How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler

by Ryan North

APPLES ORIGIN Central Asia USES The apple tree was among the first trees cultivated, and its fruit has been improved for thousands of years, so if you’re back before selective breeding was invented, expect some disappointing and tiny sour apples consisting mostly of seeds and a core. Enjoy! Apples picked in fall and stored in a cool place keep well over winter. NOTES Apple cider can be made by leaving out apple juice and allowing natural yeast to ferment it. It might not be delicious, but it will be alcoholic! 7.2: BAMBOO ORIGIN Warm, moist tropical regions USES For a long-lasting writing surface (especially useful before paper), scrape off the outer green skin, split them open on one side, and flatten them. Multiple shoots can be joined together! Great for flutes (also, blow guns), plus the shoots are edible. Can be used to construct arrows, baskets, scaffolding, furniture, walls, flooring, electric light filaments, water pipes, and as a reinforcing agent in concrete if steel is not invented yet, since bamboo has a tensile strength (the ability to withstand heavy loads without snapping or being pulled apart) that’s almost as good as steel. Attracts adorable giant pandas. NOTES Bamboo is an incredibly versatile plant, and if you are stranded in an area of the planet where it grows, you will have a lot of what you need for a civilization from this one plant alone! Bamboo is one of the fastest-growing plants in the world, and that’s useful if you want plants, like, yesterday...