What if Greeks Started the Industrial Revolution 18 Centuries Earlier?

The first steam engine was invented by the Greek mathematician Heron from Alexandria, Roman Egypt in the 1st century but the Industrial Revolution happened in the late 19th century when steam engines replaced water and wind power.

What if Greeks started the Industrial Revolution 18 centuries earlier?

Answer in the comments below. 

3 thoughts on “What if Greeks Started the Industrial Revolution 18 Centuries Earlier?”

  1. Georgios Maragkopoulos

    Technology exists in a virtuous circle with science. The better equipment we have the better research we can do, and thus research contributes into improving our technology.

    One very significant factor in technology and in science is materials science. Even if heron had designed a very basic steam engine the materials that existed at that time could not support the use of such a technological advancement.

    Also the era eas wrong. Someone said that we are eighteen centuries behind than we should be. The reason for that is religion in the way it interferes with the advancement of knowledge.

    There are other reasons too. The first industrial revolution occured because we were able to produce items in mass scale. For this to be achieved you need large population. The population of of the first century AD was a mere fraction of the population in the 18th century.

    There os also the case of scale. The british empire of the 18th century was much bigger than the roman empire of the 1st century AD. It had access to vast resources from all over the globe.

    Also in the 18th century trade was much better developed than the 1st century. Produced goods were sold sll around the globe.

    In short, the first industrial revolution was not a matter of one invention. It was a combination of science, skilled personnel, developed trade, developed economy, access to resources and many other issues.

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