The turbine is almost single-handedly responsible
for the technological advancement of the human race. Everything from the humble
windmill to the super-efficient turbo-jets in advanced fighter aircraft to even
the super-massive cores of power stations is based on a turbine in some way or
the other. The very nature of our existence is based on the amount of power we
harness and the turbine is the only device that can harness it at the rate we require.
The origins of this design are long lost(who
actually did create the first windmill or water wheel?) but it was only with
the invention of the steam turbine, more specifically, the reaction and turbine
designs by Sir Charles Parsons and Gustaf de Laval in the early 1850s did the
turbine truly come of age; giving man the ability to efficiently harness the
power of stream.
