A wheel spinning on an axle seems a simple device, yet it is probably one of the most sophisticated inventions ever wrought. It was a brilliant and completely revolutionary idea. Almost every invention duplicates some function of process that happens in nature. Our eyes contain lenses and movable irises, and are in effect a sort of camera. Levers and pivots exist in our bodies. The intricate plumbing system through which our blood flows is controlled by valves and powered by a strong pump, the heart. But nowhere in the universe, as far as we know, is there a wheel that spins freely on an axle. This is a device that man invented. It is his mechanical contribution to the universe, a concept that did not exist until he made his appearance. It may well be that the wheel will remain man’s only original invention, the one device that does not duplicate some thing in nature.
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