car back to the year 1770. Do you think the scientists of that day would be good enough to examine the car and figure out how it worked just on observation. Say it had an unlimited amount of refined gasoline to keep it running while they examined it. Would they be able to replicate it?

Do you have any idea how rare metal was in the 1770's? Replication would be impossible.

Steel was rare. They might be able to work it out in brass or cast iron.

In that quantity? Not likely.

The Production and Consumption of Iron in Early Modern England and Wales
British Iron Production

Manufacture more than doubled from about 28,500 tons per year in the early 1710s to nearly 60,000 tons in the late 1760s

Iron was plentiful. Brass making is bronze age technology

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

If you gave the car to DaVinci, he could probably figure it out really quick and improve upon it.

 

[IronWing]

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
How the hell do you think they would manufacture a car? They didn't have CNC mills back then... Go look up "science" then look up "technology". YOu're probably thinking of engineers anyway.

The question wasn't "Could they go into full scale production?" but would they understand the car. They didn't have CNC mills in the fifties either.

 

[Armitage]

Given the proper tools to take it apart as well, I'm sure they could figure it out. The science was fairly well established - batteries in the late 1700s, gas laws in the 1600s & thermodynamics in the late 1600, early 1700s. The mechanisms - cams, levers, gears etc. are reasonably easy to understand on inspection. At that point is was more of an engineering problem - materials, machining, refining, etc.

 

[Soccerman06]

Well Calculus was invented in the 1600s, so i bet the scientists new something about the world around them, yes calc as little to do with anything else, but think about it. If they can find the volume of a 3d object (no easy geometry) 400 years ago, they can do simple physics.

 

[DAGTA]

Originally posted by: Armitage
Given the proper tools to take it apart as well, I'm sure they could figure it out. The science was fairly well established - batteries in the late 1700s, gas laws in the 1600s & thermodynamics in the late 1600, early 1700s. The mechanisms - cams, levers, gears etc. are reasonably easy to understand on inspection. At that point is was more of an engineering problem - materials, machining, refining, etc.

Off topic:

Understanding of simple batteries existed as far back as ancient Egypt.

 

[Atomicus]

Euler was a genius and his works are still being publishes.

 

[msparish]

Originally posted by: Soccerman06
Well Calculus was invented in the 1600s, so i bet the scientists new something about the world around them, yes calc as little to do with anything else, but think about it. If they can find the volume of a 3d object (no easy geometry) 400 years ago, they can do simple physics.

Calc has little to do with anything else (I'm assuming that's what you meant to say)? Haha...you're funny.