nonfiction Archives - Eric Flint's 1632 & Beyond

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 […]

To access this page, you must purchase 1632 & Beyond Subscription (monthly billing) or 1632 & Beyond Subscription (annual billing).

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 […]

To access this page, you must purchase 1632 & Beyond Subscription (monthly billing) or 1632 & Beyond Subscription (annual billing).

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 […]

To access this page, you must purchase 1632 & Beyond Subscription (monthly billing) or 1632 & Beyond Subscription (annual billing).

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 […]

To access this page, you must purchase 1632 & Beyond Subscription (monthly billing) or 1632 & Beyond Subscription (annual billing).

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 […]

To access this page, you must purchase 1632 & Beyond Subscription (monthly billing) or 1632 & Beyond Subscription (annual billing).

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 […]

To access this page, you must purchase 1632 & Beyond Subscription (monthly billing) or 1632 & Beyond Subscription (annual billing).

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 […]

To access this page, you must purchase 1632 & Beyond Subscription (monthly billing) or 1632 & Beyond Subscription (annual billing).

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 […]

To access this page, you must purchase 1632 & Beyond Subscription (monthly billing) or 1632 & Beyond Subscription (annual billing).

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 […]

To access this page, you must purchase 1632 & Beyond Subscription (monthly billing) or 1632 & Beyond Subscription (annual billing).

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 […]

To access this page, you must purchase 1632 & Beyond Subscription (monthly billing) or 1632 & Beyond Subscription (annual billing).

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 […]

To access this page, you must purchase 1632 & Beyond Subscription (monthly billing) or 1632 & Beyond Subscription (annual billing).

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 […]

To access this page, you must purchase 1632 & Beyond Subscription (monthly billing) or 1632 & Beyond Subscription (annual billing).

Volume 12 #15: Flying the Virtual Skies

Previous / Next Flying the Virtual Skies:A Brief History and 1632 Perspective on Flight Simulation Written by Sean Massey For almost as long as there has been flight, there have been simulators to assist in training would-be pilots in the art of flying. They have evolved from primitive mechanical trainers to electronic cockpits. With Grantville leading […]

To access this page, you must purchase 1632 & Beyond Subscription (monthly billing) or 1632 & Beyond Subscription (annual billing).

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 […]

To access this page, you must purchase 1632 & Beyond Subscription (monthly billing) or 1632 & Beyond Subscription (annual billing).

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 […]

To access this page, you must purchase 1632 & Beyond Subscription (monthly billing) or 1632 & Beyond Subscription (annual billing).

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 […]

To access this page, you must purchase 1632 & Beyond Subscription (monthly billing) or 1632 & Beyond Subscription (annual billing).

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.” […]

To access this page, you must purchase 1632 & Beyond Subscription (monthly billing) or 1632 & Beyond Subscription (annual billing).

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. […]

To access this page, you must purchase 1632 & Beyond Subscription (monthly billing) or 1632 & Beyond Subscription (annual billing).

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 […]

To access this page, you must purchase 1632 & Beyond Subscription (monthly billing) or 1632 & Beyond Subscription (annual billing).

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 […]

To access this page, you must purchase 1632 & Beyond Subscription (monthly billing) or 1632 & Beyond Subscription (annual billing).