Hero’s Steam Turbine

Visit Tim’s Toy Shop, at _______________________________________________________________________ Hero’s Steam Turbine is considered to be the first recorded steam engine or reaction steam 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. However, Vitruvius was the first to describe this appliance in his De architectura (ca. 30–20 BC). It 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. Although it demonstrated a principle, it is neither a practical source of power nor a direct predecessor of the type of steam engine invented during the Industrial Revolution.