Alternate Timelines

Technological Innovations

Scenarios exploring how different technological developments or their timing might have changed history

What If Leonardo da Vinci's Inventions Were Built in His Lifetime?

Exploring how world history would have unfolded if Leonardo da Vinci's revolutionary designs for flying machines, tanks, and other innovations had been constructed and used during the Renaissance.

August 30, 2022 Read More →

What If India Industrialized in Ancient Times?

Exploring how world history might have unfolded if the resource-rich Indian subcontinent had developed mechanical production methods in antiquity, potentially creating an early industrial revolution in South Asia.

July 6, 2022 Read More →

What If Hero of Alexandria's Steam Engine Was Developed Further?

Exploring how history might have unfolded if ancient Greeks had recognized the practical applications of Hero's aeolipile, potentially triggering an industrial revolution nearly two millennia early.

May 3, 2022 Read More →

What If the Inca Quipu System Evolved Into Writing?

Exploring how Andean civilization might have developed if the Inca record-keeping system of knotted cords had evolved into a full writing system, potentially enabling more complex administration and knowledge preservation.

April 26, 2022 Read More →

What If Archimedes Lived to Old Age?

Exploring how scientific and technological development might have accelerated if Archimedes had avoided his untimely death during the Siege of Syracuse and continued his groundbreaking work for decades.

March 21, 2022 Read More →