Hero,a greek living in Alexandria invented the steam machine in the antiquity,however it wasn' t used.Imagine if it were.
Read it on fsmitha.

Oh, it was used. Very often even. :p

But not as a machine, more as a toy.
The Greek did not see the tremendous power and overwhelming possibilities when utilitizing this new tool. But they thought it was funny and interesting, that´s why Hero made miniature toys based on that principle. :lol:

On the other hand they probably wouldn´t have had too much advancement, most of the required peripheral devices and other equipment was not available. At least not to use it as a real industrial machine. No steel, no large amounts of coal, no mechanical coupling, etc...
:D

Sad. Had the Industrial Revolution taken place 2000 yrs earlier, we could have reached the stars by now.

Or destroy ourselves.

More probably destroyed ourselves...

Imagine the crusaders armed with nukes...;)

QUOTE -

"But not as a machine, more as a toy.
The Greek did not see the tremendous power and overwhelming possibilities when utilitizing this new tool."

Also, they did not need to spend huge amounts of money developing labour saving devices when they had such a large pool of slave labour available.

There is really good book on this subject that I have at home - "Engineering in the Ancient World" - it details lots of different inventions you would never have thought existed way back then.

Damien - I'm at work now but if you want more details (author, publisher etc) I can get them for you - let me know :)

The Romans used a steam harnessing device in their baths.

The Greeks didn't use it as a tool because they felt it was pointless when they had slaves, as Rodgers said.

Imagine the crusaders armed with nukes... I doubt it. Maybe Rifles and trains, but no nukes. To develop nukes anyway you have to have the maturity and the respect for them that comes from developing them, i doubt they would have used them as much as you seem to think they would.

Originally posted by SKILORD
I doubt it. Maybe Rifles and trains, but no nukes. To develop nukes anyway you have to have the maturity and the respect for them that comes from developing them, i doubt they would have used them as much as you seem to think they would. Just curious, on what basis do you claim that you'll need to have 'maturity' and 'respect' before you can develop nukes?

In the hands of religious personages and forces, who knows? My feel would be they'd be fanatical enough to use them on their holy enemies. Speaking for both sides.

in retrospect......

i'm editing my post.