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Water, sustenance & other basic needs
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Water, sustenance & other basic needs
A Proper Method for Sowing Seed in Rows for the Prevention of Waste and Weeds Jethro Tull

It is a matter of plain reason that the old, slovenly way of broadcasting seed is an exercise in futility and waste. A husbandman...

Cellini's Method for Reading the Stones: Identifying Metal Ores Benvenuto Cellini

Before you dream of casting a Perseus or striking a fine coin, you must first learn the language of the stones. A fool sees...

On the Conveyance of Water: Building a Lasting Aqueduct Marcus Vitruvius Pollio

Water is the first necessity of life and the foundation of a worthy city. Without a pure and copious supply, there can be no...

A Roman Farmer's Poultice for Wounds and Sprains Cato the Elder

A good paterfamilias must know how to tend not only his fields but also his household, including the bodies of his family and workers....

A Guide to the Proper Care and Use of the Singing Voice Johann Sebastian Bach

In my service as Cantor, I have found that a choir is built not upon a few brilliant soloists, but upon a community of...

A Roman Method for Fermenting Grapes into Sound, Storable Wine Cato the Elder

A well-managed estate provides for itself. Wine is not a luxury, but a necessity for health, sustenance, and the morale of your household. Follow...

On the Proper Method of Drying Figs for Winter Stores Cato the Elder

A prudent pater familias wastes nothing the gods and the soil provide. The sun, a gift to all, can preserve the sweetness of your...

A Practical Method for Crafting Hard Cheese to Preserve Milk Lucius Junius Columella

On any well-managed estate, the flock's milk is a treasure not to be squandered. Since it spoils quickly, the prudent husbandman must convert it...

A Proper Roman Remedy for a Troublesome Cough Cato the Elder

A persistent cough weakens a man and makes him unfit for labor. It is the duty of the master of the house to see...

Mending Wounds with Yarrow, the Warrior's Herb Sacagawea the Great

The earth provides for us, if we know how to look. On our long journey to the great salt water, cuts and scrapes were...

A Guide to Working with Pain: Avoiding the Second Arrow Siddhartha Gautama

All who live will one day meet with pain. It is like the first arrow striking the flesh—unavoidable. But whether a second arrow follows...

How to Read the Book of Nature: A Guide to Useful Plants Leonardo da Vinci

I have long held that Nature is the greatest of all teachers. Her designs, perfected over ages, reveal the function of all living things...

A Method for Calculating Projectile Trajectories Isaac Newton

It has been my life's work to show that the universe is not a chaotic mystery, but a grand and intricate clockwork, governed by...

A Guide to the Proper Siting of a Necessary House Benjamin Franklin

It has been my observation that the health and prosperity of a community are directly tied to its cleanliness. Foul airs and tainted water...

On Finding Safe Water and Lodging in an Unknown City Ibn Battuta

In my travels, which by the grace of Allah have taken me from my home in the Maghrib to the distant lands of Chin,...

A Guide to Provisioning for a Desert Crossing Ibn Battuta

In my travels, which by the grace of Allah have spanned the known world, no journey tests a man's foresight like crossing the great...

Understanding the Tides Through Lunar and Solar Attraction Isaac Newton

I have found through rigorous calculation that the ocean's great motion is not some vital spirit of the Earth, but a direct and calculable...

A Physician's Guide to Preparing Herbal Cough Remedies Hippocrates of Kos

I have observed that a cough is the body's attempt to expel an excess of phlegm and restore its natural balance. Do not obstruct...

A Guide to Crop Rotation for Enduring Soil Fertility Lucius Junius Columella

I have long observed that land, much like a beast of burden, will tire and fail if it is worked without rest or proper...

A Method for the True and Scrupulous Recording of Flora Albrecht Dürer

God, in His infinite wisdom, has written the book of nature, and its characters are the leaves, stems, and blossoms around us. To merely...

How to Plant and Tend an Olive Grove for Abundant Oil Lucius Junius Columella

Alongside grain and wine, the olive is a gift of Providence, essential for a prosperous estate and a healthy body. It provides not just...

A Method for the Extraction and Purification of Sodium Chloride from Natural Sources Marie Curie

Sodium chloride is essential not only for life but for the preservation of sustenance. Yet, salt gathered from nature is invariably contaminated with undesirable...

How to Cleanse Water Using Earth's Humble Gifts Hildegard of Bingen

In all of God's creation, there is a living greenness, a 'viriditas' that gives life. Pure water is the vessel for this divine force...

On the Application of Cupping to Correct Humoral Imbalance Hippocrates of Kos

I have long observed that the body, like the world, seeks its own balance. Illness arises when one of the four humors—blood, phlegm, yellow...

A Method for Asepsis: Sterilizing Instruments for Scientific and Medical Work Marie Curie

In my work, from the isolation of radium to the operation of radiological cars on the front lines, I have learned a truth of...

How to Feed a Multitude with What You Have Jesus of Nazareth

Do not despair when you see a great need and believe your hands are empty. The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed,...

How to Establish a Poultry Yard for a Constant Supply of Eggs and Meat Lucius Junius Columella

I have long maintained that no part of a country estate, however small, is more profitable than a well-managed poultry yard. The common fowl...

How to Construct a Water Screw by Geometrical Principle Archimedes of Syracuse

I devised this simple machine to solve a vexing problem: how to defy gravity and lift water from a lower to a higher place....

How to Command Fire from the Sun Using a Parabolic Mirror Archimedes of Syracuse

It is whispered that I burned the Roman fleet with mirrors from the shores of Syracuse. While a moving ship is a difficult target,...

How to Endure Physical Hardship with a Serene Mind Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Fortune is a fickle mistress, granting comfort one day and stripping it away the next. Many believe that happiness lies in avoiding hardship, but...

