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

by Ryan North

every avocado you’ve probably ever eaten derives from a seed found under mysterious circumstances in 1926,*

During ice ages, glaciers scrape away topsoil and wipe out any earthworms. In most of Canada and the northeastern United States, native worms died out during the last ice age (from 110,000 BCE to 9700 BCE). As worms migrate very slowly, the worms living in these areas in the modern era are descended from non-native varieties, brought over after European contact in 1492 CE.

Shall we make a new rule of life from tonight: always to try to be a little kinder than is necessary?

Let the future tell the truth and evaluate each one according to his work and accomplishments. The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is mine.

It may not surprise you to learn that hitting metal with a hammer for hours on end is a long, hot, difficult, labor-intensive, and tedious process that sucks, so you’re going to invent a better way to do it riiiight . . . now.

There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories. —You (also, Ursula K. Le Guin)

One cannot discover new lands without consenting to lose sight, for a very long time, of the shore. —You (also, André Gide)

Remember: boats go where you want, rafts go where they want. You want boats. Steering

Just add 25 grams of sugar (see Section 7.21) and 2.1 grams of salt (see Section 10.2.6) to 1L of water, mix it together, and enjoy. It actually replenishes water to the body faster than water can do on its own,