3 ms·
Why did we wait so long for the elevator? Circular dependency and incentive. Combining a ratchet with a pulley is incredibly simple and both have been around si
by peterwwillis 7y ago
Why did we wait so long for the elevator? Circular dependency and incentive. Combining a ratchet with a pulley is incredibly simple and both have been around since the ancient Greeks. But with a few exceptions, it didn't make sense to build buildings big enough to need elevators. I mean, how would you get up and down the buildings? Answer: an elevator... but it didn't exist yet... hence, nobody could imagine how to get up and down tall buildings efficiently. That, and steel-framed buildings that could support themselves over 10 or so floors didn't come into vogue until after the renaissance.
- wmf 7y agoAnd there wasn't enough water pressure for the upper floors.
- iguy 7y agoThere's about five centuries in there between the renaissance and steel-framed buildings! But of course cranes existed (on building sites, and in factories) since approximately the day after we invented the rope. But an elevator safe and reliable enough to make rich people buy an apartment above the 2nd floor? And cities dense enough that they were tempted to do so? Those took longer.