Eric Flint's 1632 & Beyond: Alternate History Stories

Volume 23 #9: Mineral Mastery

Previous Mineral Mastery: Discovery and Control of Ore Deposits After the Baltic War Written by Iver P. Cooper Introduction Kipling may have thought that only “Iron—Cold Iron—is master of them all,” but there are quite a few minerals which will be of military and economic importance in the “new” 1630s. This essay updates the economic […]

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Volume 23 #8: The Oil Mines at Wietze and Pechelbronn

Previous / Next The Oil Mines at Wietze and Pechelbronn Written by Jeff Corwith Introduction After collection of oil from surface outcrops and seeps, mining of oil is arguably the oldest means of exploiting hydrocarbon resources. Heavy oils, used to caulk ships, were hand dug from shallow pits in the Middle East several hundred years […]

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Volume 22 #9: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme

Previous / Next Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme: Gardening and Growing Food in 1632 Written by Anette PedersenIntroduction The benefits of growing usable plants near your sleeping place—as opposed to having to search for them whenever you need them—are so obvious that people must have started the first gardens as soon as they discovered that […]

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Volume 21 #12: Hyperinflation: Who Is Going To Do It?

Previous / Next Hyperinflation: Who Is Going To Do It? Written by Gorg Huff The 16th century was a period of massive inflation. European silver production increased as gold and silver came from the Americas. The growing importance of credit transactions plus population growth and the expansion of European economies and trade were all factors. […]

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Volume 21 #11: Home on the Grange

Previous / Next Home On the Grange Written by Kevin H. Evans Take Europe . . . The state of agriculture in the 1600s is unique. Nothing approaching the modern standardization of methods existed. One can find farming practices ranging from the ancient to the modern. This is mostly because of the large number of diverse political systems […]

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1632 & Beyond Issue 15 #7: The Mannington Minute

Previous / Next The Mannington MinuteJackie Britton Lopatin Small town and rural life is unsurprisingly different from life in bigger cities. It has a different rhythm to it. Not that the people have different likes or dislikes, but events have to be cognizant of all the other events going on around them and how well […]

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Volume 20 #11: Better Foundations, Part 2: Putting Concrete to Work

Previous / Next Better Foundations, Part 2: Putting Concrete to Work Written by Iver P. Cooper In the world the up-timers left behind, the most widely consumed substance on Earth was water. What came second? Concrete. Indeed, concrete can be said to be, quite literally, the foundation of modern society. We depend upon it for […]

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Volume 20 #10: An Analysis of the Effect of Evangelical Missions on the 1632verse

Previous / Next An Analysis of the Effect of Evangelical Missions on the 1632verse Written by John Davis Technology is usually thought of in terms of understanding of the physical world and the ability to manipulate it. However, ideas and methodology can also be thought of as a form of technology in which society is […]

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Volume 19 #12: Wingless Wonders

Previous Wingless Wonders Written by Kevin H. Evans Lighter-than-air technology is a lot like the game Go. It is easy to learn, but very hard to master. Many countries tried the technology, but only a few managed to master it. By far the largest number of rigid airships were built by Germany. On the other […]

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Volume 19 #11: Plausibility Denial or Truth is Stranger Than Fiction

Previous / Next Plausibility Denial or Truth is Stranger Than Fiction Written by Gorg Huff Predictions and Reality Some years ago the barflies who frequent the 1632 Tech Manual, after much debate, came up with the number of computers in Mannington, West Virginia. Which was also the number of computers in Grantville. At the most […]

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Volume 19 #10: Better Foundations, Part 1: An Introduction to Concrete

Previous / Next Better Foundations, Part 1: An Introduction to Concrete Written by Iver P. Cooper Concrete—”Liquid Stone”—has made possible many innovations in architecture. Yet concrete is no Space Age wunderkind; it has its roots in antiquity. Concrete, albeit of a kind inferior to the modern product, was used by the Romans in the construction of […]

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1632 & Beyond Issue 14 #7: Movies And Television The Year Before The Ring Of Fire

