I am polishing my time-traveller novel for (electronic) publication. The concept is that a generalist historian is spat back to 1935 like a watermelon seed. He has a laptop computer and his watch. He knows as little about electronics as you do.
He knows that IR night-vision sights are possible. So can engineers do such a thing with these clues?
How big and how useful would such a first-generation thingee be?
They existed around that time.
Passive IR devices were used in WWII - I have such tube, and made my own IR-viewer with it.
But, if you are asking - If I went back in time and told an engineer “I know that it’s possible to make a light-amplifying device, but I don’t know how,” he would just say “I’m sure it’s possible, I just don’t know how to do it.”
For this second part of your question, take a look here for some 1945 IR stuff on rifles.
I’d think based on that, your protagonist time traveler might find himself in trouble talking about classified research. Or not, it depens on just when the various countries started on developing these.
On the other hand, maybe the stuff in those pics WERE developed by him and some associates! From 1935-1945, he could have had 10 years to develop them.
P.S. If he gets the wild idea to develop computers and AI software using his laptop as a model, for goodness’ sake, Paul, send someone back to kill him!!!
the whole IR stuff is a muguffin. He has a lap top with him? the novel creates two two great conficts right there. Dio they use the computing power of his machine to calculate bomb sighting and such (via short wave codes) or do they take it apart and find out about microlithrographic semiconductor tech.
A basicaly equipped (Say windows office suite) lap top would be able to use its spread sheet apps top do the math required almost instantly for multiple bomb sighting . The words “mircroscopic semiconductor” would be a huge boost to frantic “manhatten project” style science projects. Semiconductor theory was already known in the 1940’s , and was even predicted by Einstein’'s photo electric theory ( as applied to electro-crystolography)…
Basically… good idea for a novel, but look deeper
FML
The novel that is really begging to be written would have Howard Hughes (or someone like him, a real character) as a secret time traveller.
My guys are going to get the solid-state valve (aka transistor) early. The laptop will be used for hardware, most calculations could be done the old-fashioned way.
Thank you all.
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Oh if you want to read the draft, it is here.