Topic

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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
	The theory that the sun moves around the world
The Astrolabe	The construction and use of the astrolabe
Daylight And Seasons	The variation of daylight with the season
	The relationship between the lunar and solar year
The Sun and Seasons	The rise of the sun according to the season
	The path of the moon
The Moon and Seasons	The rise of the moon according to the season
	The relationship between the moon and the tides
	The creation of star charts
	The theory that the world moves around the sun
	Methods of empirical observation in astronomy
	The phases of the moon
	The height of the tides, the moon and the sun

Chemistry

Topic	Description
	The preparation and use of adhesive materials
	The classification of ores
	The theory and methods involved in evaporation
	The classification of materials based on which elemental materials might form them
	Methods for performing experiments systematically in the laboratory
	The construction and use of the ampoule
	The construction and use of the alembic
	The mixture of metals to produce alloys
Liquid Extraction	The theory and methods involved in the extraction of a constituent liquid from one solution to another
	The construction and use of the blast furnace
	The construction and use of the retort
	The classification of alkali and acids
	The construction and use of the beaker
Oil of Vitriol	The preparation of oil of vitriol
	The construction and use of the crucible
	The theory and methods involved in distillation
	The construction and use of laboratory ovens

• Spirit of niter

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
Gear Mechanics Gears	The reasons why gears are effective
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
	The construction and use of the padlock
	The reasons why the lever is effective
	The construction and use of water-filled sphere as a lens
Water Clock Reservoirs	The use of reservoirs in water-based clocks to improve their accuracy

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

Geography

Topic	Description
	The process of surveying land
	The forces that govern wind patterns
	The process of economic data collection
	The placement of economic information on maps
	The construction and use of the surveying staff
	The origin of rainfall through evaporation and condensation
	The process involved in creating maps
	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
Archaeology	The method of collecting and evaluating artifacts to learn about history and culture
Cultural History	The method of accurately and comprehensively describing cultures and civilizations
Source Reliability	The reliability of sources
Personal Interviews	Using personal interviews as sources
Autobiographical Adventures	The method of writing a biography of oneself, particularly as it concerns a military campaign or adventure
	Discourse on the cause of historical events
	The method of writing the history of a single individual
	The method of comparing and contrasting different cultures
	The role of cultural differences in source reliability and interpretation
Biographical Dictionaries	The compilation of brief biographies into one large collection
	The compilation of family lineages and methods of displaying them artfully
Comparative Biography	The method of compiling several biographies to compare and contrast the subjects' character and to gain insight into history
	The exploration of how history would be different if some key past events had transpired differently
	The notion of historical, governmental and social cycles
Historical Causation	The causes of historical events
	The method of examining artifacts to determine how techniques have changed over time

Mathematics

• Symbol for addition

Topic	Description
Positional Notation	Positional notation
Large Sums	Simple formulas for certain arbitrarily large sums
Equations	The technique of balancing and completion for solving equations
Very Large Numbers	Notation for very large numbers
Negative quantities	The notation for negative quantities
Nothingness	A symbol for nothingness
	The method of proof by contradiction
	An algorithm for dividing one number into another, possibly yielding a remainder
	Geometric objects: points, lines, circles, triangles, and so on
	The divergence of the harmonic series
	The properties of similar and congruent triangles

Medical science

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

Topic	Description
Diseases	The diseases of creatures
Mineral Remedies
Disease Classification	The classification of disease
Toxicology	The classification of toxic substances
Suturing	The surgical method of suturing
Traumatic Injuries	The treatment of traumatic injuries
Draining	The surgical method of draining
Bandages	The method of bandaging wounds
	The notion of paroxysm
	The treatment of fractures
	The surgical method of scraping
	Anesthesia
	The use of practice models in surgery
	The use of specialized surgical instruments
Anatomical Studies	Anatomical studies for medical edification
	The anatomy of the eye
Disease and Fouled Water	The connection between disease and fouled water
Herbal Remedies	Herbal remedies
	The method of physical examination in diagnosing illness
	The surgical method of probing
	Determining the likely outcome given a patient's current status
	The notion of the exacerbation of a patient's condition
	Cauterization
	Pulmonary medicine
	Remedies prepared from animals
Lithotomy Surgery	The lithotomy surgery

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 Features	The classification of creatures by their physical features
Climactic Adaptation	The way that creatures are suited to the climates in which they live
Migratory Patterns	The migratory patterns of creatures
	A world-wide cycle involving precipitation, oceans, rivers and other forms of water
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

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
	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

Unknown/unsorted

Topic	Description
	Economic policy, its forms and recommendations
Dictionaries
Shadow Clocks	The use of shadows to tell direction and time
Social Welfare	Social welfare, its forms and recommendations
Formal Reasoning	Formal reasoning
Water Displacement	A precise description of buoyancy and water displacement