The Developing of Power 



methods of moving huge stones, the movement of which 

 would baffle the greatest engineering skill of today and put 

 to the severest tests the heaviest machinery used in our 

 modern civilization. 



As the relations of human society became more complex, 

 there came a demand for more power than human and ani- 

 mal muscles could produce. Man began to study and to 

 apply the forces of nature to aid him in his work. He made 

 use of the force of gravity by applying the power of falling 

 water to the wheels of his mill. One device would produce 

 the necessity for another. A new thought that contained 

 the possibilities of usefulness would be passed on to many 

 searchers and by the application of many minds, obstacles 

 would be overcome and the thought developed into concrete 

 and useful form. As knowledge increased, useful and help- 

 ful devices were multiplied in numbers until Cultural Evolu- 

 tion had advanced to the beginning of the Machine Age. 



The beginning of the Machine Age is usually ascribed 

 to the invention of the steam engine in 1769. It is well 

 to pause here for a moment to see just what had taken place 

 in the development of steam power before Mr. Watt, as he 

 walked across a golf course, conceived the idea that made 

 its use practical. Like the signalling system, the telegraph, 

 telephone, radio and all other useful devices, the use of the 

 power of steam traveled the evolutionary path in its devel- 

 opment. Searchers of Italy, Spain, France, England and 

 other countries were seeking a means to control and utilize 

 the power of steam. It is reported that a Spaniard by the 

 name of Blasco de Garay in 1543 invented and made use of 

 a steamboat in the harbor of Barcelona, Spain, and in 1629 



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