Previous Movies And Television The Year Before The Ring Of Fire Tracy S. Morris Sometimes, I’d like to time travel to the day that I came up with the idea for Betsy Springer with my co-writer Brad Sinor and make her a little less rooted in late ’90s pop culture. It wasn’t a problem when […]

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Volume 18 #12: Safety First: Industrial Safety in 1632, Part Two

Previous Safety First: Industrial Safety in 1632,Part Two, Technical Aspects Written by Iver P. Cooper Ambrose Bierce, in The Devil’s Dictionary, defined an “accident” as “an inevitable occurrence due to the action of immutable natural laws.” But some industrial accidents are avoidable, and the secret to minimizing them is to know what the hazards of the […]

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Volume 18 #11: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Previous / Next Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: Mathematics After the Ring of Fire Written by William Truderung The Ring of Fire was an event that shook the world of 1631 to its foundations. One of the disciplines destined to be revolutionized is mathematics, which was still in its infancy at the time. This […]

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Volume 18 #10: What’s For Dinner

Previous / Next NONFICTION: What’s For Dinner: Typical Dishes From 1632. Written by Anette Pedersen The common dishes in 1632 were quite different from what most western people eat today, and the following article will try to show what would have been prepared and served in the household of a moderately prosperous craftsman—say a printer […]

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Volume 17 #14: Scraps of Fashion

Previous / Next Scraps of Fashion Written by Lisa Satterlund Something to keep in mind when writing fashion into your 1632verse stories is that the down-timers don’t think their fashions are ugly. From the point of view of the twentieth century, the up-timers will see many of the garments the highest classes wear as stiff, […]

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Volume 17 #13: Food Preservation in 1632

Previous / Next The Importance of Having a Pig: Food and Preservation in 1632 Written by Anette Pedersen The Importance of Storage Self-sufficiency was the alpha and omega of housekeeping in the 1632 era, and no matter how rich or poor a household was, it was the responsibility of the housewife or housekeeper to ensure […]

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Volume 17 #12: The Steam Car

Previous / Next The Steam Car Written by Kevin H. Evans The day approaches, more quickly than we may think, that the demand for automobiles will far surpass the supply that arrived with the Ring of Fire. Also many of the cars from the future will have un-repairable breakdowns. A solution to the transportation gap […]

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Volume 16 #13: Unintended Consequences: Dealing with the Population Density Explosion

Previous Unintended Consequences: Dealing with the Population Density Explosion Written by Walt Boyes The reconstruction of Magdeburg brings to mind issues in population density. Although relatively large cities existed in 1634 in OTL, none of them qualifies as a really modern city, as the up-timers would recognize them. The up-timers will cause an unparalleled population […]

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Volume 16 #11: The High-Stepping Beauties

Previous / Next The High-Stepping Beauties Written by Kevin H. Evans Joseph stood on the platform, his eyes tightly shut, straining with his whole self to hear the whistle. It was time. The schedule said it was time, the whistle would tell. There it was, the distant chime. It was the first notes of a […]

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Volume 16 #9: Tell Me What You Eat, and I’ll Tell You Who You Are

Previous / Next Tell Me What You Eat, and I’ll Tell You Who You Are Written by Anette Pedersen Food and Cooking According to Class in 1632 Introduction In the Germany of 1632 the difference between the food available to the rich and to the poor was immensely bigger than it is today. Not so […]

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Volume 15 #15: Tennis: The Game of Kings

Previous Tennis: The Game of Kings Written by Iver P. Cooper Many of the stories of the 1632 Universe relate to the flow of ideas—technological and social—from the up-timers to the down-timers. But the flow can be in the other direction, too. My story “The Chase” (Ring of Fire 2) relates how the up-timers learn […]

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Volume 15 #14: The Theobroma Shell Game

Previous / Next The Theobroma Shell Game Written by Karen C. Evans Chocolate, that magical substance that smoothes out the rough parts of our lives. Those of us who have been living with the Grantville “disaster” these past years are reconciled to the fact that we will never have chocolate again. It isn’t available in […]

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Volume 15 #13: The Geared Locomotive or What Wood You Shay To?

