I remember reading somewhere that the real innovation wasn’t the wheel so much as it was the wheel and axle, first seen in 3500 BCE around Sumeria but it wasn’t designed for heavy loads like large stones until around the Roman era. It was mainly two-wheel chariots and agricultural stuff for the longest time.
Technology usually evolves like this. Someone makes the initial leap and then the art is refined iteratively or when some other breakthrough becomes an enabler. I was recently reminded of the power of the wheel when moving a 400kg machine tool. It took six men to lift it but I could move it on my own using a broom handle.
I remember reading somewhere that the real innovation wasn’t the wheel so much as it was the wheel and axle, first seen in 3500 BCE around Sumeria but it wasn’t designed for heavy loads like large stones until around the Roman era. It was mainly two-wheel chariots and agricultural stuff for the longest time.
Technology usually evolves like this. Someone makes the initial leap and then the art is refined iteratively or when some other breakthrough becomes an enabler. I was recently reminded of the power of the wheel when moving a 400kg machine tool. It took six men to lift it but I could move it on my own using a broom handle.