Why weren’t bicycles invented sooner? “Why was no one…even considering the question of human-powered vehicles until the 1400s? Why weren’t there bicycle mechanics in the 1300s, when there were clockmakers, or at least by the 1500s, when we had watches?”
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Comments 3
This exact question is addressed in qnmt's There is No Antimemetics Division. An interesting book that ends up be too clever by half in my opinion and ends up undermining the entire premise of the book.
Bikes seem to coincide with relatively more egalitarian conditions. Was a major driver less economic inequality/a rising middle class?
Two Wheels Good by Jody Rosen covers some of this history as well. Goes above and beyond and is worth a read for anyone interested in bicycles and the culture(s) of their adherents.
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