I have been told that travelling backwards in time is theoretically impossible but apparently a form of going forwards in time might be achievable.
A round trip through space at a speed approaching that of light would mean that for the crew, while some number of years would pass in the space ship, on earth during that period, possibly hundreds of years would have passed and so, on returning to earth, the planet would be nothing like the one that the crew had left. But then, the problem for the “time travellers” would be that they could never return to the time they had left and tell about what they had seen in the future.
Despite that, I have been wondering (because I have very little else to fill my time these days) what, if I were to be transported back in time, say 700 years to the year 1314, I could bring to that society that would transform it and perhaps even world history, for the better.
It has come as a bit of a shock for me to realise that the answer to that is, virtually nothing. All I could really do would be to issue a series of warnings but I doubt that I would be of sufficient significance to the people of medieval England for them to take any notice of my alerts. No one takes any notice of my views or counsel nowadays and so why should the people of 700 years ago be any different?
The problem that I and I suspect you also have, is that although we know how to use a refrigerator, a telephone and a television, we have no real idea how any of them work and I am completely lacking the skills to make the necessary components to construct any of them.
You might think that there are lots of things I could teach them. Certainly, I could tell them about how aeroplanes function and I could even give a fairly good account of how a petrol engine works, but as soon as I mentioned petrol, I would be met with blank looks. I could possibly initiate some kind of interest in building a steam engine though, but only if I could find a blacksmith willing to be adventurous with iron.
I would face a problem with virtually everything about which I tried to tell them. 14th century people would have no knowledge of petrol or electricity and I’m not sure that with the components available, I could show them how to make any of the technical gadgets and tools that we take for granted today.
The first wire mill, making wire in England, was not in operation until the 16th century and even assuming that I could get my hands on magnets, I don’t know how I could make electricity without copper or iron wire.
I think that I could probably make a model glider but even after demonstrating the principles of flight using it, would anyone be prepared to be pushed off a cliff sitting in a full-sized version? There is no other way I can think of as to how to launch it.
If I could get the sailors to believe me, I suppose that I could bring forward the discovery of the Americas by some 280 years.
“Now, just trust me,” I might say, “once you clear Lands End, keep sailing west and within 40 days or so you’ll reach land. Trust me!”
I’d go on to tell them that in December, when it was noon there, it would be dark in England. That could lead to big problems, however, because I’d have to explain about the heliocentric solar system and an orbiting, rotating earth. That would probably be classed as heresy and I might end up in all sorts of trouble.
Look at the problems that Galileo had with the Catholic Church when he was propagating heliocentrism some 300 years later.
There is very little I could tell the doctors, or the physicians as doctors were called at that time, that would improve general levels of health. I could inform them of the principle of inoculation and give them a forewarning of the Black Death and then they would have had 35 years to prepare for it. More than 100,000,000 lives could be saved – if only they would listen!
I could tell them about the anaesthetic properties of ether and chloroform but my poor, in fact non-existent skills as a chemist, would not allow me to produce any of either. I think that the most important thing I could do for medicine in 1314, would be to stress the importance of hygiene, of washing hands and sterilizing with a flame the surgical instruments they were using.
The valve-type flush toilet similar to those we are familiar with today was not invented and introduced until the eighteenth century. I suppose I could suggest enough ideas on that matter to improve public health, at least in some areas and I could warn about the spread of cholera from faeces infected water supplies.
If I had a better musical ear, I could sing them some good tunes and change the history of music but I am still embarrassed by the memory of my ‘A’ level class thinking that my dah-dah-dah-ing of ‘Penny Lane’ by the Beatles was ‘Night and Day’, the Cole Porter song, and so I don’t think that would work.
I know only one poem all the way through by heart and that is ‘An Irish airman foresees his death’ by WB Yeats and I don’t think they would understand that at all.
I could regale them with some of Oscar Wilde’s epigrams but as to what made people smile or what they found amusing in the 14th century, I cannot begin to guess. I don’t suppose that Edward II, the reigning monarch, would take much notice of Oscar Wilde’s advice to, “Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much,” as he was in the middle of a series of battles with the Scots at the time.
If I arrived in 1314 before June, and I could manage to have a word with the king, I could warn him about Bannockburn but I am not sure who had “Right” on their side in that conflict. How would things be different now if Robert the Bruce had been defeated in that battle? Not much I suspect.
The Act of Union might have come some time earlier than it did. There would still be a Scottish Nationalist Party around today but they would probably choose 2030, the 100th anniversary of the birth of Sean Connery for the referendum, rather than this year because apart from Bannockburn, Connery’s birth is probably the most significant event in Scottish history.
In 1314, there were no real active storytellers, as we know them today. There were chroniclers, philosophers and writers of commentaries and religious works but no renowned playwrights or novelists. Chaucer wasn’t born until 1343, 29 years later. I suppose I could leave a note with someone to pass on to Chaucer, outlining the plots of some of Shakespeare’s plays and Dickens’ novels for him to consider when he started writing.
I wonder what Shakespeare would have written if his plots had all been used 300 years earlier. He might have invented the whodunit.
I’m not sure that my sense of fashion would be of much help to clothes makers of the 14th century but perhaps I could introduce them to the concept of trousers because surely trousers would be more comfortable and practical than hose? I don’t think that the women of the period would be ready for the mini skirt.
Sadly, it seems to me that my sudden appearance in the England of the early fourteenth century would make very little impression on society and, much as I hate to admit it, I think that Caroline’s presence could make a greater difference than mine.
The arrival of a twentieth century mathematics graduate who could describe Newton’s laws of motion and the application of calculus, could help them to gain a greater understanding of the world around them but as a woman, would they listen to her?
She would probably be considered a witch - and burnt!!!
