It is believed that the wheel was invented by Homo sapiens from Mesopotamia around 3500 BC. The first wheel was used for pottery, not transportation. A bullock cart was the first wheeled vehicle. Then came war chariots, and then came four-wheeled carts made by the gods. Around 2000 BC, the spoke wheel was invented. This significantly reduced the wheel’s weight.
Because the invention of the wheel has been one of humanity’s greatest blessings, it is often called the “marker of innovation.” It can be found in nearly all modern modes of transportation, including basic carts, bikes, cars, trucks, trams, and trains, as well as on motorcycles and other motor vehicles.
Because of the wheel, we can travel long distances quickly and have made the ‘world as one global village’ philosophy a reality. But have you ever wondered how this “hallmark innovation” came to be?
Natural Inspiration is in short supply
If you look carefully at the history of humanity, you will see that many inventions were inspired by nature. The pitchfork was an example of this. It was inspired by wild forked sticks. The muse behind the invention of the airplane was also gliding birds.
It took man so long to create the wheel because there wasn’t an organic example of it in nature. However, the work of naturalists like Michael LaBarbera at the University of Chicago suggests that tumbleweeds, bacterial flagella, and dung beetles are close. These “wheeled organisms” are sometimes called by biologists, but this is a loose term. They roll for locomotion, but they don’t always look perfectly spherical.
The Invention of the First Wheel
Although wheels made it easier to transport heavy loads over long distances, the task of lifting them was still difficult. Later, he started to tame animals like horses, donkeys, donkeys, and oxen and used them to carry the loads. Slowly, men began to carry loads using wood planks and animals to help them.
One of the wise Homo Sapiens living in Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq) had been thinking for a while. He took a piece of a tree trunk and cut it into a disc. The result was the wheel, undoubtedly the most important invention in human history. However, the wheel he created was not for transport but rather for pottery.
The Wheel as a Vehicle
After using the wheel briefly for pottery, someone decided to make a cart with two wheels. This was made from the trunk and wood of a tree. An axle was attached to a platform of wooden boards. This was the first known crude cart. This cart had both wheels and an axle that could move. Next, attach the axle to your vehicle and let the wheels spin. Bullock carts, war carts, and four-wheeled wagons of the gods were the first wheeled vehicles. The spoke wheel, which significantly reduced the wheel’s weight, was eventually invented around 2000 BC.
Catherine Wheel – Wheel Of Death
The wheel is often credited with much of the progress made in modern times, but it has also been a source of death for many. In fact, “breaking on the wheel” was considered a form of capital punishment in the Middle Ages.
The victim would be strung across the wheel’s face and then beaten to death with a hammer by an iron-rimmed wheel. One variation was that of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, who was tied around the wheel’s rim and then rolled on the ground. This happened in the fourth century. According to legends, the wheel broke ‘divinely,’ and Saint Catherine was able to escape. Since then, the wheel that broke has been called a Catherine Wheel.
Wheels for Perpetual Machines
Scientists, mathematicians, and tinkerers, as well as philosophers, have been trying to create perpetual motion for centuries. This is a device that, once it’s set in motion, will continue in motion forever, producing more energy than it uses. This machine was designed using a wheel, which is one of the most simple methods to create it.
Watermill wheels are an example of such machines that use weight changes to rotate perpetually. No matter the design philosophy, perpetual motion machines do not conform to the first and second laws. These laws state that energy can’t be destroyed or created and that some energy is lost when heat is converted into work. The US Patent Office has thrown out many patents for perpetual motion machines based on wheels because the inventors could not produce working models.