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Topic

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This article is about the current version of DF.
Note that some content may still need to be updated.


Topics (also Tech or Innovations) are part of knowledge.

There are around 300 innovations that can be discovered. Many of them have requirements, and many do not, so it's kind of a tech forest/grassland rather than a tree. Notably missing are innovations related to practical labors in the game (which will be added later in development).

Several innovations require innovations from other branches, and since all knowledge is individually tracked, that implies some investigators will need to be at least well-read if not skilled in various topics (there aren't currently joint research projects). There are some old and new mechanisms in place to ensure this happens.

There are 9 "branches" of the knowledge system.

Astronomy

Topic Description
Geocentrism The theory that the sun moves around the world
Heliocentrism The theory that the world moves around the sun
The variation of daylight with the season
The rise of the sun according to the season
The phases of the moon
The path of the moon
The rise of the moon according to the season
The relationship between the moon and the tides
The height of the tides, the moon and the sun
The relationship between the lunar and solar year
Astrography The creation of star charts
Methods of empirical observation in astronomy
Astrolabe The construction and use of the astrolabe
Stellar Spectroscopy The classification of stars based on the light they emit

Chemistry

Topic Description
Methods for performing experiments systematically in the laboratory
The preparation and use of adhesive materials
Oil of vitriol The preparation of oil of vitriol
Spirit of niter The preparation of spirit of niter
Aqua regia The preparation of aqua regia
The mixture of metals to produce alloys
The classification of ores
The classification of materials based on which elemental materials might form them
The classification of alkali and acids
The classification of combustible materials
The construction and use of the ampoule
The construction and use of the vial
The construction and use of the alembic
The construction and use of the blast furnace
The construction and use of the retort
The construction and use of the crucible
The construction and use of laboratory ovens
The construction and use of the beaker
The theory and methods involved in evaporation
The theory and methods involved in distillation
The theory and methods involved in the extraction of a constituent liquid from one solution to another
Water Displacement A precise description of buoyancy and water displacement

Engineering

Topic Description
The Pulley The construction and use of the pulley
The Lever The construction and use of the lever
The reasons why the lever is effective
The Windlass The construction and use of the windlass
The Screw The construction and use of the screw
Models and Templates The use of models and templates in engineering
The Warded Lock The construction and use of the warded lock
The Tumbler Lock The construction and use of the tumbler lock
The Siphon The action of the siphon
Gears The reasons why gears are effective
The construction and use of water-filled sphere as a lens
The Crystal Lens The construction and use of the crystal lens
The Funnel The construction and use of the funnel
The Glass Lens The construction and use of the glass lens
The Camera Obscura The construction and use of the camera obscura
The construction and use of valves
The construction and use of the bellows
The construction and use of the straight-beam balance
The Wedge The reasons why the wedge is effective
The use of water-based devices to tell time
The use of lamination
The Wheel-and-axle The reasons why the wheel-and-axle construction is effective
The reasons why pulleys are effective
The reasons why screws are effective
Screws The construction and use of the screw
The construction and use of the padlock
The reasons why the lever is effective
Water clock reservoirs The use of reservoirs in water-based clocks to improve their accuracy
Shadow clocks The use of shadows to tell direction and time
Armillary spheres The construction and use of armillary spheres
The construction and use of the dioptra
The construction and use of chain drives

Differential gears are a difficult innovation and a prerequisite for pointing chariots and astrariums.

Geography

Topic Description
Surveying The process of surveying land
Surveying staff The construction and use of the surveying staff
Anemology The forces that govern wind patterns
Econometrics The process of economic data collection
The placement of economic information on maps
Water cycle The origin of rainfall through evaporation and condensation
A world-wide cycle involving precipitation, oceans, rivers, and other forms of water
Cartography The process involved in creating maps
Atlases The collection of maps and other information together into a single text
The process of the formation of deltas at the mouths of rivers
The placement of geological information on maps

The geography innovations include several related to cartography.

