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 "One doesn't discover new lands without losing sight of the shore."
– Andre Gide

Strategy[]

Optics allows you to create Caravels, and allows your Work Boats to harvest Whale Whale (Civ4) resources. Optics also increases your sight distance across water.

Civilopedia entry[]

Optics is the study of the behavior of light. In Civilization IV, the optics technology refers specifically to the branch of optics that concentrates upon improving human sight through the creation of optical instruments such as eyeglasses, telescopes and microscopes. Advancements in optics had profound effects upon man's interaction with the world around him.

It is not certain when the first working telescope was created. A number of lens-shaped crystals were found in a Viking grave dating from the 10th century, but there is debate over whether these were purely decorative or were used to enhance vision. In 1609 Galileo created a "telescopium," which he used to study the stars. Accurate star charts allowed sailors to better chart their courses while at sea.

The Janssens, a family of Dutch spectacle makers, are claimed to have built the first working microscope in 1590 but once again, there is debate over that claim. And once again, Galileo is another candidate, credited with constructing his occhiolino in 1609. Anton van Leeuwenhoek famously used an early microscope to examine cells, bacteria, and other extremely small living creatures. This research was to revolutionize man's understanding of biology and medicine.

Civilization IV Technologies [edit]
Ancient Agriculture Animal Husbandry Archery Bronze Working Fishing Hunting Masonry Meditation Mining Monotheism Mysticism Polytheism Pottery Priesthood Sailing The Wheel Writing
Classical AestheticsB Alphabet Calendar Code of Laws Compass Construction Currency Drama Horseback Riding Iron Working Literature Mathematics Metal Casting Monarchy
Medieval Banking Civil Service Divine Right Engineering Feudalism Guilds Machinery Music Optics Paper Philosophy Theology
Renaissance Astronomy Chemistry Constitution Corporation Democracy Economics Education Gunpowder Liberalism Military ScienceB Military Tradition Nationalism Printing Press Replaceable Parts Rifling
Industrial Artillery Assembly Line Biology Combustion Communism Electricity Fascism Fission Industrialism Medicine Physics Railroad Scientific Method Steam Power Steel
Modern Advanced FlightB Composites Computers Ecology Fiber Optics Flight LaserB Mass Media Plastics Radio Refrigeration Robotics Rocketry Satellites SuperconductorsB
Future Fusion Future Tech Genetics StealthB
B Added in Beyond the Sword


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