Previous / Next The Geared Locomotive or What Wood You Shay To? Written by Kevin H. Evans Geared locomotives were developed to handle rough track industrial applications. Most notable were logging short lines, and mining short lines. The traditional steam locomotive has cylinders parallel to the ground with the effort of those cylinders transferred to […]

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Volume 15 #12: Soundings and Sextants,Part Two

Previous / Next Soundings and Sextants,Part Two, Celestial Navigation Methods Written by Iver P. Cooper According to Marx’s book on the Spanish flota, ship’s navigators were regarded with scorn and, on many occasions, the denouement to the stranding of a ship’s crew was the assassination or execution of the navigator (71). Up-time celestial navigation methods may […]

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1632 & Beyond Issue 12 #1: What is Redbird?

Previous / Next What is Redbird? Bethanne Kim Why is this in nonfiction when Redbird is fictional? It’s not a story. It’s the story behind the story. Most of what is written in this universe is solidly built on the foundation of what is real. Grantville isn’t real, but Mannington (the town Grantville is based […]

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Volume 14 #17: Soundings and Sextants, Part One, Navigational Instruments Old and New

Previous Soundings and Sextants, Part One, Navigational Instruments Old and New Written by Iver P. Cooper In Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, the tyrannical senior midshipman, Mr. Simpson, given a navigation problem by the sailing master, computes the ship’s position as being in Central Africa. The captain acidly praises him for discovering the source of the Nile. Poor […]

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Volume 14 #16: Second Hand Help

Previous / Next Second Hand Help Written by Vincent W. Coljee In Grantville Gazette, Volume 10, vaccinations in the 1632 universe were discussed as something Grantville would introduce to early modern Europe and beyond. Vaccinations are an extremely useful and beneficial healthcare innovation both from the societal and personal perspective. Widespread use of vaccinations can prevent […]

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Volume 14 #15: Metallic Fusion: Putting it Together in 1632

Previous / Next Metallic Fusion: Putting it Together in 1632 Written by Kevin H. Evans The construction of machines and devices requires that sections of material be attached to each other. This can be accomplished by friction, adhesives, mechanical connections, and welding. Down-time fastening methods were mostly mechanical. That is the methods depended on adhesion […]

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Volume 14 #14: Radio Killed the Video Star: Mass Communication Development in the 1632 Universe

Previous / Next Radio Killed the Video Star: Mass Communication Development in the 1632 Universe Written by Jay Robison As we have seen so far in both fiction (“Waves of Change” Grantville Gazette, Volume 9) and non-fiction (articles by Rick Boatright and others), the mass media of radio and television are bringing big changes to seventeenth […]

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Volume 13 #13: Guilds 101

Previous / Next Guilds 101 Written by Karen Bergstralh Guilds had a long history. Depending upon your exact definition, a form of guilds can be traced back over 4,000 years. By the twentieth century all but a few guilds had disappeared and the handful that remain had altered greatly. A major factor in their disappearance […]

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Volume 13 #12: The Wooden Wonders of Grantville

Previous / Next The Wooden Wonders of Grantville Written by Iver P. Cooper The “Wooden Wonder” (or “Timber Terror”) of World War II was the De Havilland Mosquito, a highly successful aircraft, made primarily from wood, used in both fighter and bomber configurations. The fact that it competed effectively with aluminum-based aircraft shows that it […]

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Volume 13 #11: The Music of the Spheres . . . er, Ring

Previous / Next The Music of the Spheres . . . er, Ring Written by David Carrico A lot has been said in the various 1632 discussion threads on Baen’s Bar, as well as in print, about how early modern Europe’s populace really weren’t too different from people of today. They were technically adept, given the tools that they […]

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1632 & Beyond Issue 11 #7: The Impact Of Mannington On Grantville And Grantville On Mannington

