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> Romans could have invented steam engines if they wanted to. They did not have the precursors to it, such as a lathe. Steam engine technology evolved out of c
by WalterBright 1y ago
> Romans could have invented steam engines if they wanted to.
They did not have the precursors to it, such as a lathe. Steam engine technology evolved out of cannon technology, which was developing for centuries before the steam engine. (The lathe also came about from cannon improvements.)
- wqaatwt 1y agoYou also needed cheap fuel and relatively expensive labour to make it feasible. Early engines were used to pump water out of coal mines because they were very inefficient and transportation was very expensive. Of course Romans actually had coal mines in Britain and the Rhineland so it wouldn’t have been entirely fat fetched.
- WalterBright 1y agoMost major inventions need a lot of available precursor technology, so it's actually kinda hard to think of things the Romans could have done if they only knew. I keep thinking of a primitive printing press, but the Romans didn't have paper, either. Paper didn't appear in Europe before 1000 AD.
- UncleSlacky 1y agoThey had papyrus, though.
- WalterBright 1y agoNot really. They imported it, and never figured out how to make it. The papyrus plant would only grow in Egypt. Papyrus was also inferior to paper in that it tended to come apart when wet, or would just come apart.
- LtWorf 1y agoPapyrus grows fine in sicily (I have a lot in the garden, besides some water it doesn't really need any special care). Besides egypt was roman so…
- wqaatwt 1y agoPapyrus is also not a very good material for writing outside of arid areas compared to paper and especially parchment. Unless kept in very good condition scrolls might last only a few decades. As far as we can tell many ancient texts were lost well before the Roman Empire declined because they weren’t popular enough for anyone to bother copying them.
- Ekaros 1y agoActually it seems textile printing does have contemporary history. And maybe even older one. So jump from there to other materials might not be impossible.
- idkfasayer 1y agoThe only reason the Romans could not have invented the steam engine was that the Greeks already did before them: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeolipile https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeolipile They had a Lathe too.
- mk89 1y agoIncredible. I found this video that shows how the Aelopile works: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/trUtLLu_Ono https://www.youtube.com/shorts/trUtLLu_Ono What an awesome invention!!!
- WalterBright 1y agoIt was a one off that never progressed beyond a toy, then or since.
- WalterBright 1y agoI didn't know the Romans had the lathe. Thanks for the correction. But they did not have a metal lathe, which is substantially more sophisticated. Invention of the metal lathe is credited to Henry Maudslay around 1800. While steam engines with pistons existed before, the poor sealing because of inaccurate bores and pistons, made them not very efficient.