The basic argument is that without a clear use case to overcome the version 1.0 troubles of (steam) engines, there was no incentive to work out the kinks and pumping water out of coal mines was the big "killer application" of such motors. That is, pumping water out of coal mines was the "early adopter" market for engine technology:
> As we’ll see, this was a use-case that didn’t really exist in the ancient world and indeed existed almost nowhere but Britain even in the period where it worked.
I remember reading a blog post by TechnicsHistory [0] (which was on the front page of HN at one point) that makes the same argument.
The acoup.blog article goes on to give a reason why coal wasn't needed earlier as the need for heating fuel became scarce when wood became scarce:
> Consequently wood as a heat fuel was scarce and so beginning in the 16th century we see a marked shift over to coal as a heating fuel for things like cooking and home heating.
I'm still skeptical of why it took so long. Were there no other places in Europe, Asia or the Middle East that didn't have the same deforestation issues? Was it the combination of deforestation and population density?
[0] https://technicshistory.com/2021/07/13/the-triumvirate-coal-...
> As we’ll see, this was a use-case that didn’t really exist in the ancient world and indeed existed almost nowhere but Britain even in the period where it worked.
I remember reading a blog post by TechnicsHistory [0] (which was on the front page of HN at one point) that makes the same argument.
The acoup.blog article goes on to give a reason why coal wasn't needed earlier as the need for heating fuel became scarce when wood became scarce:
> Consequently wood as a heat fuel was scarce and so beginning in the 16th century we see a marked shift over to coal as a heating fuel for things like cooking and home heating.
I'm still skeptical of why it took so long. Were there no other places in Europe, Asia or the Middle East that didn't have the same deforestation issues? Was it the combination of deforestation and population density?
[0] https://technicshistory.com/2021/07/13/the-triumvirate-coal-...