Crossbows vs. Longbows

[lch]

Originally Posted by JimMorrison

I don't know, come back to me when modern craftsmen can replicate the functional perfection of say, a Stradivarius, or the Great Pyramid. There are truly countless examples of physical feats that our predecessors performed at levels of proficiency that are as yet unmatched in modern day.

I don't want to enter any Crossbows vs. Longbows, Pirates vs. Ninjas, Vampires vs. Werewolves or similar discussions, but I actually have to tell a little story about this. There's this local guy that has used applied mathematics, FEM and stuff like that, to make stringed instruments. His work wasn't really popular, though, so he invested a couple of kilos and bought a Stradivarius. Then he submitted the Stradivarius as his own work, and (I think seperately) his own work as Stradivarius a couple of times. The supposed Stradivarius was always held in high favors and the perfect sound was emphasized, while the supposed own work performed not so good against "real" Stradivarius and similar great names. It shows that names are more important than quality even in this business. Since this little stunt, he now is really popular and makes good money by producing more strings, of which he can only make a few per year, AFAIK he's pretty overbooked now and he's in the newspapers here from time to time.

As for the Pyramids, I don't know, what function did they have besides being an impressive looking amount of rocks that formed a gigantic tomb? There's enough similar megalomaniacal projects around the world all time.

[JimMorrison]

Originally Posted by lch

As for the Pyramids, I don't know, what function did they have besides being an impressive looking amount of rocks that formed a gigantic tomb? There's enough similar megalomaniacal projects around the world all time.

Well I didn't mean that the Pyramids themselves are functional, I was referring to functionality of the masonry involved, and the engineering required.

Just to clarify one thing - we still do not *know* how on Earth those pyramids got completed. The theories are getting better, but it's truly astounding how large the stones are, even near the top - we would have tremendous problems placing those stones today without a helicopter.

But back to the masonry, the Pyramids, like many ancient masterworks of stone, never had and never needed mortar, or anything to bind the stones together. They are fashioned at a level comparable to the finest machine cut stone (bear in mind, I am really comparing them to modern human stonecutters), despite the fact that they are not regular and standardized in size and shape.

Even more astounding to me, are the "viewing" portals placed strategically about the structures. These are angled tunnels, of less than 1' square, leading out from key chambers to coincide with astronomical events. There are thousands of feet of these tunnels, and the ones that I have seen (they've sent at least a couple of RC cameras up them) are perfectly smooth - impeccably crafted into hundreds of stones which whose placement and assembly is simply incredible.


We don't have stonemasons today that can even approach this level of craftsmanship on any scale even remotely approaching the construction of such an immense structure. If Khufu had ordered the Pyramid built on the day of his birth (no mean feat!) it is estimated that 250 tons of stone would have to be installed every day for his entire 60+ years of life, if they had expected it to be complete in time for his death.

Also, a cited quote from Wikipedia- "The accuracy of the pyramid's workmanship is such that the four sides of the base have a mean error of only 58 millimeter in length, and 1 minute in angle from a perfect square. The base is horizontal and flat to within 15 mm. The sides of the square are closely aligned to the four cardinal compass points (within 3 minutes of arc based on true north not magnetic north)."


Show me someone today who can perform this feat with only 5000 year old technology, and I will surely give you a cookie, sir.

Oh and did you know, that the longbow was just used to humiliate the French at Crecy, while the Welsh waited for them to exhaust themselves, so they could slit their throats? That account of the battle seems a bit fanciful, but I can get behind it. The longbow even wins fights where it kills no one.

[lch]

I don't want to draw the attention away here, just a harmless retort...

Originally Posted by JimMorrison

We don't have stonemasons today that can even approach this level of craftsmanship on any scale even remotely approaching the construction of such an immense structure. If Khufu had ordered the Pyramid built on the day of his birth (no mean feat!) it is estimated that 250 tons of stone would have to be installed every day for his entire 60+ years of life, if they had expected it to be complete in time for his death.

I'll concur with Sombre here. It isn't that we can't, it's that nobody really bothers. People back then weren't Neanderthals, they just had different tools. Actually, I'd say give a Neanderthal the same tools and education as we have now and he should fit in without much trouble. And there are amazing feats done by people all over the centuries. There are people that do build things like they were back then and then use them to prove a point, like crossing the Atlantic with a boat made of reed.

Originally Posted by JimMorrison

Show me someone today who can perform this feat with only 5000 year old technology, and I will surely give you a cookie, sir.

Only one, hardly. A whole empire of loyal people under my command with some genius here or there in the ranks and an abundance of slaves, plus enough material to use up or trade away that it doesn't matter if all else is just wasteland afterwards, I guess I could show you something. What they had was hi-tech for their times, and they certainly were very organized.

How do you think will it look like in 5000 years? I don't know what it will be, but there will be something that people wonder about how we did it. That we actually managed to have space travel with this crude and dangerous technology, just shooting big barrels filled with hydrogen into the sky? And thus bringing humanity MTV, great-great-great-great grandfather of ALLNET or whatever.

[JimMorrison]

I like you lch, so I won't beat this horse like some people might. We've both said our piece on that, and I recognize the validity of both perspectives, even if you think I am just wrong.

I'll just say that I really didn't mean to imply that we can't perform these feats with similar or greater precision - using machines. Just that in many areas, stonemasonry as a prime example, we are dependent on the aid of those machines, and the prevalence (not existence) of such skills, is far less than in previous eras.

Oh, interesting thought to chew on as well - there are structures in Nepal that are hundreds of years old, constructed only of raw timbers, hay, and mud.

I don't doubt that the modern era will leave artifacts behind, but I would think they will be interesting, rather than amazing. See Antikythera.

Okay okay, but I didn't beat the horse, I only pet it. Nice dead horse, good boy.