Editing Water wheel (section)

==== 17th- and 18th-century Europe ====
Millwrights distinguished between the two forces, impulse and weight, at work in water wheels long before 18th-century Europe. Fitzherbert, a 16th-century agricultural writer, wrote "druieth the wheel as well as with the weight of the water as with strengthe [impulse]".<ref>[[Anthony Fitzherbert]], ''Surveying'' (London, 1539, reprinted in [Robert Vansitarrt, ed] ''Certain Ancient Tracts Concerning the Management of Landed Property'' Reprinted [London, 1767.] pg. 92.</ref> [[Leonardo da Vinci]] also discussed water power, noting "the blow [of the water] is not weight, but excites a power of weight, almost equal to its own power".<ref>Leonardo da Vinci, MS F, 44r, in ''Les manuscrits de Leonardo da Vinci'', ed Charles Ravaisson-Moilien (Paris, 1889), vol.4; cf, Codex Madrid, vol. 1, 69r [The Madrid Codices], trans. And transcribed by Ladislao Reti (New York, 1974), vol. 4.</ref> However, even realisation of the two forces, weight and impulse, confusion remained over the advantages and disadvantages of the two, and there was no clear understanding of the superior efficiency of weight.<ref>Smeaton, "An Experimental Inquiry Concerning the Natural Powers of Water and Wind to Turn Mills, and Other Machines, depending on Circular Motion," Royal Society, ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London'' 51 (1759); 124–125</ref> Prior to 1750 it was unsure as to which force was dominant and was widely understood that both forces were operating with equal inspiration amongst one another.<ref name="Torricelli, Evangelista 1919">Torricelli, Evangelista, ''Opere'', ed. Gino Loria and Giuseppe Vassura (Rome, 1919.)</ref> The waterwheel sparked questions of the laws of nature, specifically the [[laws of force]]. [[Evangelista Torricelli]]'s work on water wheels used an analysis of Galileo's work on falling bodies, that the velocity of a water sprouting from an orifice under its [[Hydrostatic head|head]] was exactly equivalent to the velocity a drop of water acquired in falling freely from the same height.<ref name="Torricella, Evangelica 1919">Torricella, Evangelica, ''Opere'', ed. Gino Loria and Giuseppe Vassura (Rome, 1919.)</ref>