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A modern replica of Hero's aeolipile. It is not known whether the aeolipile was put to any practical use in ancient times, and if it was seen as a pragmatic device, a whimsical novelty, an object of reverence, or some other thing. A source described it as a mere curiosity for the ancient Greeks, or a "party trick". [7]
Hero's aeolipile. A number of devices and inventions have been ascribed to Hero, including the following: The aeolipile (a version of which is known as "Hero's engine"), which was a rocket-like reaction engine and the first-recorded steam engine (although Vitruvius mentioned the aeolipile in De Architectura, presumably earlier than Hero). [13]
1790 (): Nathan Read invented the tubular boiler and improved cylinder, devising the high-pressure steam engine. 1791 (): Edward Bull makes a seemingly obvious design change by inverting the steam engine directly above the mine pumps, eliminating the large beam used since Newcomen's designs. About 10 of his engines are built in Cornwall.
1816 – Robert Stirling invented his hot air Stirling engine, and what we now call a "regenerator". [5] [6] 1821 – Michael Faraday builds an electricity-powered motor. 1824 – Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot first publishes that the efficiency of a heat engine depends on the temperature difference between an engine and its environment.
The 1698 Savery Steam Pump - the first commercially successful steam powered device, built by Thomas Savery [1] The first recorded rudimentary steam engine was the aeolipile mentioned by Vitruvius between 30 and 15 BC and, described by Heron of Alexandria in 1st-century Roman Egypt. [2]
Jet engines can be dated back to the invention of the aeolipile around 150 BC. This device used steam power directed through two nozzles so as to cause a sphere to spin rapidly on its axis. [ 1 ] So far as is known, it was not used for supplying mechanical power, and the potential practical applications of this invention were not recognized.
In Roman Egypt, Heron of Alexandria invented the aeolipile, a basic steam-powered device, and demonstrated knowledge of mechanic and pneumatic systems. He was also the first to experiment with a wind-powered mechanical device, a windwheel. He also described a vending machine. However, his inventions were primarily toys, rather than practical ...
The Spanish inventor Jerónimo de Ayanz y Beaumont received patents in 1606 for 50 steam-powered inventions, including a water pump for draining inundated mines. [13] Frenchman Denis Papin did some useful work on the steam digester in 1679, and first used a piston to raise weights in 1690.