Was it a lack of manpower? Was it geographic circumstances? Why couldn’t civilizations like, say, Babylon or Rome have an Industrial Revolution?
In: 448
There really are A LOT of things. One that other responses have ignored is ‘general peace’ along with a standing army.
I know you are thinking ‘but it wasn’t peaceful’ …you are right in relation to modern times. But up until then there was basically endless war and drafts. If there is an ongoing war that may directly hurt the homeland that brilliant inventor isn’t going to be allowed to focus on germ theory or whatever he MUST be aiding the war effort. Weapons that fire further, metal that is more durable etc. (yes I know germ theory would help but…they didn’t at the time and there wouldn’t be time to test it).
Somewhere like mainland europe where the duchy of blah is having a fight with the duchy of whatever doesn’t have time to devote to thinking/inventing. Both sides are stockpiling arms and people are spending time training in case the other side attacks. Even if they aren’t actively at war it is better to be prepared in case some nobleman grabs the wrong fork at dinner and triggers a war (which sounds like a joke but…the war of the bucket is a thing that cost so many lives it would make romeo and juliet seem like a relaxing night in)
I’ll ignore other major things that people have touched on and close with ‘things build on each other rapidly’ keep in mind right now if you (OP or anyone else) was transported back to 1700 you’d likely be hanged as a witch entirely because of your ‘common knowledge’ today
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