"Don't reinvent the wheel" is a common phrase, but structural engineer Roma Agrawal doesn't buy it. Roma has a new book out, Nuts and Bolts: Seven Small Inventions That Changed the World (in a Big Way)). And in it, she argues that the re-interpretation of the wheel has been critical to modernizing the economy from a pottery wheel in ancient Mesopotamia to the gyroscope on the International Space Station. Today, how this constant reinvention fuels economic progress.Related Episodes:What nails can tell us about the economy)*For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org). Music by Drop Electric). Find us: *TikTok), Instagram), Facebook), Newsletter).Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices)NPR Privacy Policy)
