Click on the image to view the pictures in high resolution. Source: Mémoires et compte rendu des traveaux de la société des ingénieurs civils, Vol.113, 1924.
How Far Back?
August 31, 2009 by Filed Under: History, Quotes, Steampunk, Technology
On the appeal of steampunk:
“Compared with an earlier and more thoroughly handcrafted era, a return to the late 1800s or early 1900s does not mean having to give up all the most basic modern conveniences. Most of these, including indoor plumbing, electric lighting and even air conditioning, had been invented and put into use by this time—in the main by the privileged, but then it is their lives (and not those of common men and women) that are the stuff of historical fantasy. Travel no longer meant riding in cramped stagecoaches over dirt roads or wind-and wave-tossed sailing vessels, but in luxurious automobiles
and handsomely appointed cabins aboard trains and steamships.”
Via Clockworker.
Wind-Powered Knitting Machine
August 31, 2009 by Filed Under: Random, Wind Power, Windmills
Finally, a real-world use for small windmills: the wind-powered knitting machine.
Human Powered Dredger (1859)
August 31, 2009 by Filed Under: Boats, Civil engineering, Human power, Random
Click on the illustration below to see the plan in high resolution. Source: “Mémoires et compte rendu des traveaux de la société des ingénieurs civils, Vol.12, 1859“.
Automobiles on Steroids
“This paper estimates the technological progress that has occurred since 1980 and the trade-o ffs that manufacturers and consumers face when choosing between fuel economy, weight and engine power characteristics. The results suggest that if weight, horsepower and torque were held at their 1980 levels, fuel economy for both passenger cars and light trucks could have increased by nearly 50 percent from 1980 to 2006; this is in stark contrast to the 15 percent by which fuel economy actually increased.”
Via Treehugger.
Guido Vigevano’s Wind Car (1335)
July 16, 2009 by Filed Under: Inventions that never made it, Low-tech cars, Military technology, Random, Travel, War technology, Warfare, Weapons, Wind Power, Wind powered vehicles, Windmills
“Chapter XII. On the way of making a second waggon which is propelled by the wind without draught animals, and which dashes violently over open country to the confusion of all troops”
