The World's First Steam Engine

This is considered the first steam engine recorded in history. The Aeolipile was invented in the first century by the Greek mathematician and engineer Heron. It is a simple centrifugal steam turbine consisting of a sealed cauldron placed over a heat source and a hollow sphere with two bent, open tubes facing opposite directions. As the water in the cauldron boils, steam flows through the pipes into the sphere and escapes through the two exhaust tubes. The escaping steam generates thrust, creating torque that causes the sphere to rotate around its axis. The rotation speed of the sphere increases until it stabilizes.

Experiments have shown that the engine can reach speeds of up to 1500 RPM with only very low pressure. However, at the time, it was merely considered a novel toy with no practical application.

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