tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post3616823068845382501..comments2024-03-25T15:17:04.488-07:00Comments on Captain Capitalism: What Chimneys Teach Us About EntrepreneurshipCaptain Capitalismhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05620212946121617985noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-34211179049402036962017-01-16T08:11:18.636-08:002017-01-16T08:11:18.636-08:00CAP,
Your question should be "Why did it tak...CAP,<br /><br />Your question should be "Why did it take Europeans so long to develop chimneys?" Koreans has such for centuries and later coupled it with under floor radiant heating. Tucanae Serviceshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11935170696138248693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-16086729823841340872017-01-12T12:27:14.387-08:002017-01-12T12:27:14.387-08:00I was in the MFB for a long time, maybe fifteen ye...I was in the MFB for a long time, maybe fifteen years ago when the first African 'refugee/migrants' started to arrive I attended a couple of fires that were different than anything I'd come across before. These 'ref/migrants' were of course give taxpayer benefits which included housing. I was working at Footscray Fire Station at the time and like all good governments they placed these people in undesirable areas such as Dandenong or the western suburbs.<br />So these African families were given an old house or flat, most of them had children and they came from warm climates. Now Melbourne in winter can be very cold and there was no heating in the bedrooms, so the parents (I saw this twice) would get an old car wheel sans tyre, place it i the kids bedroom, light a fire in the wheel and shut the door. This is true, how dumb do you have to be, nobody died but that was more good luck. These people didn't even have a concept of a chimney. Yet apparently bringing them here is a good thing.?https://www.blogger.com/profile/18205415070659654852noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-11780438855610332802017-01-11T19:32:12.711-08:002017-01-11T19:32:12.711-08:00Another interesting historical anomaly is the hist...Another interesting historical anomaly is the history of screw. Meaning fastener, of course. The accuracy of screws turns out to be one of the limiting factors in the accuracy of metal working machines.The Phantomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10159748429049446398noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-78208003866307629022017-01-11T14:31:59.663-08:002017-01-11T14:31:59.663-08:00"PS: What id also striking, is stark technolo..."PS: What id also striking, is stark technological decline in the west after the fall of the western Roman Empire. Like if all technologically capable people died off."<br /><br />https://www.amazon.com/Mohammed-Charlemagne-Revisited-History-Controversy/dp/0578094185Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-44119464831941076032017-01-11T13:45:50.678-08:002017-01-11T13:45:50.678-08:00To this day people don't understand why a comb...To this day people don't understand why a combustion air intake is a good idea, MPAI.elad sputnikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10582519646447221794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-57564337870305753272017-01-11T12:22:13.117-08:002017-01-11T12:22:13.117-08:00I love history - it is my understanding that bette...I love history - it is my understanding that better chimneys were invented during the little Ice Age which happened in the late 1300's (14th C) and their invention was driven by the colder climate change. Perhaps Benjamin Franklin improved these chimneys?? My background is in architecture.Big Mommanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-91557568175262365892017-01-11T10:35:04.601-08:002017-01-11T10:35:04.601-08:00"along side the creation of inflammable ceram..."along side the creation of inflammable ceramics and/or pottery."<br /><br />You might want to change "inflammable" to "nonflammable" since both inflammable and flammable mean the same thing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-69023432804143096522017-01-11T10:13:29.411-08:002017-01-11T10:13:29.411-08:00A couple of thoughts:
For a very large part of hum...A couple of thoughts:<br />For a very large part of human history, we were nomadic hunters and gatherers. Little need or incentive to make bricks, mortar, and permanent structures. *<br />In addition, our early history (apparently) places us in tropical and sub tropical environments...Africa, the Mediterranean, Indian subcontinent, and South East Asia.<br />I'd guess that most cooking fires were outdoors rather than inside(?).<br />Perhaps the last Ice Age was the incentive to hunker down in a more permanent structure, at least in the colder regions?<br /><br />*Before you can build a chimney, you need to invent something to hold the form. Clay would work but mortar (Lime cement?) would be a better solution. The invention then has to spread through civilized territory.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-45693352077236355932017-01-11T09:48:54.205-08:002017-01-11T09:48:54.205-08:00The Romans didn't need chimneys due to the fac...The Romans didn't need chimneys due to the fact that they invented and perfected underfloor heating.Adamhttps://pushingrubberdownhill.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-33108588760226019842017-01-11T07:56:11.632-08:002017-01-11T07:56:11.632-08:00Very intelligent and well-written post and only TH...Very intelligent and well-written post and only THREE responses? Ridiculous!