I agree with this, in part.
However, the right circumstances are just as important as the individual. And usually it is not a lone individual but a group or a team. Hero, in Alexandria, did not have coal mines and iron ore to kick start a steam engine revolution. Neither did he have much incentive in a slave society. The first team eng…
However, the right circumstances are just as important as the individual. And usually it is not a lone individual but a group or a team. Hero, in Alexandria, did not have coal mines and iron ore to kick start a steam engine revolution. Neither did he have much incentive in a slave society. The first team engines (made by Thomas Newcomen in the early XVII century) were used in coal mines to pump water, because of the scarcity of firewood at the time. Then James Watt perfected Newcomen´s design and the abundance of coal made iron smelting more economical, iron was used for making better and cheaper steam engines, thus starting a feedback cycle in which many others participated. The cylinder boring machines invented by John Wilkinson are a case in point, they made a tight fitting of the cylinder and piston, less steam was lost and the eficency increased. A relatively small detail, but non trivial to develop.
Leonardo is a case of technology not being ripe enough for an inventors imagination. Until the internal combustion engine was developed and made light enough, Leonardo´s designs for flying machines were just dreams. When the gasoline engine did arrive, both the Wright brothers and
Alberto Santos Dumont independently built airplanes that flew.
The place and time have to be right (or wrong, as one could argue in the case of Hitler or Genghis Khan).
I agree with this, in part.
However, the right circumstances are just as important as the individual. And usually it is not a lone individual but a group or a team. Hero, in Alexandria, did not have coal mines and iron ore to kick start a steam engine revolution. Neither did he have much incentive in a slave society. The first team engines (made by Thomas Newcomen in the early XVII century) were used in coal mines to pump water, because of the scarcity of firewood at the time. Then James Watt perfected Newcomen´s design and the abundance of coal made iron smelting more economical, iron was used for making better and cheaper steam engines, thus starting a feedback cycle in which many others participated. The cylinder boring machines invented by John Wilkinson are a case in point, they made a tight fitting of the cylinder and piston, less steam was lost and the eficency increased. A relatively small detail, but non trivial to develop.
Leonardo is a case of technology not being ripe enough for an inventors imagination. Until the internal combustion engine was developed and made light enough, Leonardo´s designs for flying machines were just dreams. When the gasoline engine did arrive, both the Wright brothers and
Alberto Santos Dumont independently built airplanes that flew.
The place and time have to be right (or wrong, as one could argue in the case of Hitler or Genghis Khan).
That is exactly my point. Thank you, I agree!