Scientific Influences on Technology: The Case of the Overshot Waterwheel, 1752-1754
1979; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 20; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/3103867
ISSN1097-3729
Autores Tópico(s)Diverse Historical and Scientific Studies
ResumoBetween 1752 and 1754 John Smeaton, an English engineer; Antoine de Parcieux, a practically oriented French mathematician; and Johann Albrecht Euler, a Swiss-German physicist and astronomer, independently established that the overshot-gravity waterwheel was significantly more efficient than the traditional undershot-impulse wheel. Since their work is sometimes cited as an early example of the successful application of science to technology, and since the waterwheel was then the workhorse of European industry, this case of simultaneous discovery provides an ideal vehicle for investigating how science influenced technology in the 18th century.
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