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Thyne Oldest Known Tech Manual

Posted by timothy on from the better-than-many-current-ones dept.

johnshirley writes "How old is the oldest known technical manual? About 613 years, it seems. Written in 1391 by Geoffrey Chaucer for his ten year old son Lewis (Lowys), the manual explains in great detail but very rough spelling and grammar, the intricate workings of the Astrolabe--the predecessor to the sextant. Read Chaucer's 'A Treatise on the Astrolabe here."

2 of 452 comments (clear)

  1. Re:I can't figure out... by kinnell · · Score: 0, Redundant
    So I'm part language student, and I can't figure out why there are misspellings of the same word. "Treatise" is spelled differently something like five times.

    I'll probably get lynched for suggesting this, but maybe he was just crap at spelling?

    --
    If I seem short sighted, it is because I stand on the shoulders of midgets
  2. uhm, the spelling and grammar are just fine by sentientbrendan · · Score: 0, Redundant

    This document is written in an older form of english. Chaucer's spelling and grammar are no worse than Shakespeare's, although Chaucer's version of English is much older than Shakespear's. Just FYI Chaucer was one of the first authors to write in English, and did so at a time when most educated people in England spoke French or Latin.
    That said, I doubt very much this is the first technical manual. More likely, it is the first technical manual written in English. I'm sure the chinese, greeks, romans, french, etc all had similar documents long ago.