Editing Windlass (section)

{{Short description|Weightlifting device using pulleys}}
{{About||the tool used to raise paddle gear on canal locks|Lock (water transport)#Windlass ("lock key")|the specific ship's windlass|Anchor windlass}}
[[File:Turnbridge Liftbridge RLH.jpg|thumb|[[Turnbridge]] windlass lifting road bridge over [[Huddersfield Broad Canal]]]]
[[File:L-differentialwinde.png|thumb|200px|Differential windlass]]

The '''windlass''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|w|ɪ|n|d|l|ə|s}} is an apparatus for moving heavy weights. Typically, a windlass consists of a horizontal cylinder (barrel), which is rotated by the turn of a crank or belt. A [[winch]] is affixed to one or both ends, and a cable or rope is wound around the winch, pulling a weight attached to the opposite end. The Greek scientist [[Archimedes]] was the inventor of the windlass.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sarton |first=George |author-link=George Sarton |year=1959 |title=A History of Science |volume=2 |chapter=Part 2, Hellenistic Science and Culture in the Last Three Centuries B. C. |page=123 |publisher=Harvard University Press, Cambridge }}</ref> A surviving medieval windlass, dated to {{nowrap|1360{{hsp}}}}–1400, is in the [[Church of St Mary and All Saints, Chesterfield]].<ref>{{cite web |publisher=BBC |work=A History of the World |title=Medieval Builders' Windlass |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/pB9o-yDFQPm4ZiMXxjZfQA |access-date=2 June 2024}}</ref> The oldest depiction of a windlass for raising water can be found in the Book of Agriculture published in 1313 by the Chinese official [[Wang Zhen (inventor)|Wang Zhen]] of the Yuan Dynasty ({{floruit}}&nbsp;1290–1333).<ref>{{cite book |last=Needham |first=Joseph |author-link=Joseph Needham |year=1986 |title=Science and Civilisation in China |volume=4, Physics and Physical Technology |chapter=Part 2, Mechanical Engineering |publisher=Caves Books, Ltd. |location=Taipei}}</ref>