Do you think that if the library of Alexandria were not burned,

>>3152749
Really?????

Fuck no

>>3152749
No

>>3152749
The elite would squirrel away any knowledge of value, so no.

>>3152749
Sure anon, if It weren't for that damned christianity we would be driving flying cars right now.

If my memory serves, the majority of documents were of a rather mundane nature.

We would likely have a wealth of historical and anthropological information, though I doubt anything which could alter the trajectory of human development.

But then the question remains, if the library had survived, would it be the way it is today, or would it be very different today?

>>3152861
>I doubt anything which could alter the trajectory of human development.
Except Hero of Alexandria had make a working steam engine, forget that did you?

>>3152871
I suppose it is up for debate how practical the engine was, though all I think it was used for at the time was opening doors.
Whether it would have been a contender versus other sophisticated mechanism of the age,
especially in a time before mass production and fine metallurgy makes me doubtful that it would attract much attention aside from a novelty.
It could of become more notable over time, but it does not seem to be something which would change things at a fundamental level.

>>3152890
The Romans were great engineers, im sure they would have found a practical use for it.

>>3152897
No

>>3152871
How is it lost tech if we know all about it?

>>3152749

Need a lot more than a library to start an age of enlightenment.

We would have less knowledge.

It created the notion that the knowledge which made the Roman Empire so great had been lost. Had it not been burned the elite would have spent less money and time searching for this "lost knowledge" and would not have inadvertently developed modern scientific thought in the process.

>>3152749
>>3152871
>>3152861
>>3152917


What would it have taken to start an industrial revolution in the Roman empire?

>>3152926

Wut. "Modern scientific thought" was developed to restore ancient lost knowledge?

>>3152941
It would require a less powerful emperor, which is can be called the reason for its glory
and a more powerful merchant class, plus a ton of legislation regarding property

>>3152959
>>3152941

What's wrong with a powerful emperor?

I agree with the merchant class and property rights. Maybe a better banking system/broad access to capital. Maybe a more broadly educated population.

>>3152941
1. less arbitrary and corrupt government with more respect for personal property and the rule of law
2. a thriving merchant class
3. an understanding of scientific theory which only became possible after the enlightenment
4. an understanding of economic theory which only became possible after the enlightenment
5. vastly superior metallurgy
6. widespread utilization of water power
7. access to and an understanding of coal and rubber
8. vastly more complex methods of financing than existed
9. an end of cheap slavery, why build a steam engine to open the doors when just getting slaves to do it is cheaper and easier

off the top of my head

>>3152907
Losing tech and regaining it in the future means that the progress is stalled

>>3152871
This. Plus Alexandria was home to a lot of matheticans and neo-platoists whose works are lose so much so the only reason why we know so that their works is only coz of content pages and manifest

>>3152945
Ok, more like the attempt to restore lost knowledge sped up the process.

>>3153012
Didn't they know about his steam engine for a century or two and not do anything with it? It was a proof of concept device about the potential power of steam - but like most other people have pointed out, you'd need a massive range of other factors (especially advanced metallurgy) to result in a viable, 19th century style steam engine.

>>3152988
3, 5, coal: yes

2, 6: helpful

1, 4, 8: helpful, but I don't think the Romans were too far behind in this

rubber: rubber only became important long after the industrial revolution was well underway and I wouldn't say it was crucial

9: both societies had slaves

>>3153027
Britain at the time of the industrial revolution had nowhere near as many slaves (and on purely legal technicality, none after the 1770's) as there were in the Roman Empire, and it was certainly nowhere near as reliant on them for its economy in mainland Britain.

>>3153017
Point taken.

>>3153012
How did we regain it if it was burned? We have depictions of the damn thing, we know who made it and what was made even how it was used.

How in the shit does that qualify as "lost"?

Clearly burning it didn't do shit for burying it.

>>3153036
Although, now that I think about it, would the cheapness of employing slaves necessarily make steam engines prohibitively expensive? What about the decreases in manufacturing time and increases in productivity you could get out of a steam engine? Or were the economies simply not advanced enough to justify it?

>>3153036
Mills used destitute laborers who came in from the countryside and paid them barely enough to sustain themselves, an expense a slave owner would be paying in any case. I don't think it made much difference in economic terms tbphwy.

>>3152988
>>3153027

A bunch of roman colonies had water mills.

And with all the shit they engineered I dunno if they needed much more scientific theory.

Financing, property rights and merchant class yes.

I do think slavery was an issue.

None of this wouldn't have kept the huns and germans out anyways.

>>3153075
they didn't even have a word for economics, that's definitely an issue

>>3153079
Nonsense, Bellum.

>>3153107
doesn't that refer to war?

>>3152871
His findings existed for 300 years at least, but weren't revolutionary enough to make existing systems inefficient.
A steam engine is not the steam engine.

You're looking at things in a vacuum, and not considering the larger scope. You're thinking, "The steam engine is a thing that revolutionized the 19th century, that means if they had steam tech in 100 a.C., we could be so much further along" without considering circumstance like fuel availability or efficiency.

>>3153067
>I don't think it made much difference in economic terms tbphwy.

Take a look how quickly and big labour unions and groups like the Chartists got. Those subsistence wages did not long

>>3152945
What is Hermeticism and Alchemy with all the esoterica stripped out? Science yo.