For today’s lesson, let’s turn to Wikipedia for some information on the wheel:
The wheel is a device that enables efficient movement of an object across a surface where there is a force pressing the object to the surface. Common examples are a cart pulled by a horse, and the rollers on an aircraft flap mechanism.
I feel newly enlightened! But could we suppose for just a moment that if I’m researching the wheel on Wikipedia I am not already intimately familiar with an aircraft flap mechanism’s roller assembly?
Outside the movies and your basic harvest festivals, the flap is actually a more common example than the cart pulled by a horse.
Walking is also an efficient way to move things. In fact, the wheel is kinda inefficient without roads and draft animals — factors, no doubt, in its absence from many civilizations.
And the wheel is not the only device that fits that description. What about hover boards, as in “Back to the Future, Part II” or similar technology used in “Futurama”?
Epic fail by Wikipedia.