The Wheel

Starred review from February 1, 2016

This concise and well-executed work is technology history at its best. Bulliet (history, Columbia Univ.; Hunters, Herders, and Hamburgers) firmly anchors the developments and adaptations of wheels within the social and cultural contexts that give technologies their meaning. Using scant but convincing evidence, the author also presents a novel hypothesis on the origin of the wheel: it first arose in ancient Carpathian copper mines (4000 BCE), he says, and not in Mesopotamia as traditionally believed. While the material here is generally accessible, it has hints of academic style and structure, particularly in its approach to contrary arguments. Nonetheless, the work flows smoothly, is copiously illustrated, and contains riveting details on objects, events, and ideas including the mobile homes of nomads on the Eurasian Steppe (3000 BCE); the sudden reversal in European chauvinist attitudes toward carriage use and design following the rise of Hungary's warrior king, Matthias Corvinus (15th century CE); and competing Eastern and Western attitudes regarding human-powered vehicles (rickshaws). VERDICT Simply excellent, this work will appeal not just to history readers but also to those interested in the social and cultural developments that both fuel and are fueled by technical changes.--Evan M. Anderson, Kirkendall P.L., Ankeny, IA

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