Why the Industrial Revolution Didn’t Happen in China
Worth asking: why didn&#x27;t the Industrial Revolution happen in the Roman Empire?<p>Technologically, the Empire was close in one key way.  They had weapons factories turning out steel weapons.  They knew steel, and could make it is small quantities. But they never advanced to the Bessemer converter, which made steel in bulk, fast and cheaply.[1]  This invention was surprisingly late; it was invented around 1855 and didn&#x27;t work right for another 20 years.  Yet it&#x27;s not complicated, just non-obvious. The Romans could have built and used a Bessemer converter.<p>With steel, running carts on rails would have been an obvious next step, what with all the heavy stuff needed in steelmaking.  With coal and furnaces and steel, someone would have figured out steam power.  Railway mania could have happened in 100AD.<p>There may have been something like the Bessemer process in 11th century China, but it didn&#x27;t result in volume production.<p>The Romans never invented the concept of the corporation.  They never developed common carriers or a commercial mail system. There was a huge empire, rich individuals, and guilds, but few if any inter-city operating organizations.  So there was nothing in being ready and able to exploit new technology.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Bessemer_process" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Bessemer_process</a>