Topic

xTATTEREDx · +FINE+ · *SUPERIOR* · ≡EXCEPTIONAL≡ · ☼MASTERWORK☼

v50.14 · v0.47.05

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

A diagram of all knowledge topics.

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	Wikipedia link
Dates of lunar and solar eclipses		Saros (astronomy)
Daylight variation with solar year	The variation of daylight with the season	Daytime § Daytime variations with latitude and seasons
Geocentrism	The theory that the sun moves around the world	Geocentric model
Height of tides vs moon and sun	The height of the tides, the moon and the sun	Pytheas § Pytheas on the tides and Tide
Heliocentrism	The theory that the world moves around the sun	Heliocentric model
Empirical observation	Methods of empirical observation in astronomy	Empirical evidence
Path models		Orbit modeling
Path of the moon	The path of the moon	Orbit of the Moon
Phases of the moon	The phases of the moon	Lunar phase
Precession of equinoxes		Axial precession
Relationship between lunar solar year	The relationship between the lunar and solar year	Lunisolar calendar
Shape of the world		Spherical Earth
Star catalogues 100		Star catalogue
Star catalogues 1000		Star catalogue
Astrography	The creation of star charts	Star chart
Stellar Spectroscopy	The classification of stars based on the light they emit	Astronomical spectroscopy
Star magnitude classification		Magnitude (astronomy)
Summer winter moon	The rise of the moon according to the season	Lunar calendar
Summer winter sun	The rise of the sun according to the season	Solar calendar
Tides and the moon	The relationship between the moon and the tides	Seleucus of Seleucia § Tides and Tide

Chemistry

Topic	Description	Wikipedia link
Adhesives	The preparation and use of adhesive materials	Adhesive
Aqua regia	The preparation of aqua regia	Aqua regia
Spirit of niter	The preparation of spirit of niter	Nitric acid
Oil of vitriol	The preparation of oil of vitriol	Sulfuric acid
Alkali and acids	The classification of alkali and acids	pH
Combustibles	The classification of combustible materials	Combustibility
Elemental theory	The classification of materials based on which elemental materials might form them	Chemical element
Ores	The classification of ores	Ore
Scratch test		Scratch hardness
Alembic	The construction and use of the alembic	Alembic
Blast furnace	The construction and use of the blast furnace	Blast furnace
Crucible	The construction and use of the crucible	Crucible
Ampoule	The construction and use of the ampoule	Ampoule
Beaker	The construction and use of the beaker	Beaker
Flask		Flask
Funnel	The construction and use of the funnel	Funnel
Retort	The construction and use of the retort	Retort
Vial	The construction and use of the vial	Vial
Lab ovens	The construction and use of laboratory ovens	Laboratory oven
Systematic experiments	Methods for performing experiments systematically in the laboratory	Scientific method
Theory of distillation	The theory and methods involved in distillation	Distillation
Theory of evaporation	The theory and methods involved in evaporation	Evapotation
Theory of liquid liquid extraction	The theory and methods involved in the extraction of a constituent liquid from one solution to another	Liquid–liquid extraction
Alloys	The mixture of metals to produce alloys	Alloy

