[plug] [OT] inventions (was "stealing")

[Leon Brooks]

On Monday 18 November 2002 12:39 pm, Colin Muller wrote:
> You could add to that the compass (ancient China), and no doubt a lot
> more.

Hot-air balloons; the ability to quarry, shape and loft 1200 tonne blocks of 
Andesite and 30,000+ tonne blocks of granite; trepanning operations; the 
ability to build roads and platforms absolutely straight and level for 
thousands of km, including stone bridges still standing after more than a 
thousand years; the ability to manufacture aluminium (South America). 
Galvanic cells, the ability to make and shape truly pure iron; the ability to 
make and shape other alloys that we can't; the ability to build huge pyramids 
that stay flat and level to within an inch for thousands of years; the 
construction of at least three Suez canals; stable gliders with negative 
dihedral (Middle East). Construction of pyramids which dwarf Giza; 
twenty-storey skyscrapers; machines which flew (apparently somehow powered by 
mercury); wireless communication (Far East). Ability to place 40-tonne 
statues with 8-tonne hats halfway down sheer cliffs in an isolated region 
without hard metal tools (Easter Island). Structures mounted 4km under 
Antarctic water (http://www.unknowncountry.com/img/news/072001/eltanin-1.jpg 
for picture taken in 1964 - note that there appear to be structures in the 
background) and much enjoyed by the tinfoil-hat brigade - who knows?

These and many more are a good antidote for thinking that you know what's 
going on in the world. (-:

> On Mon, Nov 18, 2002 at 11:36:12AM +0800, James Elliott wrote:
>> Who would bother writing a novel if they were not go[i]ng to get paid
>> for it?

Karl Marx? Melancthon? Confucius? Mohammed? Got the point? (-:

Cheers; Leon