A steam engine in antiquity?

We tend to think that inventions belong to our modern world, but deep down, we know that is not true. The wheel was one of the oldest inventions – somebody had to come up with the idea! 

The main problem may simply be that many inventions were not documented, and, if they were, the documents did not survive. They certainly were not patented. 

This being said, a special case is to be made for Hero of Alexandria (c. 10 – 70 AD), who was a mathematician and an engineer.  

Hero created the first steam engine ever, the Aeolipile, meaning “wind ball”. The concept was rather simple. He used a sealed caldron filled with water, which he placed over a fire. As the water boiled, steam rose through a pipe to fill the hollow sphere above. This sphere was equipped with two bent outlet tubes, and when the steam escaped through the tubes, the sphere started to spin. 

For Hero, this was only one of his inventions that he considered a toy or gimmick – a piece of conversation, who knows! 

Imagine what would have happened to our world if Hero or any of his contemporary inventors had sought a way to turn the Aeolipile into something useful. The industrial revolution started in the 18^th century when James Watt presented his steam engine. 

We lost 2000 precious years of evolution! Are there more examples of such lost chances?