Henley's Formulas(sic) for Home and Workshop

[fhtagn]

One of my most recent acquisitions is Henley's Formulas(sic) for Home and Workshop, a book which may essentially be described as a recipe book for everything you might ever need living in an isolated community in a post-industrial society. Specifically, it assumes that you can in fact acquire all those useful chemicals which used to be stocked

Comments

[kai_kay]

Super! Probably not stuff I'd want to make, but great fun to read. Sounds like one lordofthewheel would like too. Thankyou.

[fhtagn]

I picked up my copy for less than a fiver from eBay, so it's not hard to get. And, of course, there are all the electronic versions from the link above. It's a fascinating read purely from a sociological perspective on how things have changed as much as anything else and it's pretty damned fascinating for the anything-else too.

[naath]

How exciting.

[fhtagn]

Interesting times, certainly.

[vitriol_]

That's amazing - I feel a growing urge to acquire a copy; amusement aside I have a fascination with how far a primitive/post-apocalyptic society would be able to bootstrap themselves in a short period if they had access to enough information.

[fhtagn]

It's an interesting question, yes. I'm very fond of Nurdrage's YouTube posts because they show just how much you can achieve with what is lying around the house (his total synthesis of Luminol from household ingredients is amazing). On the other hand, I reckon that whilst you could get quite a long way this way, the fact that it's a list of recipes rather than any scientific explanations would still require you to have access to a decent set of, well, science books before you could go much further. Or repeat three hundred years of experimentation, I suppose.

[omniscient_fool]

Amazing! I think I will purchase a copy for the ink recipes alone (I have been meaning to do some ink making trials from the medieval and early modern recipes I have and it will be interesting to compare to more modern hand made ones) and maybe a couple of spares for Christmas presents. Clearly everyone needs this book in their lives!

When the apocalypse comes, will you be in my gang?

[omniscient_fool]

When I say 'for the ink recipes alone' I of course mean that that alone would recommend it to me for purchase, I will of course be very interested to read the other pages as well!

[fhtagn]

I don't intend to be in a gang, per se, so much as standing at the right hand of some warlord, pointing him at useful resources and requesting any looted books be brought before so I can "investigate new weapons and stuff".

[omniscient_fool]

Well I guess that unless I manage to acquire some blood lust and pauldrons, I'll have to make do with just Henley!