In 1st century Roman Egypt, the engineer Hero of Alexandria unveiled a groundbreaking piece of technology. This startling innovation, the aeolipile, was a simple sphere that used steam to spin, a profound discovery demonstrating a new source of power. While a leap in engineering education, it failed to spark immediate economic development. The aeolipile never attracted serious business investment because the Roman economy had no market for labor-saving machines. Wealth from trade made plentiful