Volume VII · 11 landmarks

Transportation

Water, rail, air, orbit, and the box that stitched trade together.

1. 

   c. 3500 BCEWheel and axleThe wheel is famous; the axle is the invention.

2. 

   by 3000 BCESail and hullA hull displaces water; a sail catches wind.

3. 

   984 (Pound lock, China); later EuropeCanal lockA river runs downhill.

4. 

   1807 (Clermont service)SteamshipA paddle or a screw, a boiler, a hull.

5. 

   1825 (Stockton & Darlington)Public railwayFlanged wheels on iron rails cut friction so a steam locomotive can haul what a road wagon cannot.

6. 

   1903Wright FlyerOn 17 December 1903 the Flyer stayed up for 12 seconds, then longer.

7. 

   1937 (Whittle run); 1939 (von Ohain flight)Jet engineA jet is a gas turbine that throws exhaust backward so the plane goes forward.

8. 

   1956ContainerizationMcLean’s Ideal X carried 58 truck-sized steel boxes in 1956.

9. 

   1958 (Boeing 707; Comet earlier, then grounded)Jet airlinerThe Comet flew first and suffered fatal metal fatigue.

10. 

    1995 (full operational capability)GPS as a systemA constellation of satellites broadcasts time.

11. 

    2015 (first orbital-class booster landing)Reusable orbital rocketThe Space Shuttle reused an orbiter at great cost.