You are a walking biological weapon, try to sterilize yourself and your clothes as much as possible first, and quarantine yourself until any novel (to the 13th century) viruses are gone. Try to avoid getting smallpox and any other prevalent ancient disease you’re not immune to.
Have you tried flying into a third world nation today and dragging them out of backwardness and poverty? What would make it easier in the 13th century?
If you can get past those hurdles the obvious benefits are mathematics (Arabic numerals, algebra, calculus) and standardized measures (bonus points if you can reconstruct the metric system fairly accurately), optics, physics, chemistry, metallurgy, electricity, and biology. For physics specifically the ability to do statics for construction and ballistics for cannons and thermodynamics for engines and other machines (and lubrication and hydraulics are important too). High carbon steel for machine tools, the assembly line and interchangeable parts. Steel reinforced concrete would be nice, but not a necessity. Rubber. High quality glass for optics; necessary for microscopes for biology to progress past “We don’t believe tiny organisms make us sick”. The scientific method (probably goes without saying) to keep things moving instead of turning back into alchemy and bloodletting.
Electricity and magnetism eventually; batteries won’t cut it for industrial scale use of electricity (electrolysis, lighting for longer working hours, arc furnaces for better smelting) so building workable generators that can be connected to steam engines is vital.
Other people have mentioned medicine, which is pretty important from an ethical perspective, but difficult to reverse centuries of bad practice. Basic antibiotics and sterilization is probably the best you’d be able to do, but without the pharmaceutical industry there’s a lot of stuff you can’t do. If you know how to make ether, at least get anesthesia started.
“Have you tried flying into a third world nation today and dragging them out of backwardness and poverty? What would make it easier in the 13th century?”
I think this is an interesting angle. How comparable are ‘backward’ nations today with historical nations? Obvious differences in terms of technology existing in modern third world even if the infrastructure/skills to create and maintain it don’t. In that way, I suppose they’re more comparable to places in the very early middle ages, when people used Roman buildings etc. that they coudn’t create themselves. But I also wonder how 13th century government compares to modern governments that we’d consider ‘failed states’.
You are a walking biological weapon, try to sterilize yourself and your clothes as much as possible first, and quarantine yourself until any novel (to the 13th century) viruses are gone. Try to avoid getting smallpox and any other prevalent ancient disease you’re not immune to.
Have you tried flying into a third world nation today and dragging them out of backwardness and poverty? What would make it easier in the 13th century?
If you can get past those hurdles the obvious benefits are mathematics (Arabic numerals, algebra, calculus) and standardized measures (bonus points if you can reconstruct the metric system fairly accurately), optics, physics, chemistry, metallurgy, electricity, and biology. For physics specifically the ability to do statics for construction and ballistics for cannons and thermodynamics for engines and other machines (and lubrication and hydraulics are important too). High carbon steel for machine tools, the assembly line and interchangeable parts. Steel reinforced concrete would be nice, but not a necessity. Rubber. High quality glass for optics; necessary for microscopes for biology to progress past “We don’t believe tiny organisms make us sick”. The scientific method (probably goes without saying) to keep things moving instead of turning back into alchemy and bloodletting.
Electricity and magnetism eventually; batteries won’t cut it for industrial scale use of electricity (electrolysis, lighting for longer working hours, arc furnaces for better smelting) so building workable generators that can be connected to steam engines is vital.
Other people have mentioned medicine, which is pretty important from an ethical perspective, but difficult to reverse centuries of bad practice. Basic antibiotics and sterilization is probably the best you’d be able to do, but without the pharmaceutical industry there’s a lot of stuff you can’t do. If you know how to make ether, at least get anesthesia started.
“Have you tried flying into a third world nation today and dragging them out of backwardness and poverty? What would make it easier in the 13th century?”
I think this is an interesting angle. How comparable are ‘backward’ nations today with historical nations? Obvious differences in terms of technology existing in modern third world even if the infrastructure/skills to create and maintain it don’t. In that way, I suppose they’re more comparable to places in the very early middle ages, when people used Roman buildings etc. that they coudn’t create themselves. But I also wonder how 13th century government compares to modern governments that we’d consider ‘failed states’.