A story of the birth of the simplest yet essential and popular machines known to man.

This talk is part of the Cambridge Festival of Cycling. It will cover the development of the bicycle in an informal and relaxed way and build a picture of the world into which it had been born, the Victorian Age and Industrial Revolution and on into the 21st century.

Imagine a world without a wheel. Around 3500BC the potters of Mesopotamia started using a simple turntable. They had created a wheel. Men and women used wheels in pairs, threes, fours and fives but not until 1790 was a machine created with two wheels which they could sit astride and move using their legs. The bicycle had arrived. It took another 30 years for it to be fitted with steering! The addition of pedals took another 10 years!

Free.