A simple slide valve is used, allowing steam to flow to one side of the piston and the other alternately, as driven by an arm coming off the flywheel attached to the engine’s output shaft.

Greek engineer Hero of Alexandria designs the first steam engine; it has a pedestal, an altar, and a rotating ball—but no practical use. French inventor Denis Papin builds a cooker that traps ...

A simple slide valve is used, allowing steam to flow to one side of the piston and the other alternately, as driven by an arm coming off the flywheel attached to the engine’s output shaft.

This article was originally published with the title “ Improvement in the Steam Engine ” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 8 No. 15 (December 1852), p. 120 doi:10.1038 ...

Steam engines haven't been the primary method of travel for ... The ability of the atmospheric pressure to force the piston down is restricted by the use of a ... The valve, in turn, ...

The cylinder of this engine requires no boring out, there is no piston, no slide or exhaust valve, and, in fact, no sliding friction—the friction of the journals excepted.