Horizon - man and science today

The wheel was one idea nature did without. The American and African continents managed without it until a few hundred years ago, and nobody had one at all until about 3000 B.C. But the whole of our civilisation could be seen as a pattern imposed by the wheel.
The ancient and the modern wheel are equally rich in their associations: the graceful wheels of the Egyptian chariot, the iron wheels of a cathedral clock, the great spokes of the water-wheel, the gleaming precision of industrial gears or of a gas turbine all reflect the mysterious qualities the wheel possesses.
As an idea, the wheel is eternally full of surprises. 'Maybe', says one eminently practical engineer 'the wheel was the apple in the Garden of Eden that we weren't supposed to know about.' Maybe. What is certain is the fantastic variety that came out of one simple idea that changed history.

(Colour)