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iamnotaparakeet
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11 Sep 2009, 1:28 am

Question for anyone:

What would be the effect if someone were to travel back in time to the days when the Roman Empire was strong, and give the Emperor a copy of the Principia by Newton?



polymathpoolplayer
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11 Sep 2009, 2:52 am

iamnotaparakeet wrote:
Question for anyone:

What would be the effect if someone were to travel back in time to the days when the Roman Empire was strong, and give the Emperor a copy of the Principia by Newton?


Being in a cynical mood I'd say that some stupid ruler would muck things up - the times were not right for rationalism.



Klint
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11 Sep 2009, 3:23 am

Well I believe that if time travel was possible at all, that you could only travel forwards. But if it's possible to travel past the next Big Bang, and all universes created by the Big Bang were either identical or very close like in the parallel universe theory, then I would have to agree with polymathpoolplayer. :lol:



iamnotaparakeet
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11 Sep 2009, 3:32 am

Rationalism or no, Romans were quick to recognize a potential advantage. The mathematics of the Principia was mainly that of Euclid, the rest explained in text. Basically, the Romans would be able to understand Newton's Principia in their day, even without the philosophical baggage of the Enlightenment. With a fundamental grasp of the basics of physics and the notions of how to develop it further, the Romans could have been even longer lasting than they were, perhaps till today or longer.