History

Innovations for historians are, in part, writing forms like biography, and then any historian that reads a biography can start writing them as well. Innovations include comparative biographies describing multiple people, and matters of sourcing, etc.

Historians can start to understand how cultural differences and state bias affects source reliability and think a bit about social forces.

Topic Description
Historical causation The causes of historical events
Archaeology The method of collecting and evaluating artifacts to learn about history and culture
Diachronic archaeology The method of examining artifacts to determine how techniques have changed over time
Cultural history The method of accurately and comprehensively describing cultures and civilizations
Comparative anthropology The method of comparing and contrasting different cultures
Source reliability The reliability of sources
Personal interviews Using personal interviews as sources
Biography The method of writing the history of a single individual
Autobiography The method of writing a biography of oneself, particularly as it concerns a military campaign or adventure
Biographical dictionaries The compilation of brief biographies into one large collection
Comparative biography The method of compiling several biographies to compare and contrast the subjects' character and to gain insight into history
Cultural relativism The role of cultural differences in source reliability and interpretation
Genealogy The compilation of family lineages and methods of displaying them artfully
Alternate history The exploration of how history would be different if some key past events had transpired differently
Sociology The notion of bonds between members of a community
The notion of historical, governmental and social cycles

Mathematics

Topic Description
Place values Positional notation
The idea of using symbolic notation for addition
Large Sums Simple formulas for certain arbitrarily large sums
Equations The technique of balancing and completion for solving equations
Scientific notation Notation for very large numbers
Negative numbers Notation for negative quantities
Zero A symbol for nothingness
Division An algorithm for dividing one number into another, possibly yielding a remainder
The divergence of the harmonic series
Quadratic formula A formula which solves quadratic equations
Completing the square The solving of quadratic equations by completion of the square
Basic geometry Geometric objects: points, lines, circles, triangles, and so on
The computation of the volume of different pyramids
The computation of the volume of a cone
The computation of the volume of a sphere
The computation of the surface area of a sphere
The properties of similar and congruent triangles
Geometric mean The relationship between the length of the altitude of a right triangle and the lengths of the segments into which it divides the hypotenuse
The equality of the base angle of isosceles triangles
The angles of triangles inscribed in a circle with one edge on the diameter
The unique decomposition of a number into products of its prime divisors
A triangular configuration of numbers relating to the successive powers of any sum
Chords The properties of chords
Chord tables A table of chord lengths indexed by angle
Sum-difference trig identities Trigonometric identities relating to the sums and differences of angles
Pythagorean Theorem The relationship between the lengths of the hypotenuse of a right triangle and the other two sides
Pythagorean triples Examples of triples of small whole numbers which, when taken together, are the lengths of the sides of a right triangle
Examples of triples of large whole numbers which, when taken together, are the lengths of the sides of a right triangle
Examples of triples of very large whole numbers which, when taken together, are the lengths of the sides of a right triangle
The relationship between the half chords of a triangle's angles, the opposite side lengths, and the diameter of the triangle's circumscribed circle
Irrational numbers The existence of incommensurable ratios
Irrationality of root 2 A proof that the length of a diagonal of a square is incommensurable with its edge
Approximation of root 2 An approximation for the length of the diagonal of a square
Existence of pi The relationship between the area of a circle and its radius, involving the ratio of the circumference of the circle to its diameter
Method of exhaustion An approximation of the ratio of a circumference of a circle to its diameter, using the area of polygons and the method of exhaustion
Conic sections The categorization and properties of conic sections
The area enclosed by a parabola and a line
Algebra Notation for abbreviating the unknown and other elements of an equation in a systematic and useful fashion
Systems of equations Methods of solving systems of equations
Methods for solving certain equations involving powers higher than the quadratic
Axioms Axiomatic reasoning
Proof by contradiction The method of proof by contradiction
Euclid's Theorem A proof that there are infinitely many prime numbers
Euclidean Algorithm An algorithm for computing the greatest common divisor of two numbers
An algorithm for computing a number which has given remainders when divided by several given primes

Medical science

Medical innovations include dedicated hospitals with specialized wards, staffing, medical labs and treatment for many illnesses.

