[ExI] Guns caused UK Industrial Revolution
Henrique Moraes Mechado (CI)
cetico.iconoclasta at gmail.com
Mon May 7 20:15:58 UTC 2018
> The Romans were great at construction, but they did a lot more than that.
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_technology>
>
> Much of their tech was forgotten when the Empire collapsed and had to
> be re-invented centuries later.
> (They also used the coalfields in England!).
>
> BillK
>
Yes, I know that. But I agree with the topic. The romans didn't have
gunpowder and so didn't have a huge need to make canons. They didn't
have much need for coal then (as compared to those who need to cast
large iron things) and therefore didn't need to invent a steam engine to
pump water out of coal mines. Also they didn't need to iron clad
warships against canon fire, since there was no canon fire and so, no
need to industrial scale iron/steel production
They also had good (ish) roads to transport stuff and so didn't have to
build canals and later train tracks. They built bridges with stone and
concrete, so they didn't need to to cast huge iron things to build iron
bridges.
And they also had slaves. They didn't have the need to mechanize things
(just apply more slaves and it's ok)
They didn't have the need to export anything (like cotton cloth for
instance) and therefore didn't need industrial scale mechanized looms
(apply more slaves)
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