Engineering

Topic	Description	Wikipedia link
Armillary sphere	The construction and use of armillary spheres	Armillary sphere
Astrolabe	The construction and use of the astrolabe	Astrolabe
Dioptra	The construction and use of the dioptra	Dioptra
Mural instrument		Mural instrument
Orrery		Orrery
Spherical astrolabe		Armillary sphere
Wood lamination	The use of lamination	Lamination
Models and templates	The use of models and templates in engineering	Prototype and Stencil
Archimedes principle		Archimedes' principle
Force pump		Piston pump § Force pump
Theory of siphon	The action of the siphon	Siphon
Valves	The construction and use of valves	Valve
Astrarium		Astrarium
Conical water clock
Hourglass		Hourglass
Mechanical clock		Clock § Early mechanical clocks
Shadow clock	The use of shadows to tell direction and time	Sundial
Water clock	The use of water-based devices to tell time	Water clock
Water clock reservoir	The use of reservoirs in water-based clocks to improve their accuracy	Zhang Heng § Extra tank for inflow clepsydra
Balance wheel		Balance wheel
Bellows	The construction and use of the bellows	Bellows
Camshaft		Camshaft
Chain drive	The construction and use of chain drives	Chain drive
Chariot odometer		Odometer
Combination lock		Combination lock
Crank		Crank (mechanism)
Crankshaft		Crankshaft
Differential gear		Differential (mechanical device)
Double acting piston bellows		Bellows
Lever	The construction and use of the lever	Lever
Mechanical compass		Compass
Padlock	The construction and use of the padlock	Padlock
Piston		Piston pump § Force pump
Pulley	The construction and use of the pulley	Pulley
Screw	The construction and use of the screw	Screw
Straight beam balance	The construction and use of the straight-beam balance	Weighing scale § Mechanical balances
Theory of gears	The reasons why gears are effective	Gear
Theory of lever	The reasons why the lever is effective	Lever
Theory of pulley	The reasons why pulleys are effective	Pulley
Theory of screw	The reasons why screws are effective	Screw
Theory of wedge	The reasons why the wedge is effective	Wedge
Theory of wheel and axle	The reasons why the wheel-and-axle construction is effective	Wheel and axle
Trip hammer		Trip hammer
Tumbler lock	The construction and use of the tumbler lock	Pin tumbler lock
Verge escapement	The construction and use of the verge escapement	Verge escapement
Warded lock	The construction and use of the warded lock	Warded lock
Water powered piston bellows		Du Shi § The Water-Powered Blast Furnace
Water powered sawmill		Watermill
Water powered trip hammer		Trip hammer and Water wheel
Water wheel		Water wheel
Windlass	The construction and use of the windlass	Windlass
Atmospheric refraction		Atmospheric refraction
Camera obscura	The construction and use of the camera obscura	Camera obscura
Cause of twilight		Atmospheric optics
Crystal lens	The construction and use of the crystal lens	Lens (optics) and Crystal
Glass lens	The construction and use of the glass lens	Lens (optics) and Glass
Height of atmosphere
Law of refraction		Snell's law
Parabolic mirror		Parabolic reflector
Theory of color		Color theory
Theory of rainbows		Rainbows
Water filled spheres	The construction and use of water-filled sphere as a lens	Lens (optics) and History of optics § Early history of optics

Geography

Topic	Description	Wikipedia link
Accurate maps		Map
Cartography	The process involved in creating maps	Cartography
Distance scale		Scale (map)
Economic	The placement of economic information on maps	Economic geography
Geological	The placement of geological information on maps	Geologic map
Grid system		Grid reference
Height measurements		Topographic map and Levelling
Map projections		Map projection
Atlases	The collection of maps and other information together into a single text	Atlas
Econometrics	The process of economic data collection	Econometrics
Surveying	The process of surveying land	Surveying
Cartographical surveying		Cartography and Surveying
Engineering surveying		Construction surveying
Land surveying		Cadastral surveying
Military surveying		Construction surveying and Military engineering
Surveying staff	The construction and use of the surveying staff	Level staff
Triangulation		Triangulation
Delta formation	The process of the formation of deltas at the mouths of rivers	River delta § Formation
Latitude climate zones		Clime
Origin of rainfall from evap condense	The origin of rainfall through evaporation and condensation	Evaporation and Condensation
Water cycle	A world-wide cycle involving precipitation, oceans, rivers, and other forms of water	Water cycle
Anemology	The forces that govern wind patterns	Global wind patterns

