Reply To: Next Book Time Frame?
Your explanation isn’t really very satisfying but that have to do.
You haven’t really directly resolved the reason why people seem to know about quarks, which in essence is the building blocks of elementary particles like electrons and protons. Essentially the knowledge of quarks and QFT is far more advance than nuclear physics but it is quite strange that people know a lot about the more advance stuff but almost none about the less advance one.
As for the knowledge of atomic model. How come that happens? The atomic model is far more easy and sane than quarks and QFT, yet very little know about the formers and lots about the laters? It just doesn’t make sense no matter what universe you came from.
As for the glass. Not just flat glass, it is quite common, even in the past. Its the large, flat and smooth glass. A dining table has to be several feet in length. It would be quite amazing a feat of control and concentration for wizzards to keep the glass liquid and maintain it liquid while shaping the unweildy liquid to mold flat. Not to mention there is also those “conflicting elemental affiliations” that Jehenna said that should have added another layer if difficulty for such a feat where various magic dicipline are combined. In a world where magic users could kill themselves for minor mistakes (an accepted fact), it is astounding that they don’t end up burning themselves or encased in glass instead.
Now you add mirrors to be also common. They are even more difficult to make that just plain glass. How could that fact clear up anything?
Also medieval mirrors aren’t actually made of silvered glass but polished metal. Its the foolish Hollywood that make a mistake of those large wall mounted mirror to be the ‘usual’ silvered glass. Such mirrors are an impossibility in medieval times.
There are silvered glass at those times but:
[img=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Quentin_Massys_001.jpg]silvered glass on the table[/img]
Look at the table, there is a silvered glass mirror there. This is what these glass mirrors looks like in those times. They are tiny and very not flat.
As for paper, the basic process of making paper remained the same, modern paper making just utilize machines to create paper in large scale.
Hmm, Jenn isn’t really that improvished. Still:
“the two text books she called her own, paper and pens, nothing of real value, but it was all she owned in the entire world.”
Gosh! Textbooks, paper, pen… and they are nothing of real value! In medieval times, any of the three would be greatly treasured and are a clear indication of wealth. But here they are of no value to a person who doesn’t have much of anything.
Well:
“Except for the little brown leather book, with the gold embossing, her diary.”
Wow, gold! Such a decor just for just a diary. Either Jenn is very very rich to waste such thing for a diary, or the book is not that expensive. At first I thought it was a hard bound book because of the gold embossing, I’m quite bemused that it turns out to be the kind you illustrated. Longstitch binding isn’t really very durable. The gold embossing would be wasted in such books that isn’t really designed for durability and long lastingness.
Note, there is quite a clear personalization of the book in the form of gold embossing. Yet:
“Carefully she examined the book; true, it looked like her diary at a glance, but on closer inspection she could see that this book, although of the same size and style was considerably older than her diary. Now that she looked at it: it was obvious. This book was much more worn than hers, and considerably more scuffed up.”
And you said:
“The main differentiation between them is that one is nearly impossible to open.”
That means the books are so similar even up to the gold embossing. How could that happen? How could the books hundred of years and hundred of miles appart have similar design and decorations? It is just improbable.