History
In 1679, physicist Denis Papin conceived the idea of using steam to power a piston and cylinder engine, by watching a steam release valve of a bone-digester rhythmically move up and down. In 1698, based on Papin’s designs, mechanical designer Thomas Savery built the first engine. The first scientific treatise on the energetics of engines was the 1824 paper: Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire written by French physicist Sadi Carnot.
As an example, the Newcomen engine of 1711 was able to replace a team of 500 horses that had “powered” a wheel to pump water out of a mine, i.e. to “move” buckets of water vertically out of a mine. Hence, we have the precursory model to the term motive power. Based on this model, in 1832, Carnot defined work as “weight lifted through a height”, being the very same definition used to this day.
Read more about this topic: Motive Power
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“To a surprising extent the war-lords in shining armour, the apostles of the martial virtues, tend not to die fighting when the time comes. History is full of ignominious getaways by the great and famous.”
—George Orwell (1903–1950)
“Psychology keeps trying to vindicate human nature. History keeps undermining the effort.”
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“Like their personal lives, women’s history is fragmented, interrupted; a shadow history of human beings whose existence has been shaped by the efforts and the demands of others.”
—Elizabeth Janeway (b. 1913)