Ancient Greece just missed the Industrial Revolution.

[fizzy]

I know I have posted about this before. Clickspring is building an amazing reconstruction but forget about the mechanics of it. The maths and science behind it is even more incredible.
Funny to think one of the main gears is 127T - familiar to most Colchester owners

 

[fizzy]

 

[Farside]

Off the top of my head, I suppose a reason Greece missed out on 2000 years of stonking advancement was their proximity to absolute bastids of neighbours who couldn't leave things alone.
The Industrial Revolution in Britain happened during a period of stable power and freedom from outside negativity.
The system of payments had a lot to do with it, of course.

 

[MetalMonkey]

Perhaps one thing to take away from this is just how fragile society and technological advancement is - that it could be set back two millennia in a blink of an eye.

I think it is easy to make an unconscious assumption technology will always progress, and historically, that hasn't always happened. Sometimes it regresses.
I can’t help pondering if we haven’t seen a little bit of that over the last hundred years or so – with some of the skills and knowledge that has been lost to time.
Considering some of the intricate and complex engineering that has been made obsolete with a few simple circuits. Might future generations look back in similar wonderment?

 

[northwest]

I think it is easy to make an unconscious assumption technology will always progress, and historically, that hasn't always happened. Sometimes it regresses.
I can’t help pondering if we haven’t seen a little bit of that over the last hundred years or so

The one that springs immediately to mind is the loss of Concord and with it, Supersonic flight. The first step in a regression in Transport.

 

[mike os]

Took 1500 years to get fresh water and heating back after the romans left….