Why wasn't the steam engine invented earlier? Part II

Re:Why wasn't the steam engine invented earlier? Part II by TheOtherHobbes on Friday July 15, 2022 @12:31PM (#32109882)

History of corporations: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40697762

(Paywalled, but you may be able to find a copy.)

Private land is almost as old as record history. So is selling across markets.

Double entry book keeping was invented in the late 15th century.

All of these existed for centuries before the steam engine.

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Re:Why wasn't the steam engine invented earlier? Part II by eesmith on Friday July 15, 2022 @02:55PM (#32111577)

I think your 15th century date is for a book describing double-entry bookkeeping, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Della_mercatura_e_del_mercante...

Regarding its invention, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-entry_bookkeeping#Histo... says:

> The earliest extant accounting records that follow the modern double-entry system in Europe come from Amatino Manucci, a Florentine merchant at the end of the 13th century.

and lists precursors under "Other claimants".

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