Frontiers of Mechanical Engineering >

2017 , Vol. 12 >Issue 3: 389 - 396

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11465-017-0414-5

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Windmills: Ancestors of the wind power generation

  • Cesare ROSSI , 1 ,
  • Flavio RUSSO 2 ,
  • Sergio SAVINO 1
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  • 1. Department of Industrial Engineering University of Naples “Federico II” via Claudio, Naples 80125, Italy
  • 2. Consultant of Ufficio Storico Stato Maggiore Esercito, Torre Del Greco 80059, Italy

Received date: 28 Jul 2016

Accepted date: 30 Oct 2016

Published date: 04 Aug 2017

Copyright

2017 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Abstract

A brief description of the windmills from the second millennium BC to the Renaissance is presented. This survey is a part of several studies conducted by the authors on technology in the ancient world. The windmills are the first motor, other than human muscles, and are the ancestors of the modern wind turbines. Some authors’ virtual reconstructions of old windmills are also presented. The paper shows that the operating principle of many modern machines had already been conceived in the ancient times by using a technology that was more advanced than expected, but with two main differences, as follows: Similar tasks were accomplished by using much less energy; and the environmental impact was nil or very low. Modern designers should sometimes consider simplicity rather than the use of a large amount of energy.

Key words： windmills; ancient machines; history of windmill

Cite this article

Cesare ROSSI , Flavio RUSSO , Sergio SAVINO . Windmills: Ancestors of the wind power generation[J]. Frontiers of Mechanical Engineering, 2017 , 12(3) : 389 -396 . DOI: 10.1007/s11465-017-0414-5

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