Fluid-driven Machines and Naval Theories

In concluding Part I, we examine those machines whose functional basis was the theory of impact, or more generally, the forces generated in a body in motion relative to a fluid. Apart from these machines, there is an additional category of applications, perhaps the most significant, corresponding to naval theory, i.e., to ships. The analyses that we shall undertake will pay attention to the discussion in the Prolegomenon concerning applied science, which in brief is the extension of the theories to models and the theoretical functioning of machines, but without including the technology required for their manufacture.

This chapter is divided into two main parts: the first, devoted to hydraulic machines, starts with general considerations, before turning to hydraulic wheels, then going on to some technological experiments that were carried out with the intention of establishing theories or disquisitions on machines, and we end with windmills. The second part deals with naval mechanics, and includes the generation of resistance by the hull, and the production of force in the sails.