Glossary

Eschaton: The end of civilization, or end of the world. The origin and connotations of the world are Biblical, but I use the word in a completely nonreligious sense.

Eschaton event: An event (which may be instantaneous or generations-long) that brings an end to most of the technologies of civilization in most of the world; this end would be permanent without a concerted effort to restart technological civilization.

Foundational: A technology is foundational to another technology of the second technology depends on the first in order to exist. For instance, one might say that metallurgy is foundational to the construction of guns, and microscopes are foundational to microbiology.

Foundational technology: A technology upon which other technologies are based, especially those upon which civilization itself is based, such as agriculture.