Divergent Technology

This is technology that took a different path from ours. It uses the notation TL(x+y) "where where x is the TL at which the technology diverged, y is the number of TLs since the divergence, and the sum x+y is the effective TL for most purposes. (...) Divergent TLs are not unique. There could be any number of versions of (for instance) TL(5+1), each different in its own way."Basic Set pg 513
Important Note: A Divergent Technology TL generally notes the "actual" tech level ignoring any magic and superscience while Equivalent TL includes magic and superscience in its calculations. 
==When Divergent Technology Isn't==
While GURPS Classic encouraged players to use Divergent Technology for fanciful devices, it wasn't a set rule as real 19th-century technology applied in cinematic ways would just have the normal TL.Classic: Steampunk 7Classic: Steamtech 6
In fact, Steamtech points out that while there is normally an additional -2 penalty when going from a normal TL to a divergent this is not always true. For example, "Sulfanilamide is classified as TL(5+1), but it was also a TL6 medication; no penalty should apply to the skills of Chemistry/TL6 or Physician/TL6 for working with it."Classic: Steamtech 7
The following historical items given the TL(5+1) label in Steampunk and Steamtech are also "normal" TL6 items (the Electropathic Belt could be considered TL5). Items in bold didn't work as presented but could in a superscience setting:
Year 	Item 	book reference
early 19th century
1877?'At once Pasteur jumped to a fine idea: “If the harmless bugs from the air choke out the anthrax bacilli in the bottle, they will do it in the body too! It is a kind of dog-eat-dog!” shouted Pasteur, and at once he put Roux and Chamberland to work on the fantastic experiment of giving guinea-pigs anthrax and then shooting doses of billions of harmless microbes into them—beneficent germs which were to chase the anthrax bacilli round the body and devour them—they were to be like the mongoose which kills cobras. . Pasteur gravely announced: “That there were high hopes for the cure of disease from this experiment,” but that is the last you hear of it, for Pasteur was never a man to give the world of science the benefit of studying his failures.' (Paul de Kruif's 1926 book Microbe Hunters)/1928	Bactericide (chemical)
Penicillin (biological) 	Classic: Steampunk 92
1850s 	Electropathic Belt 	Classic: Steamtech 31
1851 	Tempest Prognosticator 	Classic: Steamtech 51
1889;cheap production c 1910 	Wireless Field TelephoneFor some strange reason it is not noted this really existed 	Classic: Steamtech 32
1892 	Dewar Flask(Thermos) 	Classic: Steamtech 42
1898 (gas)
1951 	Xenon
(as Anesthesia) 	Classic: Steamtech 109
1899 	Acetylsalicylic Acid
(Aspirin) 	Classic: Steampunk 92
1906 (Lunched) 	H.M.S Dreadnaught 	Classic: Steampunk 79
1907 	Bakelite 	Classic: Steamtech 115
1913 	Fluidized CoalFor some strange reason it is not noted this was really invented though the process wasn't very effective.Coal Liquefaction	Classic: Steamtech pg 46
1914There were "Howitzers" before this date. The flavor text shows this is the Big Bertha design.	Howitzer 	Classic: Steamtech 98
1918 	Long Range Cannon 	Classic: Steamtech 98
==A Real World Example==
Speaking Mutoscope; TL(5+1) Classic: Steamtech 58 aka Kinetoscope. Invented 1893 with earliest surviving example being from 1896The first movie to record sound and moving image in synchronization. 
For some strange reason it is not noted that this was really invented under the name kinetoscope. In fact, Le Duel d'Hamlet starring Sarah Bernhardt was shown at the Paris Exposition in 1900.﻿HBO's Brain Games "Tales of Wrongovia" screwed up and claimed that a sound picture was the one thing out of four Sarah Bernhardt could not have done. Sadly the cylinder recording that contained Sarah Bernhardt's voice has been lost (the picture itself has survived) but the cylinders from Cyrano de Bergerac (1900) and Little Titch y sus Big Boots (1900) have survived. These along with the 1912 Edison's Kinetophone demonstration film allows one to see examples of the technology.
What makes this Divergent Technology is that the Speaking Mutoscope used mechanical means so common to TL5 to sync picture and sound. Its TL6 counterpart is Lauste's 1907 sound on film method which used the electrical means that would be common at that TL.
==Names for some Divergent Technologies==
* Steampunk: Divergent Technology based on the technology of TL5 to early TL6 and science fiction of 1815-1914.
* Dieselpunk: Divergent Technology based on the technology of TL6 to early TL7 and science fiction of 1914-c 1945. It may go all the way to the mid 1950s.
* Atomicpunk (Effectively the Atomic Horror genre): Divergent Technology seen in B grade Science fiction movies of the 1950s-1960s. Largely future technology based on TL(6+1) atomics (such as in Flash Gordon or Buck Rodgers) or TL7.
* Cyberpunk: future technology based on TL7 to early TL8.
*Infopunk: extrapolation of internet based technology with TL7 to TL8 as the starting point.
==See also==
* Superscience
* Age of Steam's technology - Equivalent Technology examples
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Rules
Category:Concepts
Category:Technology