A.D. to 1700
In the 1st century A.D., Cyrus of Alexandria wrote “Pneumodynamics”, in which he wrote about the rotary ball (the prototype of the reactionary turbine), which uses steam to rotate. At the same time, the steam rotating ball (also called the wind god wheel) invented by Cyrus appeared. As the first device to convert steam pressure into mechanical power, it was also the first device to apply the principle of jet reaction.
In 9 A.D., a new manganese caliper was made in China.
In 25-221 A.D., Bi Lan of China invented the overturning car (keel water car).
China’s Du Shi invented smelting and casting blower with water row.
Water wheel carriage (prototype of water wheel) appeared in China.
From 78 to 139 years, Zhang Heng of China invented the Hun Tian Yi (water transporting turbulent image), which was driven by water leakage and could indicate the time of star appearance.
In the 2nd century, China used patterned steel to make treasure swords and knives – similar to Damascus Kong.
In 105, China’s Cai Lun supervised the manufacture of good paper.
In 220-230, the Jili drum carriage appeared in China.
In 235, Ma Jun of China invented the guide car driven by gears.
In 265-420, Du Pre of China invented the water wheel-driven pestle and water-turned continuous mill.
In the 4th century, Mediterranean coastal countries applied bolts and nuts to brewing presses.
The development of Western mechanical technology came to a long halt as the classical culture of ancient Greece and Rome was in a state of depression. The spread of plagues such as the Black Death was a 400-year-long darkness in the Western world.
In the 5th to 6th century, China invented the grinding wheel.
From 420 to 589, chariots and boats appeared in China.
550-580, Qi Mu Huaiwen in China invented the technology of steel irrigation.
From 618 to 907, a silver incense burner in the middle of a quilt survived in the village of Shapo in Xi’an, China, with an exquisite structure.
In 700, windmills began to be used in Persia.
In 953, China cast a large cast iron piece, the iron lion of Cangzhou (weighing more than 5,000 kg).
1041-1048, Bi Sheng of China invented movable type printing.
In 1088, Su Song and Han Gonglian of China made a water transport instrument platform with an escapement mechanism.
In 1097, China cast four large iron figures – Song Dynasty iron figures – at Jin Temple in Taiyuan, Shanxi.
From 1127 to 1279, China invented water spinning big spinning wheel.
From 1131 to 1162, China recorded the walking horse lamp (prototype of gas turbine).
In 1263, Xue Jingshi of China completed the monograph of wooden machine tools, “Ziren Legacy System”.
In 1330, Chen Chun of China recorded the iron furnace (adulteration furnace) in Ao Bo Tu.
In 1332, China made cannons from copper.
At the beginning of the Renaissance era, Italy, France, England and other countries set up universities one after another to develop natural sciences and humanities and train talents, and western mechanical technology began to recover and develop.
In 1350, Italy’s Dante made a mechanical clock, powered by the fall of a heavy hammer and driven by gears.
In 1395, rod and bar lathe appeared in Germany
In 1439, Gutenberg in Germany invented the metal movable type letterpress printing machine.
In 1608, Lippisch of Holland invented the telescope.
In 1629, Branca of Italy designed the rotating wheel (the prototype of impulse turbine) which rotated by steam impact.
In 1637, China published Song Yingxing’s scientific and technical work “Tian Gong Kai Miao”, which contains detailed records of ancient Chinese production apparatus and technology.
In 1643, Italian Torricelli experimentally determined the standard atmospheric pressure value of 760 mm Hg high, laying the foundation of hydrostatics and liquid column pressure measuring instruments.
In 1660, Pascal of France proposed the basic law of pressure transmission in stationary liquids, laying the foundation of hydrostatics and hydraulic transmission.
From 1650 to 1654, Gellick of Germany invented the vacuum pump, and in 1664 he demonstrated the famous Madburg hemisphere experiment in Madburg, which showed the power of atmospheric pressure for the first time
From 1656 to 1657, Huygens of Holland created the single pendulum mechanical clock.
In 1665, Levenhoek in Holland and Hooke in England invented the microscope.
In 1698, Savery of England made the first practical steam engine for pumping water in mines – the “Miner’s Friend”. It pioneered the use of steam as a workhorse.