History

Topic	Description	Wikipedia link
Alternate history	The exploration of how history would be different if some key past events had transpired differently	Alternate history
Autobiographical adventure	The method of writing a biography of oneself, particularly as it concerns a military campaign or adventure	Autobiography
Biographical dictionaries	The compilation of brief biographies into one large collection	Biographical dictionary
Biography	The method of writing the history of a single individual	Biography
Comparative biography	The method of compiling several biographies to compare and contrast the subjects' character and to gain insight into history
Comparative anthropology	The method of comparing and contrasting different cultures	Cross-cultural studies
Cultural history	The method of accurately and comprehensively describing cultures and civilizations	Cultural history
Encyclopedia		Encyclopedia
Genealogy	The compilation of family lineages and methods of displaying them artfully	Genealogy
Treatise on tech evolution		Technological evolution
Archaeology	The method of collecting and evaluating artifacts to learn about history and culture	Archaeology
Source reliability	The reliability of sources	Source criticism
Personal interviews	Using personal interviews as sources	Interview
Role of cultural differences	The role of cultural differences in source reliability and interpretation	Cultural relativism
Role of state bias and propaganda		Propaganda
Role of systemic bias		Systemic bias
Historical causation	The causes of historical events	Causality § History
Historical cycles	The notion of historical, governmental and social cycles	Cyclic history
Sociology	The notion of bonds between members of a community	Sociology
Social conflict		Social conflict

Mathematics

Topic	Description	Wikipedia link
Equations	The technique of balancing and completion for solving equations	The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing, Algebra, and Equation
Divergence of harmonic series	The divergence of the harmonic series	Harmonic series (mathematics)
Large sums	Simple formulas for certain arbitrarily large sums	Summation
Pascal's triangle	A triangular configuration of numbers relating to the successive powers of any sum	Pascal's triangle
Quadratic by completing square	The solving of quadratic equations by completion of the square	Completing the square
Quadratic formula	A formula which solves quadratic equations	Quadratic formula
Solving higher order polynomials	Methods for solving certain equations involving powers higher than the quadratic	Galois theory
Systems of equations	Methods of solving systems of equations	Linear system
Sum-difference trig identities	Trigonometric identities relating to the sums and differences of angles	List of trigonometric identities § Angle sum and difference identities
Area enclosed by line and parabola	The area enclosed by a parabola and a line	The Quadrature of the Parabola
Area of circle		Area of a disk
Area of triangle from side lengths		Heron's formula
Basic geometry	Geometric objects: points, lines, circles, triangles, and so on	Geometry
Conic sections	The categorization and properties of conic sections	Conic section
Irrational numbers	The existence of incommensurable ratios	Irrational number
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	Geometric mean theorem
Inscribed triangle on diameter is right	The angles of triangles inscribed in a circle with one edge on the diameter	Thales' theorem
Isosceles base angles equal	The equality of the base angle of isosceles triangles	Pons asinorum
Law of sines		Law of sines
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	Pi
Pi to 6 digits		Zu Chongzhi § Mathematics and Milü
Chords	The properties of chords	Chord (geometry)
Pythagorean theorem	The relationship between the lengths of the hypotenuse of a right triangle and the other two sides	Pythagorean theorem
Pythagorean triples 3 digit	Examples of triples of large whole numbers which, when taken together, are the lengths of the sides of a right triangle	Pythagorean triples
Pythagorean triples 4 digit	Examples of triples of very large whole numbers which, when taken together, are the lengths of the sides of a right triangle	Pythagorean triples
Pythagorean triples small	Examples of triples of small whole numbers which, when taken together, are the lengths of the sides of a right triangle	Pythagorean triples
Similar and congruent triangles	The properties of similar and congruent triangles	Similarity (geometry) and Congruence (geometry)
Surface area of sphere	The computation of the surface area of a sphere	Sphere § Surface area
Chord tables	A table of chord lengths indexed by angle	Ptolemy's table of chords
Volume of cone	The computation of the volume of a cone	Cone § Volume
Volume of pyramid	The computation of the volume of different pyramids	Pyramid (geometry) § Volume
Volume of sphere	The computation of the volume of a sphere	Sphere § Volume
Axioms	Axiomatic reasoning	Axiomatic system
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	Method of exhaustion
Proof by contradiction	The method of proof by contradiction	Proof by contradiction
Symbol for addition	The idea of using symbolic notation for addition	Plus and minus signs § Plus sign
Scientific notation	Notation for very large numbers	Scientific notation
Negative numbers	Notation for negative quantities	Negative number
Place values	Positional notation	Positional notation
Algebra	Notation for abbreviating the unknown and other elements of an equation in a systematic and useful fashion	Algebra
Zero	A symbol for nothingness	0 (number)
Euclidean Algorithm	An algorithm for computing the greatest common divisor of two numbers	Euclidean algorithm
Chinese remainder algorithm	An algorithm for computing a number which has given remainders when divided by several given primes	Chinese remainder theorem
Division	An algorithm for dividing one number into another, possibly yielding a remainder	Euclidean division
Euclid's Theorem	A proof that there are infinitely many prime numbers	Euclid's theorem
Irrationality of root 2	A proof that the length of a diagonal of a square is incommensurable with its edge	Square root of 2 § Proofs of irrationality
Approximation of root 2	An approximation for the length of the diagonal of a square	Square root of 2 § History
Sieve algorithm for primes		Sieve of Eratosthenes
Unique prime factorization	The unique decomposition of a number into products of its prime divisors	Fundamental theorem of arithmetic

