Quote:
Originally Posted by Astromancer
Try this idea, a few centuries ago in the Hellenistic East a new Philosopher showed up. He started as a teacher of mathematics, introducing what he called Hindu numbers, and several new ways to solve hard problems. |
When is the divergence point on this supposed to be? The "secret" of silk production is known in the Byzantine empire by around 550 AD, though held as an Imperial monopoly. Hindu numbers are invented sometime after 625. Lenses are classical Greek (there's a reference to a burning glass in Aristophanes' The Clouds, and not in a way that suggests the audience wouldn't understand it). The difficulty there is mostly one of manufacture - the big challenge is clear glass, there isn't much natural sand that doesn't have at least iron in it.