# Loss of Knowledge in After London

> Theme guide for After London by Richard Jefferies.

The ancients’ scientific and technological marvels (e.g., malleable glass, iron chariots, wire communication) are reduced to legends or incomprehensible relics, with the surviving population unable to recreate them.

## Where it surfaces

- [The Great Forest](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/after_london_se/chapters/i-the-great-forest): The text mentions that the foundations of ancient buildings are now buried deep and inaccessible, and that many species of dogs are extinct, indicating a loss of both physical and cultural knowledge.
- [Men of the Woods](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/after_london_se/chapters/iii-men-of-the-woods): The narrator laments the destruction of records and the loss of technical arts, as memories died out within two generations.
- [IV: The Invaders](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/after_london_se/chapters/iv-the-invaders): Literacy and learning are deliberately restricted to the noble class, who rarely use them; printing is not employed because no one wants books, and ancient wisdom is preserved only in a few manuscripts.
- [I: Sir Felix](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/after_london_se/chapters/i-sir-felix): Felix secretly studies decaying ancient texts, reconstructing knowledge that was once common, while society despises learning.
- [IV: The Canoe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/after_london_se/chapters/iv-the-canoe): Sir Constans reconstructed a siege engine from fragmentary ancient descriptions, indicating the decay of technical knowledge from the old civilization.
- [XIV: The Straits](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/after_london_se/chapters/xiv-the-straits): Felix's initial confusion between the true strait and a blind channel illustrates how geographical and strategic knowledge has been lost or obscured.
- [Discoveries](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/after_london_se/chapters/xxii-discoveries): Felix's inability to interpret the strange phenomena (black water, bird migrations, crumbling rocks) highlights the loss of pre-catastrophe understanding of the natural world.
- [Strange Things](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/after_london_se/chapters/xxiii-strange-things): Felix encounters remnants of the past (diamond bracelet, china tile, coins) but the knowledge of the ancient world is lost, leaving only deadly hazards.
- [Fiery Vapours](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/after_london_se/chapters/xxiv-fiery-vapours): The demagnetized compass and the inability to read the inscription on the gold coins illustrate the loss of scientific understanding and historical records.
- [Bow and Arrow](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/after_london_se/chapters/xxvi-bow-and-arrow): The shepherds' unfamiliarity with the bow and palisade fortifications underscores the loss of ancient knowledge, which Felix reintroduces.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/after_london_se/themes/loss_of_knowledge
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/after_london_se/themes