Message from @Lucienne d'Anwyl
Discord ID: 646006495380504596
screws make ships move
theyre how you translate an engines power into propulsion
they didn't even have steel afaik
in modern ships
at least not in any bigger quantities
these are massive screws
youd need proper metallurgy
likewise even making a proper steam engine
would require good steel
to make the furnace
i mean hell
you wanna make a locomotive
the entire thing is solid steel
They knew that steel is sometimes made when you make iron
but they didn't understand how and when it's created
Rome invented screws actually so that'd work
theres a difference between
a small screw
in a wooden block
and a ships screw
They were wood ofc
second of all they are massive
wooden screws wouldnt work at all
wouldn't bronze work?
are copper
well ny metal would work
but metal isnt exactly easy to come by
you think they just have huge amounts of it lying around?
the only reason metal was so easy to come by during the industrial revolution
was because they mechanized mining
and they knew how to use chemical solutions to refine ores
the romans had none of that
likewise i dunno if a weaker metal like copper would be able to take the strain
Okay but they'd have probably been able to get there
So what you are saying is, go back in time and save rome?
as an aside
yo didnt even have copper plating
on the underside of boats
until well after the 1700s began
Could they make giant steam-drawn scorpion