{"title":"利用计算结构分析和设计重建车轮的发明。","authors":"Lee R Alacoque, Richard W Bulliet, Kai A James","doi":"10.1098/rsos.240373","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The invention of the wheel is widely credited as a pivotal moment in human history, yet the details surrounding its discovery are shrouded in mystery. There remains no scholarly consensus on key questions such as where, how and by whom this technology was originally invented. In this study, we employ state-of-the-art techniques from computational structural mechanics to shed light on this long-standing puzzle. Based on this analysis, we propose a probable path along which the wheel evolved via a sequence of three major innovations. We also introduce an original computational design algorithm that autonomously generates a wheel-and-axle system using an evolutionary process that offers insight into the way in which the first wheels likely evolved nearly 6000 years ago. Our analysis provides new supporting evidence for the recently advanced theory that the wheel was invented by Neolithic miners harvesting copper ore from the Carpathian Mountains as early as 3900 BC. Moreover, we show how the discovery of the wheel was made possible by the unique physical features of the mine environment, whose impact was analogous to the selective environmental pressures that drive biological evolution.</p>","PeriodicalId":21525,"journal":{"name":"Royal Society Open Science","volume":"11 10","pages":"240373"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11529624/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Reconstructing the invention of the wheel using computational structural analysis and design.\",\"authors\":\"Lee R Alacoque, Richard W Bulliet, Kai A James\",\"doi\":\"10.1098/rsos.240373\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<p><p>The invention of the wheel is widely credited as a pivotal moment in human history, yet the details surrounding its discovery are shrouded in mystery. There remains no scholarly consensus on key questions such as where, how and by whom this technology was originally invented. In this study, we employ state-of-the-art techniques from computational structural mechanics to shed light on this long-standing puzzle. Based on this analysis, we propose a probable path along which the wheel evolved via a sequence of three major innovations. We also introduce an original computational design algorithm that autonomously generates a wheel-and-axle system using an evolutionary process that offers insight into the way in which the first wheels likely evolved nearly 6000 years ago. Our analysis provides new supporting evidence for the recently advanced theory that the wheel was invented by Neolithic miners harvesting copper ore from the Carpathian Mountains as early as 3900 BC. Moreover, we show how the discovery of the wheel was made possible by the unique physical features of the mine environment, whose impact was analogous to the selective environmental pressures that drive biological evolution.</p>\",\"PeriodicalId\":21525,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Royal Society Open Science\",\"volume\":\"11 10\",\"pages\":\"240373\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":2.9000,\"publicationDate\":\"2024-10-23\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11529624/pdf/\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Royal Society Open Science\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"103\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.240373\",\"RegionNum\":3,\"RegionCategory\":\"综合性期刊\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"2024/10/1 0:00:00\",\"PubModel\":\"eCollection\",\"JCR\":\"Q1\",\"JCRName\":\"MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Royal Society Open Science","FirstCategoryId":"103","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.240373","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/10/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
Reconstructing the invention of the wheel using computational structural analysis and design.
The invention of the wheel is widely credited as a pivotal moment in human history, yet the details surrounding its discovery are shrouded in mystery. There remains no scholarly consensus on key questions such as where, how and by whom this technology was originally invented. In this study, we employ state-of-the-art techniques from computational structural mechanics to shed light on this long-standing puzzle. Based on this analysis, we propose a probable path along which the wheel evolved via a sequence of three major innovations. We also introduce an original computational design algorithm that autonomously generates a wheel-and-axle system using an evolutionary process that offers insight into the way in which the first wheels likely evolved nearly 6000 years ago. Our analysis provides new supporting evidence for the recently advanced theory that the wheel was invented by Neolithic miners harvesting copper ore from the Carpathian Mountains as early as 3900 BC. Moreover, we show how the discovery of the wheel was made possible by the unique physical features of the mine environment, whose impact was analogous to the selective environmental pressures that drive biological evolution.
期刊介绍:
Royal Society Open Science is a new open journal publishing high-quality original research across the entire range of science on the basis of objective peer-review.
The journal covers the entire range of science and mathematics and will allow the Society to publish all the high-quality work it receives without the usual restrictions on scope, length or impact.