The technology gap is really only evidenced during the Rim War, where at the beginning the Solomani had caught up with their latest ships, and towards the end new technological level fifteen Imperium ships turn up.
Has anyone here ever read "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared Diamond? Though historical and terrestrial in its analysis his assertions of the importance of geography (astrography?) and the benefits it brings could be extrapolated into the OTU.
