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On the other hand, you should consider how steam engine development was prevented in Ancient Greece because of the abundance of slaves. Imagine the world we'd b
by pilsetnieks 14y ago
On the other hand, you should consider how steam engine development was prevented in Ancient Greece because of the abundance of slaves. Imagine the world we'd be living in if that didn't happen.
- meric 14y agoThe Industrial Revolution didn't happen in China in the 19th century because of the abundance of cheap labor... http://www.voxeu.org/article/why-china-missed-industrial-revolution http://www.voxeu.org/article/why-china-missed-industrial-rev... "Whereas entrepreneurs in Europe were very eager to develop new technologies that increased labour productivity via the capital-labour ratio, Chinese businesses barely had any incentive to do so. "
- VLM 14y agoNot much worth digging up in flooded mines in Greece. On the other hand England had intense demand for coal and tin and such long before they had steam engines. Early steam engines were not terribly powerful and not terribly efficient compared to a miner water bucket brigade, but they were incredibly volume efficient "down hole" and if you're a mining company your coal is "free" unlike trying to use draft horses which require food and more people than the steamie required. Volume efficiency is important before dynamite theres no really easy way to make holes (and even after dynamite, that stuff isn't cheap, Nobel got his prize money selling it you know) so making all mine holes twice as big to hold a bucket brigade isn't going to happen.