Smelting, textiles, grain milling, scythes--what do these all have in  common?  All of these projects help us understand appropriate  technology--roughly, technology that satisfies a wider spectrum of  values than economic "efficiency."  We also talk about why we can often  look to the past to find these technologies, the fact that they often  appear to be "low-tech," and some common characteristics of appropriate  technologies.  You can also check out our project videos at youtube.com/goodandbasic