Medicine

Topic	Description	Wikipedia link
Anesthesia	Anesthesia	Anesthesia
Asylum for mentally ill		Psychiatric hospital
Autopsy		Autopsy
Cataract surgery		Cataract surgery
Cauterization	Cauterization	Cauterization
Fracture immobilization		Bone fracture § Immobilization
Fracture treatment	The treatment of fractures	Bone fracture § Treatment
Hernia surgery	Hernia surgery	Hernia § Surgery
Hospital lab		Medical laboratory
Lithotomy surgery	The lithotomy surgery	Lithotomy
Medical school		Medical school
Physical examination	The method of physical examination in diagnosing illness	Physical examination
Professional hospital staff		Surgeon and Physician
Specialized wards		Hospital § Departments or wards
Draining	The surgical method of draining	Drain (surgery)
Excision	The surgical method of excision
Incision	The surgical method of incision	Surgical incision
Ligature	The surgical method of ligature	Ligature (medicine)
Probing	The surgical method of probing
Scraping	The surgical method of scraping
Suturing	The surgical method of suturing	Surgical suture
Tracheotomy surgery	The tracheotomy surgery	Tracheotomy
Traumatic injuries	The treatment of traumatic injuries	Major trauma
Acute and chronic conditions	The distinction between acute and chronic conditions	Acute (medicine) and Chronic condition
Anatomical studies	Anatomical studies for medical edification	Human body
Blood vessels		Blood vessel
Classification of bodily fluids	The classification of bodily fluids	Body fluid
Classification of mental illnesses		Mental disorder
Classification of muscles		Muscle
Comparative anatomy
Convalescence		Convalescence
Disease and fouled water	The connection between disease and fouled water	Waterborne diseases
Pathology	The classification of disease	Nosology
Endemic disease		Endemic (epidemiology)
Epidemic disease	The theory of epidemic disease	Epidemic
Exacerbation	The notion of the exacerbation of a patient's condition	Exacerbation
Eye anatomy	The anatomy of the eye	Human eye
Fracture classification	The classification of fractures	Bone fracture § Classification
Motor vs sensory nerves		Motor nerve and Sensory nerve
Nervous system function		Nervous system
Paroxysm	The notion of paroxysm	Paroxysmal attack
Prognosis	Determining the likely outcome given a patient's current status	Prognosis
Pulmonary circulation		Pulmonary circulation
Pulmonary medicine	Pulmonary medicine	Pulmonology
Reaction time		Mental chronometry
Relapse		Relapse
Specialized surgical instruments	The use of specialized surgical instruments	Surgical instrument
Surgical models	The use of practice models in surgery
The voice	The source of the voice	Phonation
Toxicology	The classification of toxic substances	Toxicology
Treatment of mental illnesses		Treatment of mental disorders
Animal remedies	Remedies prepared from animals	Traditional Chinese medicine § Animal substances
Animals as surgical models	The use of animals as surgical models
Bandages	The method of bandaging wounds	Bandage
Dedicated hospitals		Hospital
Forceps		Forceps
Herbal remedies	Herbal remedies	Herbalism
Mineral remedies	Mineral remedies	List of traditional Chinese medicines § Minerals
Mud bags as surgical models	The use of mud bags as surgical models
Orthopedic cast		Orthopedic cast
Plants as surgical models
Scalpel		Scalpel
Needles	The construction and use of surgical needles	Surgical suture § Needles
Surgical scissors		Surgical scissors
Traction bench		Traction (orthopedics)

