Topic

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v50.14 · v0.47.05

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

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
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

Chemistry

Engineering

Topic	Description
The Pulley	The construction and use of the pulley
The Lever	The construction and use of the lever
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
Gears	The reasons why gears are effective

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

Geography

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

Mathematics

Topic	Description
Positional Notation
Large Sums	Simple formulas for certain arbitrarily large sums
Equations	The technique of balancing and completion for solving equations

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
Medical Ethics
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

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
Wind Patterns	The forces that govern wind patterns
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
Ores	The classification of ores
	The origin of rainfall through evaporation and condensation
	A world-wide cycle involving precipitation, oceans, rivers and other forms of water
Water Displacement	A precise description of buoyancy and water displacement
Foraging Behavior	The foraging behavior and diet of creatures
Reproductive Behavior	The reproductive 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
Art	The value of art
	The worthlessness of peace
	The value of knowledge
	The nature of truth

Unknown/unsorted

Topic	Description
	Economic policy, its forms and recommendations
Dictionaries
Adhesives
Shadow Clocks	The use of shadows to tell direction and time
Social Welfare	Social welfare, its forms and recommendations
Objects and Properties	The relationship between objects and their properties