De re metallica
by Georg Agricola, Herbert Clark Hoover · first published 1541
14mentions
4recommended by
11HN commenters
2016–2026first – last mentioned
36% recommend64% neutral
This is a translation from the first Latin Edition of 1556, with biographical introduction, annotations and appendices upon the development of mining methods, metallurgical processes. This book is a scientific classic based on field research.
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…as a blueprint for how to go from scraps of metal, wood and earth to a fully functioning machine shop in a post-apocalyptic scenario. And if you add in Herbert and Lou Hoover's excellent translation of De Re Metallica you're well on your way to having a blueprint for rebuilding humanity's pre-WWII tech base from scratch.
on “Using a 1930 Teletype as a Linux Terminal [video]” ↗Herbert Hoover (and Lou Hoover)'s translation of De Re Metallica is still both useful and in print a century later. http://store.doverpublications.com/0486600068.html
on “Emperor Akihito of Japan is a published marine biologist” ↗I found Herbert Hoover's translation of De Re Metallica[1] to be fascinating. A compendium of the technology of the day for processing most metals. I also found Longitude[2]: "The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His…
on “Ask HN: Good Books on the History of Technology?” ↗…by Silvanus P. Thompson -Electric Science: Its History, Phenomena, and Applications by J. J. Fahie -The History and Present State of Electricity by Andrew Ure -https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/ -De Re Metallica by Georgius Agricola
on “Ask HN: Good Books on the History of Technology?” ↗A collection of thoughts.... De Re Metallica, mentioned in the article, was written by Georg Acricola in the 16th century. It was not translated from the original (and highly idiosyncratic) Latin until the early 20th century, by a young mining…
on “The Mechanical Transmission of Power (2013)” ↗…today's Internet, this oftem means you can have a specific reference in front of you in seconds. I had this experience re-reading James Burke's Connections a few years ago, in which he mentioned Agricola's De Re Metallica (which is not about the band), and found that the English translation of this 16th century work (not completed until the early 20th century) was at the Internet Archive. (The translators also have interesting…
on “Ask HN: How do you get articles/papers/talks recommendations?” ↗Mentioned in the last episode of Machine Thinking, along with Agricola's De Re Metallica and Vitruvius' De Architectura https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZEHNbmz_9A
on “Agostino Ramelli’s Theatre of Machines (1588)” ↗…screw press. Gutenberg is one key figure in this story, but not the only one, as it is still ongoing. The rapid spread and democratization of publishing resulted in books such as Gregorius Agricola's "De Re Metallica", one of the first practical handbooks on the mining, refining, and crafting of metals. This along with the freedom of inquiry that resulted from the fracturing of the Holy Roman Empire, and the financial…
on “The Death and Birth of Technological Revolutions” ↗Also translator (with his wife Lou) of Latin into English -- specifically Agricola's De Re Metallica (an early treatise on mining). Their 1912 edition (obviously published long before his presidency) is still the most common English translation of the work to this day.
on “Jimmy Carter saved Canadian nuclear reactor after meltdown” ↗…with amazing rapidity. One of the first times I realised this was when reading through James Burke's Connections (companion book to the 1970s television series), and seeing a reference to Agricola's De re Metallica, a Renaissance-era text on mining and metallurgy still used as a reference through the 19th century. Within a few minutes I located it (English translation, by an American couple, Lou Henry and Herbert…
on “I don't read web articles anymore, but I read books” ↗…reminded me when I read Thomas Thwaites' "The Toaster Project: Or a Heroic Attempt to Build a Simple Electric Appliance from Scratch", where to make a smelter from scratch he relied on a 450 year old book ("De re metallica" by Georgius Agricola), as well as a friendly Metallurgist. We already lost the widespread ability to write assembler in an artisinal way. Now we have AI we will also be lazy about how we write individual…
on “The West Forgot How to Make Things. Now It's Forgetting How to Code” ↗Yeah and they knew that was bad too. Probably if they had a good way of testing for lead acetate, they'd probably have thrown the occasional wine merchant to the lions. I have a copy of De re Metallica[1] it has a whole chapter on stuff like this and that's 1500's Europe. Lead is kinda tricky since it tends to get passivized most of the time by sulfate and phosphate. Except when it doesn't and then…
on “Unsafe Lead Levels in Tap Water Not Limited to Flint” ↗http://collapseos.org/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_re_metallica https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Field_Manua... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_Resistance_(book) Besides that, anything about plants, how to identify, collect/seed/grow/harvest,…
on “Ask HN: Does a Civilisation OS Exist?” ↗…https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31139174 Magia Naturalis (1558): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20736083 Bruegel the Elder’s “Big Fish Eat Little Fish” (1556): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30603305 De Re Metallica (1556): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8381659 The Journey of Cabeza de Vaca (1542): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39247090 Carta Marina (1539): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29369517,…
on “Graphic Presentation (1939)” ↗