The wheel is probably the most impo

The wheel is probably the most important mechanical invention of all time. Nearly every machine built since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution involves a single, basic principle embodied in one of mankind’s truly significant inventions. It’s hard to imagine any mechanized system that would be possible without the wheel or the idea of a symmetrical component moving in a circular motion on an axis. From tiny watch gears to automobiles, jet engines and computer disk drives, the principle is the same.Photo courtesy www.ohm.com

Based on diagrams on ancient clay tablets, the earliest known use of this essential invention was a potter’s wheel that was used at Ur in Mesopotamia (part of modern day Iraq} as early as 3500 BC. The first use of the wheel for transportation was probably on Mesopotamian chariots in 3200 BC. It is interesting to note that wheels may have had industrial or manufacturing applications before they were used on vehicles.
A wheel with spokes first appeared on Egyptian chariots around 2000 BC, and wheels seem to have developed in Europe by 1400 BC without any influence from the Middle East. Because the idea of the wheel appears so simple, it’s easy to assume that the wheel would have simply "happened" in every culture when it reached a particular level of sophistication. However, this is not the case. The great Inca, Aztec and Maya civilizations reached an extremely high level of development, yet they never used the wheel. In fact, there is no evidence that the use of the wheel existed among native people anywhere in the Western Hemisphere until well after contact with Europeans.
Even in Europe, the wheel evolved little until the beginning of the nineteenth century. However, with the coming of the Industrial Revolution the wheel became the central component of technology, and came to be used in thousands of ways in countless different mechanisms.

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The wheel is probably the most important mechanical invention of all time. Nearly every machine built since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution involves a single, basic principle embodied in one of mankind’s truly significant inventions. It’s hard to imagine any mechanized system that would be possible without the wheel or the idea of a symmetrical component moving in a circular motion on an axis. From tiny watch gears to automobiles, jet engines and computer disk drives, the principle is the same.Photo courtesy www.ohm.comBased on diagrams on ancient clay tablets, the earliest known use of this essential invention was a potter’s wheel that was used at Ur in Mesopotamia (part of modern day Iraq} as early as 3500 BC. The first use of the wheel for transportation was probably on Mesopotamian chariots in 3200 BC. It is interesting to note that wheels may have had industrial or manufacturing applications before they were used on vehicles.Uma roda com raios apareceu pela primeira vez nas carruagens egípcias por volta de 2000 A.C., e as rodas parecem ter desenvolvido na Europa por volta de 1400 A.C. sem qualquer influência do Oriente Médio. Porque a ideia da roda parece tão simples, é fácil supor que a roda simplesmente "aconteceria" em todas as culturas ao alcançar um determinado nível de sofisticação. No entanto, isto não é o caso. As grandes civilizações Inca, asteca e maias atingiram um nível extremamente alto de desenvolvimento, no entanto, eles nunca usaram a roda. Na verdade, não há nenhuma evidência que o uso da roda existia entre os povos nativos em todo o hemisfério ocidental até bem depois de contato com os europeus.Mesmo na Europa, a roda evoluiu pouco até o início do século XIX. No entanto, com a chegada da Revolução Industrial a roda tornou-se o componente central de tecnologia e passou a ser utilizado em milhares de maneiras incontáveis mecanismos diferentes.