History of the steam engine

Heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid

The first recorded rudimentary steam engine was the aeolipile, mentioned by Vitruvius between 30 and 15 BCE and described by Heron of Alexandria in 1st-century Roman Egypt. Several steam-powered devices were later experimented with or proposed, such as Taqi al-Din's steam jack, a steam turbine in 16th-century Ottoman Egypt, Denis Papin's working model of the steam digester in 1679 and Thomas Savery's steam pump in 1698. In 1712, Thomas Newcomen's atmospheric engine became the first commercially successful engine using the principle of the reciprocating piston and cylinder, which was the fundamental type of steam engine used until the early 20th century.

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