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-12311140932167425122017-01-11T06:43:36.604-08:002017-01-11T06:43:36.604-08:00Franklin and company were able to perfect the wood...Franklin and company were able to perfect the wood stove because the Industrial Revolution cut the price of iron by a factor of 10. Until this happened, it would have been prohibitively expensive to make a stove out of iron.<br /><br />And it was really only around 1100 AD or so that knowledge (in Europe) was regularly passed around as it was in Roman days. If someone came up with a cool idea in, say, 900 AD, the idea was a lot more likely to die with him. So we can call this the Communications Revolution.<br /><br />Neither of these points change the thrust of your post, of course.bloggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18387939062238510638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-69181004982345005592017-01-10T22:11:32.530-08:002017-01-10T22:11:32.530-08:00The ancient Romans had central heating too. They ...The ancient Romans had central heating too. They called it hypocaust.<br /><br />TomAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-16277778403773079182017-01-10T19:50:09.476-08:002017-01-10T19:50:09.476-08:00Phil B, don't forget that getting official cre...Phil B, don't forget that getting official credit for inventions requires legal and financial privilege as well as long term connections to the elite universities. Certain ethnic groups (you can do the math here) have been given extreme unearned recognitions of intellectual merit they wouldn't have had if not for outside aid from powerful corporate interests and control of the government.<br /><br />The truth is that every culture and class can and does produce geniuses. Even the working class had enough leisure time to invent things like jazz or other creative endeavors that weren't likely to be stolen from them.<br /><br />I suspect that except for outright slaves, most humans of all classes seem to be wired to do the same amount of "grind-work" and creative work throughout the day.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-22701997708444569912017-01-10T17:51:36.480-08:002017-01-10T17:51:36.480-08:00Russian stove /fireplace ie masonry heater. 500 yo...Russian stove /fireplace ie masonry heater. 500 yo tech. If west had adopted would have changed the worldAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-64492581462415900522017-01-10T15:33:04.418-08:002017-01-10T15:33:04.418-08:00Yep - the "inventions" and advances in p...Yep - the "inventions" and advances in philosophy, mathematics and science were made by the noble classes. Not because they were more intelligent than the rest of the population but were wealthy enough to have the leisure time to devote to such non productive pursuits. <br /><br />Survival always takes a greater priority than blue sky thinking.<br /><br />Phil BAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-31004609988057388502017-01-10T14:33:54.629-08:002017-01-10T14:33:54.629-08:00I'm going to guess that chimneys were original...I'm going to guess that chimneys were originally a form of miniaturization, where mass production of goods requiring fire needed to be done in as small of an area as possible. Packing as much stuff as possible inside expensive castle walls wasn't important until the stirrup was invented, and the untrained peasants who couldn't afford military grade horses responded by avoiding open field warfare and in its stead adapting to the siege. A long siege meant that efficient storage and use of space became a stronger part of the European mindset than the more open and sprawling days of Roman rule.<br /><br />Franklin's chimney seems to be geopolitical and mercantile in a sense, because of French control of the fur trade. Furs are an indirect source of heat/food and it was based in Louisiana. Burning wood more efficiently was a way of avoiding foreign influence on the young and vulnerable colony.<br /><br />In reality, there was plenty of time to screw around in the Middle Ages, especially when it wasn't planting/harvest time. Some of the best years Europe ever had were actually in the dark ages, the first couple centuries after the fall of Rome but before the rise of Islam and the vikings. People were having too much fun to record their gripes or construct military structures.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8358039.post-28286256187943860502017-01-10T11:01:43.187-08:002017-01-10T11:01:43.187-08:00Just a note about chimneys which has just popped u...Just a note about chimneys which has just popped up in my head. Recently I watched a documentary about medieval kitchens in castles and chateaux.<br />And, surprisingly, they had chimneys (in backwards Eastern Europe). What stuck in my mind was one particular, I think, it was a 14th century castle. The only thing left from the castle was a chimney. Tall, symmetrical rocket-like structure (remotely resembling R-7). It was so well built, from a single layer of bricks, that it outlasted whole stone made castle. Medieval people were more sophisticated that many people think, they just did not have means to express themselves.<br /><br />PS: What id also striking, is stark technological decline in the west after the fall of the western Roman Empire. Like if all technologically capable people died off. Maybe nerds were selected out of gene pool the same way they are being now...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com