The wheel is one of humanity's great inventions About Wheels. For images and more see Wheels: A Pictorial History by Edwin Tunis / Paperback: 96 pages / Johns Hopkins University Press; (September 1, 2002), where you will find " Nothing like the wheel exists in nature; it may be one of humanity's greatest inventions. In Wheels, writer and illustrator Edwin Tunis traces the development of the wheel over 5,000 years, his accurate drawings and lucid text depicting the human victory over space and inertia. "