Editing Flywheel (section)

== History ==
[[File:Leonardo-Flywheel.ogg|thumb|A flywheel with variable inertia, conceived by [[Leonardo da Vinci]]]]

The principle of the flywheel is found in the [[Neolithic]] [[spindle (textiles)|spindle]] and the [[potter's wheel]], as well as circular sharpening stones in antiquity.<ref name="Lynn White, Jr. 233">Lynn White, Jr., "Theophilus Redivivus", ''Technology and Culture'', Vol. 5, No. 2. (Spring, 1964), Review, pp. 224–233 (233)</ref> In the early 11th century, [[Ibn Bassal]] pioneered the use of flywheel in [[noria]] and [[saqiyah]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Letcher |first1=Trevor M. |title=Wind energy engineering: a handbook for onshore and offshore wind turbines |date=2017 |publisher=[[Academic Press]] |isbn=978-0128094518 |pages=127–143 |quote=Ibn Bassal (AD 1038–75) of Al Andalus (Andalusia) pioneered the use of a flywheel mechanism in the noria and saqiya to smooth out the delivery of power from the driving device to the driven machine}}</ref> The use of the flywheel as a general mechanical device to equalize the speed of rotation is, according to the American medievalist [[Lynn White]], recorded in the ''De diversibus artibus'' (On various arts) of the German artisan [[Theophilus Presbyter]] (ca. 1070–1125) who records applying the device in several of his machines.<ref name="Lynn White, Jr. 233" /><ref>Lynn White, Jr., "Medieval Engineering and the Sociology of Knowledge", ''The Pacific Historical Review'', Vol. 44, No. 1. (Feb., 1975), pp. 1–21 (6)</ref>

In the [[Industrial Revolution]], [[James Watt]] contributed to the development of the flywheel in the [[steam engine]], and his contemporary [[James Pickard]] used a flywheel combined with a [[Crank (mechanism)|crank]] to transform reciprocating motion into rotary motion.<ref>{{cite book|title=Iron, Steam & Money: The Making of the Industrial Revolution|last=Osbourne|first=Roger|year=2013|publisher=Random House|isbn=9781446483282|page=131}}</ref>