Online Catalogue last updated 17th of September 2023
The wind is a fickle source of power; with speeds freqently too low to be of sustained practical use, windpower has generally remained a marginal resource. Since the inception of windpower around AD1000, technology has been deployed to obtain the most economical power possible from wind.
Richard Hills traces the technical evolution of wind power, concentrating on the growth in understanding of wind and charting crucial developments in windmill design. Whilst the core of the book focuses on northwestern Erupe, the origins of the horizontal windmills in Persia, Tibet and China are also examined, as well as the widespread use of windpower for water supply in north America. Gradually, windmills were improved but were finally eclipsed by steam engines in the nineteenth century with growing industrialisation of the Western economies. The book concludes with an optimistic outlook for windpower, given the heightened interests in renewable sources of engery and more efficient power transmission.
This is a book for all those interested in the history of industrial and technological developments, as well as those who are simply attracted by the romance of windmills.
Code No. 007344, 324 pages, $105.00