Saving Archimedes
This is an Idea I had for a book a few years ago, but I never found the time to actually write. I decided, due to the scope of the undertaking I would take this on using the common's model. Using Github (something that I use as a programmer) to manage updates and forks this should serve as a good experiment on collective writing.
Basically, this is a time travel story. The premise is simple: a character invents a time machine and goes back
to the battle of Siege of Syracuse and saves Archimedies from being killed by a random Roman soldier. What transpires
from that point is a 1400 year shift in scientific and mathematical understanding as Archimedies has the time to complete
his theroies of calculus, proceeding to codify the discoveries and theories of Newton hundreds of years earlier.
These theories are then utilized by the Romans for the construction of weapons of war and conquest altering
the timeline.
Well, I didn't, really, I haven't given up the rights to publish for money or produce a movie or anything just because I put this on GitHub. That being said, I'm not really in this for the money but because I want this story written. This will entail weaving together modern understanding of science and technology with the people of power and influence that existed from 200BC onward. This is a cross disaplinary exercise that will only improve the more expertese that is brought to it. Writers, historians and mathematicians (well, probably just bored college students) can all put their own passion in the detail of the world and story to give it depth and accuracy.
I honestly haven't considered that yet. Perhaps if there is interest I can put together a kickstarter project, if not it can just sit here and accumulate my own ideas and research. I will say this, github is execlent at tracking contributors, and I will stay faithful to those people who put effort into it being given proportional financial gain (don't quit your day jobs, folks, this is the internet).