Technology is evolving more rapidly than at any point in history. We tend to think of seminal moments in history, such as the inventions of the steam engine or powered flight, as literal moments in time.

The reality is that the invention of the steamboat by Robert Fulton was only possible because of a long sequence of successive inventions on which he was able to capitalize to change the world. If the ability to cast and temper iron had not been improved over the ages, Fulton could not have repurposed the concept used to pump water and compress air into the piston, cylinder, and crankshaft. Fulton’s brilliance was harnessing known physical laws to use steam to develop and transfer energy into work.

The steam engine appears with a specific date for its invention on those illustrated timelines so fondly recalled in high school history books. Depending on your perspective, it could very well look more like a Gantt chart, starting with man’s development of fire.

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