A closer look
The industrial revolution was delayed by about 2,000 years purely because of a lack of imagination. In the 1st century AD, Hero of Alexandria invented the aeolipile, a hollow sphere mounted on pipes that spun rapidly when steam escaped from its nozzles. It was the world's first steam engine. Instead of hooking it up to a loom, a cart, or anything actually useful, the Greeks just looked at it, decided it was a neat party trick to amuse their friends, and completely ignored its world-changing potential.
