11-07-2010, 04:57 AM | #1 |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
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TL 1+n: A world with cheap bronze
How far could a society proceed before the limitations of bronze begin to show. Bronze may be superior to iron, but is it superior to steel? Assuming bronze is as cheap as iron, what are the limits?
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11-07-2010, 06:20 AM | #2 |
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Caxias do Sul, Brazil
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Re: TL 1+n: A world with cheap bronze
IMO, you could reach TL4 technology easily with bronze instead of steel, assuming you could have it as cheap as iron/steel.
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11-07-2010, 06:29 AM | #3 |
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: On the road again...
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Re: TL 1+n: A world with cheap bronze
Bronze is supposedly better at absorbing the blast of gunpowder than iron, which made it useful for TL4 and TL 5 cannon. I daresay that you could possibly hit TL 5 with cheap bronze, and possibly late-TL 6/early-TL 7 - it all depends on whether bronze is better than steel for "ironclads", tanks, and WWII battleship hulls.
Cheap bronze commonly translates into tin being more plentiful, or at least easier to find closer to the copper. Not sure how this would affect the economy, though.
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11-07-2010, 07:38 AM | #4 | ||
Join Date: Jun 2006
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Re: TL 1+n: A world with cheap bronze
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To be honest, I think people greatly overestimate the importance of materials to advancing TLs. Everything has a substitute - presumably at least slightly inferior in one parameter or we'd be using it instead in the first place, but seldom so much worse it can't be made to work. And since very often the inferiority *is* cost, when you knock that one out....
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11-07-2010, 08:08 AM | #5 |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
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Re: TL 1+n: A world with cheap bronze
The only thing I can really think of is applications where ferromagnetism is essential.
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“When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love ...” Marcus Aurelius |
11-07-2010, 10:43 AM | #6 |
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: USA, Arizona, Mesa
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Re: TL 1+n: A world with cheap bronze
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11-07-2010, 10:57 AM | #7 |
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Detroit
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Re: TL 1+n: A world with cheap bronze
I think this depends a lot on time factor. Some of the things developed in our tech depend on steel, and an alternate like bronze would work but it would not be as intuitive. You would eventually get the same results, but with much more trial & error, hence each step of tech (involved with this small aspect) would take longer to develop.
Things likes springs, small tools, files, and such would be hell with bronze- but then, there is a substitute somewhere, as mentioned above. I don't know what, because in our world it was a no-brainer to use steel, but I do use spark-proof bronze tools at work from time to time. |
11-07-2010, 11:27 AM | #8 | |
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: USA, Arizona, Mesa
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Re: TL 1+n: A world with cheap bronze
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And while some things might not be as simple using bronze, rather than steel, other things would be much simpler. Overall, the development time depends on people, not materials, and I wouldn't change it for anything short of a change as drastic as removing eighty percent of the metals from the world. |
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11-07-2010, 11:43 AM | #9 | |
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Re: TL 1+n: A world with cheap bronze
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Lack of one material won't keep you from advancing a TL but you do need to have invented/developed the substitutes.
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