### id261663943 technological prerequisites for steam engines > Steam engines relied on precision engineering to make airtight pistons. That required a standard unit of measure and knowing how to make steel. Steel requires knowing how to smelt iron, and that requires kilns. To get the kiln to high enough temperature, you want it to be made out of bricks, and bricks are easy if you know how to make charcoal. There are many details to fill in for getting the raw materials, and the book deliberately focuses on the technology rather than the politics of convincing people to help create your vision, but having the road map to go from nothing to the core of the Industrial Revolution is a big deal. - [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01fqpcwdcz6hpc2dbbm6c6crwq) - [[Review How To Invent Everything by Alex Irpan#id261663943 technological prerequisites for steam engines|View in Vault]]