grumbler
Prince
To Civ4's Future Tech, that is. They range in length from 60 to 68 techs. The number of paths of minimum length is two.
So if there are 84 techs in the tech tree, you could at most skip 24 techs on the way.
Some more stats:
Pottery: 2 paths, 2 efficient, 3 techs
Writing: 6 paths, 2 efficient, 3-4 techs
Construction: 10 paths, 4 efficient, 7-8 techs
Philosophy: 20 paths, 1 efficient, 7-10 techs
Military Tradition: 120 paths, 1 efficient, 16-23 techs
Steam Power: 94 paths, 6 efficient, 27-33 techs
Fission: 137 paths, 1 efficient, 24-39 techs
Fusion: 65 paths, 1 efficient, 54-62 techs
If you have Python installed, you can use this script to check other techs.
[edit: download removed since there now is an improved version available here.]
So if there are 84 techs in the tech tree, you could at most skip 24 techs on the way.
Some more stats:
Pottery: 2 paths, 2 efficient, 3 techs
Writing: 6 paths, 2 efficient, 3-4 techs
Construction: 10 paths, 4 efficient, 7-8 techs
Philosophy: 20 paths, 1 efficient, 7-10 techs
Military Tradition: 120 paths, 1 efficient, 16-23 techs
Steam Power: 94 paths, 6 efficient, 27-33 techs
Fission: 137 paths, 1 efficient, 24-39 techs
Fusion: 65 paths, 1 efficient, 54-62 techs
If you have Python installed, you can use this script to check other techs.
[edit: download removed since there now is an improved version available here.]