Its History...

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.

     

      DISK DRIVE

HORSE CARRIAGE

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.

 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

Moderns Wheels...

WHY IS THE INVENTION OF THE WHEEL SO IMPORTANT??

The invention of the wheel is probably the most 

important invention of all time. Without the wheel,the 

world simply wouldn't exist as we know it. The 

invention of the wheel was at the root of the 

Industrial Revolution, although it would take a long 

time to get there.

The wheel is at least part of the concept in most 

modern inventions. There are many modern 

inventions that came into fruition with help from the 

ingenious wheel. Without the wheel, there would be 

no automobiles, no airplanes, no space launches, 

and no turbine engines.

The invention of the wheel helped bring about the 

Industrial Revolution. Because of the wheel's 

invention, steam engines, railroads, and factories 

were able to be built. If the inventor of the wheel were

 alive today, he or she would receive a Nobel Prize.