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An aeolipile, aeolipyle, or eolipile, from the Greek "Αἰόλου πύλη," lit. 'Aeolus gate', also known as a Hero's (or Heron's) engine, is a simple, bladeless radial steam turbine which spins when the central water container is heated. Torque is produced by steam jets exiting the turbine. The Greek-Egyptian mathematician and engineer Hero of Alexandria described the device in the 1st century AD, and many sources give him the credit for its invention.[1][2] However, Vitruvius was the first to describe this appliance in his De architectura (c. 30-20 BC).[3]
The aeolipile is considered to be the first recorded steam engine or reaction steam turbine, but it is neither a practical source of power nor a direct predecessor of the type of steam engine invented during the Industrial Revolution.[4]
The name – derived from the Greek word Αἴολος and Latin word pila – translates to "the ball of Aeolus", Aeolus being the Greek god of the air and wind.
Because it applies steam to perform work, an Aeolipile (depicted in profile) is used as the symbol for the U.S. Navy's Boiler Technician Rate, as it was for the earlier Watertender, Boilermaker, and Boilerman ratings.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
HeroSteamEnginewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Hero (1899). "Pneumatika, Book II, Chapter XI". Herons von Alexandria Druckwerke und Automatentheater (in Greek and German). Wilhelm Schmidt (translator). Leipzig: B.G. Teubner. pp. 228–232.
- ^ Kirk, William. "The geographical significance of Vitruvius’ de architectura." Scottish Geographical Magazine 69.1 (1953): 1-10.
- ^ "This toy [Aeolipile] was not the forerunner of any real steam engine, then or later. Such devices represent technical ingenuity but not technological progress." See A. G. Drachmann, The Classical Civilization, pp. 55–56.