Naturalist

Topic	Description	Wikipedia link
Dissection	The dissection of creatures	Dissection
Anatomy	The anatomical study of creatures	Anatomy
Veterinary medicine	The diseases of creatures	Veterinary medicine
Embryology	The embriological development of creatures	Embryology
Foraging behavior	The foraging behavior and diet of creatures	Foraging
Migration	The migratory patterns of creatures	Animal migration
Reproductive behavior	The reproductive behavior of creatures	Reproduction
Social behavior	The social behavior of creatures	Social behavior
Physical taxonomy	The classification of creatures by their physical features	Taxonomy (biology)
Climactic adaptation	The way that creatures are suited to the climates in which they live	Climatic adaptation
Comparative anatomy		Comparative anatomy
Food chain		Food chain
Struggle for existence	The struggle for survival among creatures	Struggle for existence

Philosophy

Topic	Description	Wikipedia link
Nature of beauty	Discourse on the nature of beauty	Beauty (ancient thought)
Value of art		Aesthetics
Belief	Discourse on the nature of belief	Epistemology § Belief
Justification	Discourse on the nature of justification	Epistemology § Justification
Perception	Discourse on the nature of perception	Philosophy of perception
Truth		Epistemology § Truth
Individual value	Discourse on the meaning of individual happiness	Value (ethics) § Personal values
State consequentialism	Discourse on ethics as it regards the benefit of the state	State consequentialism
Interpersonal Ethics	Discourse on ethics as applied to interpersonal conduct
Medical	Discourse on medical ethics	Medical ethics
Military	Discourse on ethics as applied to war	Ethics § Military ethics
Analogical inference		Argument from analogy
Deductive reasoning	Deductive reasoning	Deductive reasoning
Dialectic reasoning		Dialectic
Direct inference		Statistical syllogism
Formal reasoning	Formal reasoning	Reason
Hypothetical syllogisms	Hypothetical syllogisms	Hypothetical syllogism
Inductive reasoning		Inductive reasoning
Propositional logic		Propositional calculus
Syllogistic logic	Syllogistic logic	Syllogism
Causation	The nature of causation	Causality
Events	Discourse on the nature of events	Event (philosophy)
Existence		Existence
Mind body	Discourse on the nature of mind and body	Mind–body problem
Objects and properties		Essence
Processes		Process philosophy
Time	Discourse on the nature of time	Time
Wholes and parts	The relationship between wholes and parts	Mereology
Education	Education, its forms and recommendations	Education
Dictionary	Dictionaries	Dictionary
Etymology	The notion of etymology	Etymology
Grammar	Grammar	Grammar
Law	Discourse on law	Law
Diplomacy	Discourse on diplomacy	Diplomacy
Economic policy	Discourse on economic policy	Economic policy
Government forms	Discourse on government	Government
Social welfare	Discourse on social welfare	Welfare