8000 BC
8000 BC
3000 BC
3000 BC
0
0
1600
1600
1850
1850
1950
1950
Powered Motion Arrives Late
Ten millennia of moving things, read as causal lineages. Ribbon = a mode of transport; tendrils = ideas crossing between modes.
event — click for its reference
date being verified
Water
Land
Air
Heat engine
8000 BC · Pesse canoe (first boat)
8000 BC
Pesse canoe (first
boat)
3000 BC · Sail (Mesopotamia; enables Austronesian expansion)
3000 BC
Sail (Mesopotamia;
enables
Austronesian
expansion)
1571–1862 · Age of Sail
1571–1862
Age of Sail
1783 · First steamboats (Pyroscaphe 1783; Fitch 1787)
1783
First steamboats
(Pyroscaphe 1783;
Fitch 1787)
1838 · Seagoing steamships
1838
Seagoing
steamships
3500 BC · Wheel and axle
3500 BC
Wheel and axle
3500 BC · Horse domestication — muscle-power baseline the note argues we stayed coupled to
3500 BC
Horse
domestication
2000 BC · Chariot — wheel+muscle synthesis, missing link in land track
2000 BC
Chariot
550 · Land sailing, China
550
Land sailing,
China
1672 · Verbiest steam cart concept
1672
Verbiest steam
cart concept
1696 · Ozanam theorises human-powered carriages — Roots of Progress bicycle post; idea predates hardware by 120 yr
1696
Ozanam theorises
human-powered
carriages
1769 · Cugnot steam automobile
1769
Cugnot steam
automobile
1803 · Trevithick: steam carriage, then first railway locomotive (1804)
1803
Trevithick: steam
carriage, then
first railway
locomotive (1804)
1803–1950 · Steam car projects persist
1803–1950
Steam car projects
persist
1817 · Drais's Laufmaschine — needed no new tech — Roots of Progress: draisine buildable centuries earlier
1817
Drais's
Laufmaschine —
needed no new tech
1863 · Michaux boneshaker (pedals) — Roots of Progress bicycle post
1863
Michaux boneshaker
(pedals)
1885 · Internal combustion engine → mass-market cars
1885
Internal
combustion engine
→ mass-market cars
1885–1888 · Starley safety bicycle; Dunlop pneumatic tyre — Roots of Progress bicycle post; the modern bicycle
1885–1888
Starley safety
bicycle; Dunlop
pneumatic tyre
400 BC · Archytas' steam-propelled bird (reaction principle)
400 BC
Archytas'
steam-propelled
bird (reaction
principle)
400 BC · Kites (air flight principle) — note dates kites to ~4000 BC; sources say China ~500 BC — flag discrepancy
400 BC
Kites (air flight
principle)
1783 · Montgolfier balloon — first human flight, absent from note
1783
Montgolfier
balloon
1903 · Wright Flyer — closes air track
1903
Wright Flyer
50 · Hero's aeolipile (rotary steam seedling)
50
Hero's aeolipile
(rotary steam
seedling)
1712 · Newcomen engine (pumping water) — note's dangling 'first used to pump water' fragment
1712
Newcomen engine
(pumping water)
Hero's aeolipile
Cugnot's fardier, 1769
Rover, 1885
Turbinia at speed, 1897
First flight, 1903
boats sail 4,500 yr before the wheel rolls
1,660 yr from Hero's toy to a working engine
draisine to safety bicycle: 70 yr of pure iteration
8000 BC
8000 BC
3000 BC
3000 BC
0
0
1600
1600
1850
1850
1950
1950
Powered Motion Arrives Late
Ten millennia of moving things, read as causal lineages. Ribbon = a mode of transport; tendrils = ideas crossing between modes.
event — click for its reference
date being verified
Water
Land
Air
Heat engine
8000 BC · Pesse canoe (first boat)
8000 BC
Pesse canoe (first
boat)
3000 BC · Sail (Mesopotamia; enables Austronesian expansion)
3000 BC
Sail (Mesopotamia;
enables
Austronesian
expansion)
1571–1862 · Age of Sail
1571–1862
Age of Sail
1783 · First steamboats (Pyroscaphe 1783; Fitch 1787)
1783
First steamboats
(Pyroscaphe 1783;
Fitch 1787)
1838 · Seagoing steamships
1838
Seagoing
steamships
3500 BC · Wheel and axle
3500 BC
Wheel and axle
3500 BC · Horse domestication — muscle-power baseline the note argues we stayed coupled to
3500 BC
Horse
domestication
2000 BC · Chariot — wheel+muscle synthesis, missing link in land track
2000 BC
Chariot
550 · Land sailing, China
550
Land sailing,
China
1672 · Verbiest steam cart concept
1672
Verbiest steam
cart concept
1696 · Ozanam theorises human-powered carriages — Roots of Progress bicycle post; idea predates hardware by 120 yr
1696
Ozanam theorises
human-powered
carriages
1769 · Cugnot steam automobile
1769
Cugnot steam
automobile
1803 · Trevithick: steam carriage, then first railway locomotive (1804)
1803
Trevithick: steam
carriage, then
first railway
locomotive (1804)
1803–1950 · Steam car projects persist
1803–1950
Steam car projects
persist
1817 · Drais's Laufmaschine — needed no new tech — Roots of Progress: draisine buildable centuries earlier
1817
Drais's
Laufmaschine —
needed no new tech
1863 · Michaux boneshaker (pedals) — Roots of Progress bicycle post
1863
Michaux boneshaker
(pedals)
1885 · Internal combustion engine → mass-market cars
1885
Internal
combustion engine
→ mass-market cars
1885–1888 · Starley safety bicycle; Dunlop pneumatic tyre — Roots of Progress bicycle post; the modern bicycle
1885–1888
Starley safety
bicycle; Dunlop
pneumatic tyre
400 BC · Archytas' steam-propelled bird (reaction principle)
400 BC
Archytas'
steam-propelled
bird (reaction
principle)
400 BC · Kites (air flight principle) — note dates kites to ~4000 BC; sources say China ~500 BC — flag discrepancy
400 BC
Kites (air flight
principle)
1783 · Montgolfier balloon — first human flight, absent from note
1783
Montgolfier
balloon
1903 · Wright Flyer — closes air track
1903
Wright Flyer
50 · Hero's aeolipile (rotary steam seedling)
50
Hero's aeolipile
(rotary steam
seedling)
1712 · Newcomen engine (pumping water) — note's dangling 'first used to pump water' fragment
1712
Newcomen engine
(pumping water)
Hero's aeolipile
Cugnot's fardier, 1769
Rover, 1885
Turbinia at speed, 1897
First flight, 1903
boats sail 4,500 yr before the wheel rolls
1,660 yr from Hero's toy to a working engine
draisine to safety bicycle: 70 yr of pure iteration