Discuss The Knowledge

I actually came to The Knowledge looking for a Book of desert island chemistry. What I'm hoping for is a book with the following: Basic chemistry principles Basic lab tools, improvised Guide to natural sources for elements useful to 'survivors' Isolation and refinement techniques for those elements ...

Song of Two Worlds by Alan Lightman as Illustrated by Derek Dominic D'Souza An Interesting Model for Knowledge Preservation Song of Two Worlds is a poetic work exploring the intersection of science, spirituality and meaning. The title refers to the world of questions which can be answered, and the ...

The Book of Eli This one... hmm... good story concept, good to great acting. Shot in subdued sepias (not sure, I'm a little colorblind), the film is visually stunning with some honest efforts to envision post-apoc conditions. Many specific scenes linger in my memory, which alone pay the film's way....

I'd suggest that chemical and common names of substances be standardized, and used throughout. Consider an Appendix listing all substances in the text, with as much info as can be packed in... scientific and common names, properties, chemical formulas, reactants, transformations, uses and associated...

The Cartoon Guide to Chemistry by Larry Gonick and Craig Criddle http://www.larrygonick.com/titles/science/the-cartoon-guide-to-chemistry/ The Cartoon Guide series by Larry Gonick is being used to teach subjects at the university level. This one, focusing on chemistry, accessibly takes one from ran...

I've been going through this book, and find it quirky but excellent. It's particularly applicable to the 'desert island' approach, bootstrapping from scratch.

I do find that it's not entirely stand-alone, and recommend another general source to help tie it all together.

Dave Z

Thanks for the link, Dave. This is a section of The Knowledge I feel could use more development. Pyrolosis products, I think, are especially central to the project, as wood will be pretty much universally available, and very low-tech approaches produce a useful range of products. The illustration (a...

Selco's SHTF School I just ran across http://shtfschool.com , a site discussing urban survival. Follow the ABOUT link for public access posts organized by category. In my opinion, it ranks among the best survival oriented resources available on-line. The prime author, Selco, survived a harrowing ye...

Don't know why I didn't think of this, my favorite collapse lullaby. Sing it every day. Wishin' all of you someone to sing it with; before, during and after. Stand by Me by Ben E. King When the night has come And the land is dark And the moon is the only light we'll see No I won't be afraid Oh, I wo...

RE Interest Outta my league, here, but I've noted that loans-at-interest keep cropping up as an apocalyptic common denominator where financial collapse is a factor. Theory runs thus: Averaged across an economy, more money must be returned than is loaned out. Economy must grow to cover interest debt...