Why did the peoples of the New World fail to invent the wheel?
Dear Cecil: Answer this one. We’re always fascinated by reports of ancient cultures like the Incas who performed great feats of civilization despite the fact the wheel was unknown to them. How could a halfway with-it civilization not invent the wheel? Rocks roll. Lightning knocks down trees and the trunks roll. Skulls roll. It must have been the axle, specifically, that they didn’t invent, but it shouldn’t take Isaac Newton to think of an axle. Was there some cultural commitment to dragging litters and hoisting loads on beasts of burden (and slaves) that inoculated these civilizations against the concept of wheels? — Eddie Yuhas and Al Brazle, Chicago Cecil replies: Yuhas and Brazle, huh? Boy, we don’t get too many retired Cardinals pitchers writing in to the Straight Dope. Glad to see you guys are still keeping your minds occupied. Now, then: let’s not be too critical of the Incas. First of all, we note a peculiar pattern here. It wasn’t just the Incas who failed to invent the wheel;
