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The Scientists, the Engineers, and the Water Wheel

jstor.org
submitted
9 mos ago
bykaiserseahorsetoscience

Summary

In the 18th century, mills in the UK and France churned out flour, textiles, and lumber. Their machinery was powered by flowing water, harnessed by an old technology -- the water wheel.

Parent’s theory said the overshot wheel should operate “like an infinite series of falling weights,” writes Reynolds. John Smeaton “had the practical technician’S distrust of theory,’ writes Reynolds, and desired a practical demonstration.

Water   JSTOR is a digital library for scholars, researchers, and students. You can access the original research behind our articles for free on JSTor.

 lumbermill sawmill thresher thrasher threshing machine plow plough paddlewheel paddle wheel-0
15

4 Comments

3
boredgamer
9 mos ago
This is such a perfect and simple encapsulation of the scientific process yielding incremental improvements
1
kaiserseahorseOP
9 mos ago*
It's actually really fun to see this from a high level and to be able to appreciate those small changes accumulating
2
boredgamer
9 mos ago
It scratched that "learning is fun" itch for me that I didn't realize was missing from my life
2
joseph
9 mos ago
For some reason I never thought that there were different types of wheel, just one in a river.