Interesting question. For myself I studied aero-space engineering in college and I have a good grasp of the principals of aerodynamics and internal combustion engines. I’m fairly confident I could get a job with a company at the ground floor to make some start up capital…hell, I could design airplanes that would blow away anything the Wrights (or anyone else) was doing at the time. I was also in the Navy and could probably do a decent job at more advanced ship design.
Once I have the capital I have a good grasp of what companies at the turn of the century are going to do well in the stock market, and which ones aren’t. For instance I know that Westinghouse and AC power are going to be big…and I know which of Edisons inventions will do well. There are several companies that anyone from our age would know off hand…most of which would be good investments (especially long term) at the time. Just got to watch out around 1929…
Or I suppose I could be a reasonably good psychic, even with my limited knowledge of history. I know that ‘a large ocean going ship on its maiden voyage’ is going to sink for instance. I also know that ‘a great war in Europe will happen around 1914 with the death of an Austrian noble’. Stuff like that.
I’m hopeless with sports but I’m sure SOME of the stuff would ring a bell…so I could probably make some decent wagers in Las Vegas. (if I had an illegal bent I also know how to jimmy the old fashioned slots of the time…and with no electronic surveilence it would be a snap :)). I’m sure I could make enough to be more than comfortable just on the knowledge I have of history and half remembered technical skills from college.
I would most likely make a carbonated beverage of some sort… add an excess amount of caffeine in it and sell it as some form of stimulant…AHHH! ill call it an energy drink!
Sue L. Frank Baum for plagiarising my novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”.
I’d make a fortune on the Stock Market (Hmmm… Dunlop Tyre & Rubber Company, Ford Motor Company, and anything involving Electricity), and, of course, I can tell everyone about The Titanic, WWI, WWII… and I’d also go out of my way to stop the British Empire being disassembled, too.
I imagine you’d practically stumble on things that are done much more effectively these days. You’d need to befriend a benefactor and a good machinist to be sure. Speaking of machinists, you could make a mint if you knew anything about machine tools (lathes, planers, milling stations, etc.). That would jump-start manufacturing.
Invent the assembly line.
Invent the 1911 style pistol.
Invent the bra.
Invent the zipper.
One problem with some of the proceeding schemes is that if you start to make a significant ripple in events, you’ll alter the future, rending some of your inside knowledge useless.
For example, if xtisme introduces some breakthrough engineering designs many decades before their time, maybe that will end up causing Edison to go to something else (e.g. pursue a different set of inventions, even join xtisme’s company instead of forming his own), Westinghouse to lose out to a rival, etc.
Pretty soon a lot of historical facts will no longer be facts, especially if you think the Butterfly Effect could be significant.
Of course the rules of physics, chemistry, engineering, etc. aren’t going to change, so your best bet will be using advanced knowledge to know what’s possible, and how to do it.
That’s all well and good, but I won’t care, since by the time I’ve finished suing notable authors for plagiarising my work and stealing my ideas, I’ll have invented the Self-Loading Lee-Enfield Rifle, beating John Garand to the punch by 20-odd years, and ensuring that .303 British ammunition remains affordable and readily available far into the future.
You can also bet that the first affordable Sub Machine Gun (Looking curiously like a Thompson M1928) would be chambered in .455 Webley, and a century later Gun Magazines would be reviewing the Webley Mk XIVA1 Revolver…
Aircraft carriers are going to be big…don’t waste all that money on stinking battleships!
I’d probably stay out of weapons design myself…unless I was sent back to, say, 1800. If that were the case I know a really cool formula for gun cotton, smokeless powder…and of course percussion caps. Not to mention some really good iron clad designs, with breech loading cannon…etc etc. America would kick ass and take names I tell you!
Its a good point and one I actually did think of. If I were to introduce ‘my own’ (historically stolen) designs you are probably right…history from that point would certainly change significantly enough that my knowledge would year by year become more and more sketchy. Of course, if I had Edison working for my advanced aircraft/automotive company then I’d be rich anyway so no worries.
I wonder if I have enough general knowledge for some of the medical advances that I know are coming. For instance I know that certain bread molds…
If I had any advance warning, I’d go back with precise knowledge of the location and depth of major gold, oil, and coal deposits that were not known as of 1900. That kind of knowledge would not change regardless of my actions, and would provide me with a very regular and predictable source of income.
Aside from that, I would invent the solid-state transistor. Bell Labs wouldn’t invent it until 1948 in the real world, but I’m sure the manufacturing and chemical knowledge of the early 20th century would be up to making them if someone already knew the secrets of which chemicals to use and how to wire them up. I’d make an absolute mint in the nascent field of radio, and probably advance particle physics in the process. Not to mention the kind of adding machines I could create.
Quantum Mechanics and Relativity Theory. I’d be the superstar of modern physics, singlehandedly revolutionizing both the large and the small scale theories. Then I’d get to work on unifying the two.
I also know that ‘a great war in Europe will happen around 1914 with the death of an Austrian noble’. Stuff like that.