Previous / Next The Mannigton Minute: The Impact Of Mannington On Grantville And Grantville On Mannington Jackie Britton Lopatin My husband, Leonard Lopatin, and I feel so blessed to be living in historic Mannington, a small town in the West Virginia mountains on Highway 250. When people here would ask us how or why we […]

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1632 & Beyond Issue 11 #7: Economics Are Not Abstract

Previous / Next Economics Are Not Abstract Gorg Huff We act like they are. We assume that they are. But they are not. The economics of Grantville are not the economics of Amsterdam. The principles are the same, but the details are different, and the devil, the weather, and economics are in the details. In […]

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Volume 12 #17: Aircraft in the 1632 Universe

Previous Aircraft in the 1632 Universe Written by Gorg Huff The essence of the Ring of Fire was the knowledge, ideas and information that it provided to the Early Modern period. Perhaps the least predictable aspect of the Ring of Fire was the order of inventing. In our own history the railroad (1804) came a century […]

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Volume 12 #16: My Name is Legion

Previous / Next My Name is Legion:Copying the Books of Grantville Written by Iver P. Cooper No down-time visitor can fail to be amazed by the libraries of Grantville. In 1633, Maestro Giacomo Carissimi, writes that the high school has “a library that seems to come out of long-forgotten myths. A fabulous place for the number […]

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Volume 12 #14: Grantville Police Department

Previous / Next Grantville Police Department Written by John Zeek In 2000, the Grantville Police Department was a typical small town police department. It consisted of a chief and five patrolmen, and a sworn juvenile officer. A study of the books 1632 and 1633 and a visit to the Grid reveals their names and ages. Police: Dan Frost (47; chief […]

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Volume 12 #13: So You Want to Build the Internet

Previous / Next So You Want to Build the Internet:IP Communicatons in 1633 Written by Charles Prael The internet, as we all know, is a complex beast. It depends on a wide variety of technologies to deliver a wide variety of information over a large number of different computing devices. So, how feasible is it to […]

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Volume 11 #15: Adventures in Transportation

Previous Adventures in Transportation: An Examination of Drags, Carts, Wagons and Carriages Available in the 17th century Written by Karen Bergstralh The intention of this piece is to acquaint the 1632 aficionados with the types of wheeled and non-wheeled land transport available for moving heavy and bulky items. Considering that the up-timers will have a […]

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Volume 11 #14: Steam: Taming the Demon

Previous / Next Steam: Taming the Demon Written by Kevin H. Evans DISCLAIMER This article is not intended to provide all the information needed to design and build actual boilers. Many skills and cross checks are needed to ensure the safe design and construction of pressure vessels. This article is to promote the understanding of […]

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Volume 10 #19: The Feast

Previous THE FEAST by Anette Pedersen Guildmaster B in a fair-sized northern European town is giving a party to celebrate his second son’s engagement to the daughter of another guildmaster. Come and let me show you what’s going on. The Street The street leading past the house is not one of the main streets through […]

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Volume 10 #18: All Roads Lead to…

Previous / Next ALL ROADS LEAD. . . . By Iver P. Cooper A seventeenth-century visitor might well think that all roads lead to Grantville, not Rome, because down-time roads pale by comparison. “Captain Gars,” riding on Route 250, noted its “perfect flatness,” and considered it to be “the finest road he had ever seen in his life.” […]

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Volume 10 #17: Herd Immunity

Previous / Next Herd Immunity By Vincent W. Coljee Life, disease and death in the 1630s Imagining life in a small town in Germany in the 1630s is difficult for the average twenty-first century dweller. Picture awaking from an interrupted night’s sleep, courtesy of the local swine brawling in the alley below your bedroom window. […]

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Volume 10 #16: Crude Peniccilin

Previous / Next Crude Penicillin: Potential and Limitations By Kim Mackey “That which we know frequently impedes us in acquiring new knowledge.” Claude Bernard (1813-1878), French physiologist. Background and Early History of Penicillin The Age of Disinfection began with the work of Pasteur and Lister in the 1860s and 1870s. While this initial work focused on […]

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Issue 9 #6: X-Rays!

