Aeolipile

'Aeolus gate', also known as a Hero's (or Heron's) engine, is a simple, bladeless radial steam turbine which spins when the central water container is heated.

The Greek-Egyptian mathematician and engineer Hero of Alexandria described the device in the 1st century AD, and many sources give him the credit for its invention.

When the vessel is pressurised with steam, the gas is expelled out of the nozzles, which generates thrust due to the rocket principle[5] as a consequence of the 2nd and 3rd of Newton's laws of motion.

Typically, and as Hero described the device, the water is heated in a simple boiler which forms part of a stand for the rotating vessel.

Both Hero and Vitruvius draw on the much earlier work by Ctesibius (285–222 BC), also known as Ktēsíbios or Tesibius, who was an inventor and mathematician in Alexandria, Ptolemaic Egypt.

He describes them as: brazen æolipylæ, which clearly shew that an attentive examination of human inventions often leads to a knowledge of the general laws of nature.

[6]After describing the device's construction (see above) he concludes: Thus a simple experiment enables us to ascertain and determine the causes and effects of the great operations of the heavens and the winds.

[8] Here, de Garay's invention introduced an innovation where the aeolipile had practical usage, which was to generate motion to the paddlewheels, demonstrating the feasibility of steam-driven boats.