Wikinventia — Atlas of discoveries and inventions · Exploration Age

Steam-propulsion project for river navigation — Denis Papin

1707 AD · Transmission: Appropriated
PhysicsEngineeringInventionFrench

Papin designs a paddle-wheel boat driven by steam, combining Taqi al-Din's jet with Savery's pump. He embarks on September 25, 1707 in Kassel bound for Bremen and London; boatmen at Münden destroy the boat on the Weser. Whether the steam engine was actually installed, or only the plans and loose parts Papin intended to assemble in the vicinity of the Royal Society, remains debated.

InstitutionUniversity of Marburg (Hesse)
Historical regionKassel, Holy Roman Empire (launched on the Fulda; incident on the Weser, Münden)
Primary sourcePapin, D. — Nouvelle manière pour lever l'eau par la force du feu (Kassel, 1707)
Secondary sourceHalleux, R. — "Essais de navire à vapeur de Denis Papin (1707)", Recueil des Commémorations 2007, Académie Royale de Belgique
Original languageFrench / Latin
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