Previous / Next X-Rays! Iver Cooper X-rays may be used for medical imaging and treatment, metallurgical examination, and chemical characterization. How soon will this be possible in the 1632 Universe? X-Rays X-rays are a high-energy form of electromagnetic radiation. On the electromagnetic spectrum, they lie in between ultraviolet and gamma rays. Surprisingly, there isn’t an […]

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The Frontier Culture Museum

I have driven past signs for “this “The Frontier Culture Museum” off Interstate 81 in Virginia many times and have often thought about stopping there, but we were always in a rush to get somewhere. Finally, on the way home from DragonDon 2024, we had the time. As an added bonus, we had perfect weather. […]

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1632 & Beyond Issue 6 #6: Inside Baseball

Previous Inside BaseballBjorn Hasseler Since Robert finished his Cassini cycle of baseball stories in this issue, I decided on a baseball name for this column. It’s the inside scoop, the nuts and bolts, perhaps a little of how the sausage is made. Most of the staff of Eric Flint’s 1632 & Beyond just got home […]

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1632 & Beyond Issue 6 #5: Buzz! Beekeeping in the 1632 Universe Part 2

Previous / Next Buzz! Beekeeping in the 1632 Universe, Part 2 Iver P. Cooper Transplanting Bees The European honey bee has been deliberately transported to regions outside its native range, notably North and South America, Australia and New Zealand, and Japan. There are obvious problems with shipping bees overseas on sailing ships. The voyages are […]

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Volume 2 #12: The Secret Book of Zink

Previous The Secret Book Of Zink Andrew Clark [We present to you for the first time translated into English, the remarkable and exciting news from Doctor Erasmus Faustus, as originally printed in the Fraenkische Wochenzeitung.] By vows to God and from pious reflection, this humble man offers to mankind the secret story of the princely […]

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Volume 2 #11: Mente Et Malleo: Practical Mineralogy And Minerals Exploration In 1632

Previous / Next Mente Et Malleo: Practical Mineralogy And Minerals Exploration In 1632 (non-fiction) Laura Runkle One of the advantages that the people of Grantville have in the novels 1632 and 1633 is their technology. With their tools, the people of Grantville can turn out cannon, rifles, and steam engines. With their chemical knowledge, they […]

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Volume 2 #10: So You Want To Do Telecommunications In 1633?

Previous / Next So You Want To Do Telecommunications In 1633? (non-fiction) Rick Boatright Introduction David Freer’s story, “Lineman for the Country” in the Ring of Fire anthology, described the beginnings of wired telecommunications in the 1632 universe and the founding of AT&L. Like any good story, much of the technology was mentioned, but not […]

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Volume 2 #9: A Quick and Dirty Treatise on Historical Fencing

Previous / Next A quick and dirty treatise on historical fencing (non-fiction) Enrico M. Toro “Et l’oggetto di questa scienza altro non è che il riparare et il ferire . . . le quali non potrà alcuno sapere se prima non havrà la cognitione dè tempi e delle misure . . .”[ . . . and the goal of this science […]

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Volume 102 #6: Time May Change Me, Part 4

Previous / Next By Charles E. Gannon, Ph.D. and David Carrico So by 1636, it’s been obvious for some time now that the SRG flintlock is approaching the end of its utility phase. It won’t be long before it’s more of a liability than an asset. The French have already produced a clone of the […]

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1632 & Beyond Issue 3 #5: Something Old, Something New: A Materials of Construction Survey

Previous Iver P. Cooper What we can construct—whether it be a building, a boiler, or a toaster—and how well it performs its function depends on the materials incorporated into it. One of the effects of the Ring of Fire will be an ever-expanding palette of materials of construction for the engineer. Depending on their properties […]

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Volume 92 #6: Flags of the World: The USE, Part 2

Flags of the World: The USE, Part 2 Previous / Next by Mike Nagle Other Flags of the United States of Europe At the end of 1636, the United States of Europe is composed of 16 provinces and states, 8 free imperial cities, and 2 districts. Additionally, 8 former free imperial cities (of the Holy […]

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