Springs

The invention of the wheel for transport (and many other applications) is considered to be one of the major advances of mankind, but another less-praised, technical innovation, followed the development of devices employed to alleviate the discomfort of travelling on unmade or rutted roads.

Using the fact that the elasticity inherent in most materials, allows them to absorb energy by distorting or deflecting when under load and then, to return to their original shape after the load has moderated (or has been removed), early springs consisted of flat (and curved) sections of wood (and later, metal) to which were attached the carriages of the respective eras.

The dawning of The Industrial Revolution led to the mechanisation of practically every facet of civilised life, from the production of food and textiles to the mining and processing of minerals in order to provide many other materials and the various machines deemed necessary for sophisticated living conditions.

In addition, there has followed huge advances in transport, time-keeping, worldwide communication and military capabilities in all of which can be found mechanisms involving the principle of the spring.