Topic Description
Incision The surgical method of incision
Excision The surgical method of excision
Suturing The surgical method of suturing
Draining The surgical method of draining
Scraping The surgical method of scraping
Probing The surgical method of probing
Ligature The surgical method of ligature
Bandages The method of bandaging wounds
The treatment of fractures
Traumatic injuries The treatment of traumatic injuries
Veterinary medicine The diseases of creatures
Herbal remedies Herbal remedies
Mineral remedies Mineral remedies
Pathology The classification of disease
Toxicology The classification of toxic substances
The classification of fractures
The classification of bodily fluids
Cauterization
Anesthesia
The use of practice models in surgery
The use of mud bags as surgical models
The use of animals as surgical models
The use of specialized surgical instruments
Needles The construction and use of surgical needles
Anatomical studies Anatomical studies for medical edification
The anatomy of the eye
Disease and fouled water The connection between disease and fouled water
The method of physical examination in diagnosing illness
Prognosis Determining the likely outcome given a patient's current status
The notion of the exacerbation of a patient's condition
Pulmonary medicine
Remedies prepared from animals
Cutting for stone The lithotomy surgery
Tracheotomy The tracheotomy surgery
Hernia surgery
The distinction between acute and chronic conditions
Epidemiology The theory of epidemic disease
The notion of paroxysm
The source of the voice

Natural science

Toady on natural science innovations:

And so on through the other seven branches - there are innovations in naturalist writings, for example, and then they can investigate specific critters with those in mind when they get down to work observing foraging behavior or performing dissections.

Naturalists can build a theory of rainbows using water-filled spheres and a camera obscura, and they can calculate the height of the atmosphere based on atmospheric refraction using the law of refraction (though it tries not to get into the actual shape of the world, since that might vary).

Topic Description
Physical taxonomy The classification of creatures by their physical features
Climactic adaptation The way that creatures are suited to the climates in which they live
Migration The migratory patterns of creatures
Foraging behavior The foraging behavior and diet of creatures
Reproductive behavior The reproductive behavior of creatures
Social behavior The social behavior of creatures
Dissection The dissection of creatures
Embryology The embriological development of creatures
The struggle for survival among creatures
Anatomy The anatomical study of creatures

Philosophy

The specific view that a philosopher takes on, say, the nature of beauty or methods of education will depend on their individual/cultural values, where they apply, and a philosopher that encounters a philosophy book on beauty can then provide their own take (having acquired the innovation).

Toady on philosophy innovations:

For fields like philosophy, I've tried not to make judgments about which ideas are "right" or anything like that, but rather which subjects can be thought about at all.

Topic Description
Value Agendas Writers can push value "agendas" if they are skilled enough.

Description format: The [worthlessness | value | nature] of [belief]

Examples:

  • The nature of truth - probably related to TRUTH
  • The value of art - probably related to ARTWORK
Interpersonal Ethics Discourse on ethics as applied to interpersonal conduct
Causation The nature of causation
Discourse on diplomacy
Discourse on the meaning of individual happiness
Discourse on economic policy
Discourse on ethics as it regards the benefit of the state
Discourse on the nature of perception
Discourse on the nature of justification
The relationship between objects and their properties
Discourse on the nature of time
Discourse on the nature of mind and body
Discourse on ethics as applied to war
Discourse on the nature of beauty
Discourse on law
Grammar Grammar
Discourse on government
Dictionaries
Formal Reasoning Formal reasoning
Discourse on social welfare
Discourse on the nature of events
Education Education, its forms and recommendations
Discourse on the nature of belief
Discourse on medical ethics
Whole and Parts The relationship between wholes and parts
The notion of etymology
Social Welfare Social welfare, its forms and recommendations
Economic policy, its forms and recommendations
Syllogistic logic
Hypothetical syllogisms
Deductive reasoning

Unknown/unsorted

Topic Description