The first windmill
December 20, 2005
Did you know that the first windmill was constructed as early as 7th century? One thing the vast deserts of Arabia had was wind, when the seasonal streams ran dry, and these desert winds had a constant wind direction. For about one hundred and twenty days the wind blew regularly from the same place. The windmill was so simple yet effective that it quickly spread all over the world from its 7th century Persian origins. After this, wind-power became widely used to run mill stones for grinding corn, and also to draw up water for irrigation. This was first in the Persian province of Sistan, and al-Mas`udi, an Arab geographer who lived in the 10th century, described the region as a ‘country of wind and sand.’ He also wrote, ‘a characteristic of the area is that the power of the wind is used to drive pumps for watering gardens.’ Most historians believe that it was the crusaders who introduced windmills to Europe in the 12th century.
The introduction of the windmill and watermill had a great effect on the science of mechanical engineering and meant new trades were born from actual mill building to its maintenance. This job was normally carried out by the miller and his apprentices, and they were the predecessors of today’s mechanical engineers.
Read more about Wind Power.
Posted by Nosheen on December 20, 2005 06:18 PM |
