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Title details for The Wheel by Richard W. Bulliet - Available

The Wheel

Inventions and Reinventions

by Richard W. Bulliet
ebook
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In this book, Richard W. Bulliet focuses on three major phases in the evolution of the wheel and their relationship to the needs and ambitions of human society. He begins in 4000 B.C.E. with the first wheels affixed to axles. He then follows with the innovation of wheels turning independently on their axles and concludes five thousand years later with the caster, a single rotating and pivoting wheel.
Bulliet's most interesting finding is that a simple desire to move things from place to place did not drive the wheel's development. If that were the case, the wheel could have been invented at any time almost anywhere in the world. By dividing the history of this technology into three conceptual phases and focusing on the specific men, women, and societies that brought it about, Bulliet expands the social, economic, and political significance of a tool we only partially understand. He underscores the role of gender, combat, and competition in the design and manufacture of wheels, adding vivid imagery to illustrate each stage of their development.

  • Creators

  • Series

    Columbia Studies in International and Global History

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    January 19, 2016

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780231540612
      • File size: 24536 KB

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780231540612
      • File size: 24536 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      Starred review from February 1, 2016

      This concise and well-executed work is technology history at its best. Bulliet (history, Columbia Univ.; Hunters, Herders, and Hamburgers) firmly anchors the developments and adaptations of wheels within the social and cultural contexts that give technologies their meaning. Using scant but convincing evidence, the author also presents a novel hypothesis on the origin of the wheel: it first arose in ancient Carpathian copper mines (4000 BCE), he says, and not in Mesopotamia as traditionally believed. While the material here is generally accessible, it has hints of academic style and structure, particularly in its approach to contrary arguments. Nonetheless, the work flows smoothly, is copiously illustrated, and contains riveting details on objects, events, and ideas including the mobile homes of nomads on the Eurasian Steppe (3000 BCE); the sudden reversal in European chauvinist attitudes toward carriage use and design following the rise of Hungary's warrior king, Matthias Corvinus (15th century CE); and competing Eastern and Western attitudes regarding human-powered vehicles (rickshaws). VERDICT Simply excellent, this work will appeal not just to history readers but also to those interested in the social and cultural developments that both fuel and are fueled by technical changes.--Evan M. Anderson, Kirkendall P.L., Ankeny, IA

      Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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