A Guide to Determining the Proper Depth for Sowing Seed Jethro Tull

Cease the wasteful and ignorant practice of casting seed upon the ground haphazardly! Much crop failure is born not of poor soil or want...

Reading the Berry Bushes: A Guide to Safe Foraging Sacagawea the Great

The land offers gifts, but you must have the wisdom to accept the right ones. My journey with Captains Lewis and Clark taught me...

A Practical Method for Keeping Bees in Simple Hives Lucius Junius Columella

On my own farm, and on those I have advised, the keeping of bees has always been a mark of a well-managed estate. Honey...

How to Soothe Fevers and Pain with Willow Bark Sacagawea the Great

On our long journey to the great salt water, my child often grew tired, and sometimes the fever would come. The land always provides...

On the Measurement of Fields: A Geometer's Method for Calculating Area Archimedes of Syracuse

Do not trust your eyes alone to portion out the land upon which your sustenance depends. The eye is easily deceived by slopes and...

A Method for the Logical Classification of Flora and Fauna Aristotle of Stagira

To act with virtue and reason, one must first possess knowledge of his surroundings. For how can a man provide for his household or...

A Guide to Foraging Wild Mint and Other Greens for Tea and Flavor Sacagawea the Great

The captains I traveled with were focused on maps and rivers, but I knew that survival is also found in the small things. A...

A Mariner's Method for Salting and Drying Fish Zheng He

On my many voyages across the great Western Ocean, the health of my men was paramount. A full belly ensures a strong arm and...

How to Construct a Road: The Artery of Civilization Julius Caesar

A legion's march is only as swift as the path beneath its feet. An empire's wealth flows only where commerce can travel unhindered. Do...

How to Fashion a Surgical Kit from Flint and Bone Imhotep of Memphis

The order of the state rests upon the health of its people, and the health of its people rests upon the hands of a...

How to Make Pemmican for a Long Journey Sacagawea the Great

When I journeyed with the white chiefs, and when my people move with the seasons, this is the food that gives us strength. Pemmican...

Finding the Earth's Hidden Gifts: How to Harvest Roots for Your Journey Sacagawea the Great

The earth provides for us, but only if we learn her face and listen to her whispers. I have walked many miles, from the...

How to Build a Strong Cradleboard for a Long Journey Sacagawea the Great

A child is a great treasure, but the trail does not wait for small legs. I carried my son, my little Pomp, across great...

A Farmer's Guide to Judging Soil by the Senses Lucius Junius Columella

I have spent a lifetime observing the land, for upon its quality rests the fate of any farm. Forget strange new instruments; the gods...

On the Mechanical Principles of Mending Bone and Sinew Leonardo da Vinci

I have spent countless nights in the quiet company of the dead, mapping the marvelous architecture God has bestowed upon man. The body is...

How to Enrich Your Soil Through Thorough Tillage Jethro Tull

Many farmers believe the dung heap is the soul of husbandry. I tell you, this is folly. The true nourishment for vegetables is the...

Constructing a Simple Seed Drill to Revolutionize Your Planting Jethro Tull

For centuries, men have cast their seed upon the earth as if feeding pigeons, leaving it to chance, birds, and the whims of weather....

A Systematic Method for the Examination of Bodily Injury Imhotep of Memphis

Before one lays a single stone, one must survey the ground. So it is with the body. To heal an injury without first understanding...

A Physician's Guide to Diagnosing Imbalance Through the Four Humors Hippocrates of Kos

I have long taught that the health of a man rests upon a balance of four vital fluids, or humors: blood, phlegm, yellow bile,...

On Cleansing Wounds to Avert Putrefaction Hippocrates of Kos

The body possesses a natural power to heal, yet it is the physician's duty to remove all impediments to this process. A wound left...

How to Assess a Patient Through Systematic Observation Hippocrates of Kos

I have long taught that the art of medicine must be freed from the whims of gods and superstition. The body itself declares its...

Preparing a Fennel Tonic for Digestive Health and Joyful Spirit Hildegard of Bingen

Through the Divine wisdom that flows through all of creation, God has bestowed a special virtue upon the fennel plant. Its gentle warmth dispels...

Baking Spelt Bread to Foster Strength and a Joyful Mind Hildegard of Bingen

I share with you this method for baking with spelt, which God has blessed above all other grains. Spelt is the best grain; it...

On the Cultivation of Cabbage: The Best of All Vegetables Cato the Elder

Pay heed. Of all vegetables, the cabbage is first. It will feed your family and serve as your physician, saving you from the costly...

How to Raise Water: Constructing a Cochlea for Irrigation Archimedes of Syracuse

By my own hand, I offer you a method to make water climb. This device, which some call my screw, is naught but geometry...

Make a cup of coffee Peter Williams

Caffine is very important in getting you going in the morning and contains many rare nutrients which you can't get anywhere else.

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Extract salt from sea water by evaporation Peter Williams

Salt is a key mineral, and when it happens, you will need to find a way to produce your own salt.

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How to knit a blanket Diane Worthington

Keeping warm is one of the most basic of our needs, and as a species we have come up with many ways to do...

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Find fresh water when near a beach by digging a well Peter Williams

Find fresh water when near a beach by digging a well.

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The perfect cuppa Luther Jones

Making a perfect cup of tea should be considered the default first step in every method.

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No bread? Try these quick oat biscuits with your cheese Jude Jones

Sometimes you can't get hold of bread or panic buying has seen off the ingredients you need to make it. But you need something...

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Putting pajamas on a child Mark Pallis

At the end of a long day, no one wants to spend ages getting the children into their PJs. This simple trick will save...

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