Energy · c. 300 BCE

Watermill

Flowing water turns a wheel, the first power source that never tires.

Water wheels are described in the Greek world by the 3rd century BCE, often credited to Philo of Byzantium. By 1086 the Domesday Book counted about 5,600 mills in England. Watermills ground grain, fulled cloth and later drove the first factories.

See it in the living tree Wikipedia

Arcs above join it to what it stood on, arcs below to what it led to. The bar places this stretch on the tree's whole timeline.

What it built on 2

Euclid's Elements 300 BCE
The wheel 3500 BCE

What it led to 8

Tide mill 619
Windmill 700
Post mill 1185
Blast furnace (Europe) 1200
Water-powered paper mill 1276
Water frame 1769
Cylinder boring machine 1774
Water turbine 1827

Related measurements

The dashed line marks when it first worked.

Energy sources in England & Wales since 1800 Latest: 99.9 % of primary energy (2008) Source: Our World in Data

Output of key industries in England, 1270-1870 Latest: Coal: 3.77k index (1700=100) (1870) Source: Our World in Data

World primary energy by source Latest: 178k TWh (2025) Source: Our World in Data