[Foundation-l] Proposal for Wiki Project

Thu Dec 30 20:57:31 UTC 2004

Robert Scott Horning (robert_horning at netzero.net) [041231 03:00]:

> In terms of something realistic that Wikipedians could do and contribute 
> toward such a project, it would be nice to gather information on how to 
> recreate basic industries.  This would include things like how to make 
> steel from nothing but raw iron ore and a few buckets of coal, building 
> an internal combustion engine, basic dam construction, running a 
> water-powered mill (sawmill or grain), or how to harness a horse 
> effectively.  Books covering these subjects have been written, but they 
> havn't been updated for a number of years, and assume a technological 
> infrastruction that in many cases doesn't even exist now except in some 
> emerging nations.  Besides the doom and gloom scenerios, it could also 
> be a valuable aid  for some of these developing nations on how to make 
> stuff and build industries on a comparatively small-scale (a few dozen 
> workers).  Once information like this is gathered, finding preservation 
> methods for the information would be much easier to achieve.

Now, *that* sounds like a project for Wikibooks!

- d.