The fact that the colour is so sensitive to the position in the furnace suggests that it would have been very difficult for the Romans to control the colour.

It would have required skill to refine the process but himans are great at finding ways to repeat extremely complicated and precise techniques to get consistent results. Sure, it probably took decades to get consistent but after that I'll bet they could crank out consistently and with intentional variations.

[–] Ulvain@sh.itjust.works 25 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Sure, it probably took decades to get consistent

Then again, let's remember this is a society before tv, the internet, or readily available books...

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 42 points 1 week ago

Master -> disciple learning.

[–] partofthevoice@lemmy.zip 14 points 1 week ago (1 children)

They probably had a lot more time on their hands, with a culture where sitting to watch tv was an unavailable form of ~~avoidance~~ entertain.

I can’t imagine this would be too difficult to figure out. Heat with a consistent supply of fuel should burn at about the same temperature, right? So, if you can create separate chambers where heat must travel through a medium like stone before it can heat the next chamber, you can somewhat control the heat… meaning you’ll have chambers of different temperatures, each decreasing as the chamber gets further from the fire source.

There’s probably ways to test the temperature without a thermometer, too. For example, how long does it take a small cup of water to start boiling? If you touch a weed to the side of the chamber, does it instantly light aflame or simply char? Etc.

[–] boobookittyfrick@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 week ago

I like the little man’s tiny nipples

[–] eleitl@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 week ago

That is actually an advantage. Our massive advantage though is modern analytics and modern industry.

[–] baines@lemmy.cafe 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

anyone watching anything on Japanese production will know this is totally doable

[–] gnate@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

processx is a favorite channel of mine on YouTube.

[–] locahosr443@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago

If you'd played kcd youd know it was simply a matter of squeezing the bellows twice, but never three times