Factorio Forums

Iron + Manganese Smelting : Advanced Iron 2 is a lot more techs than Advanced Steel 1, with the additional prerequisites of :
(- Coal Processing (20 RedSci) - but you should get it ASAP anyway...)
- Advanced Mechanical Refining (75 RedSci)
- Ore processing 1 (50 Red&Green Sci)
- Strand Casting 1 (50 Red&Green Sci, might also need Automation 1&2 + Electronics + Basic & "Normal" Logistics, for a total of 10+80+30+10+20 = 150 RedSci)

Also requires you to find Jivolite, which, at default settings, should NOT be in your starting area...

(And is likely to be less impactful too!)

I have to say though that I'm usually not concerned about red science. I set it up early and let it run in the background. My problem is usually that I can't get all the stuff I research into production.

I tend to play with a significant biter presence (or Sea Block), which means that I have to care about pollution and space (or just space), so I can't just scale my production at will...