Editing Mechanization (section)

===Ancient times===
[[Water wheel]]s date to the Roman period and were used to grind grain and lift irrigation water. Water-powered bellows were in use on [[blast furnaces]] in China in 31 AD.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Genius of China: 3000 years of science, discovery and invention  |url=https://archive.org/details/geniusofchina3000temp/page/55 |url-access=limited  |last1=Temple |first1= Robert |author2=Joseph Needham |year=1986 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |location=New York |page=55 |isbn=9780671620288 | postscript = <Based on the works of Joseph Needham>}}</ref> By the 13th century, water wheels powered [[sawmill]]s<ref name ="McNeil1990">{{cite book |title=An Encyclopedia of the History of Technology |last=McNeil |first=Ian |year=1990 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=0-415-14792-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780415147927 |url-access=registration }}</ref> and [[trip hammer]]s, to pull cloth and pound flax and later cotton rags into pulp for making paper. Trip hammers are shown crushing ore in ''[[De re Metallica]]'' (1555).

[[Clock]]s were some of the most complex early mechanical devices.  Clock makers were important developers of [[machine tools]] including gear and screw cutting machines, and were also involved in the mathematical development of gear designs.  Clocks were some of the earliest mass-produced items, beginning around 1830.<ref name="Roe1916">{{citation|last=Roe|first=Joseph Wickham|title=English and American Tool Builders|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X-EJAAAAIAAJ|year=1916|location=New Haven, Connecticut|publisher=Yale University Press|lccn=16011753}}. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 ({{LCCN|27024075}}); and by Lindsay Publications, Inc., Bradley, Illinois, ({{ISBN|978-0-917914-73-7}}).</ref><ref name="Robinson&Musson">{{cite book|title=Science and Technology in the Industrial Revolution|url=https://archive.org/details/sciencetechnolog00aemu|url-access=registration|last=Musson|author2=Robinson|publisher=University of Toronto Press|year=1969|page=[https://archive.org/details/sciencetechnolog00aemu/page/69 69]|isbn=9780802016379 }}</ref>

Water-powered bellows for blast furnaces, used in China in ancient times, were in use in Europe by the 15th century. ''De re Metallica'' contains drawings related to bellows for blast furnaces including a fabrication drawing.

Improved gear designs decreased wear and increased efficiency.  Mathematical gear designs were developed in the mid 17th century.  French mathematician and engineer [[Girard Desargues|Desargues]] designed and constructed the first mill with [[Epicyclic gearing|epicycloidal teeth]] ca. 1650.  In the 18th century [[involute gear]]s, another mathematical derived design, came into use.  Involute gears are better for meshing gears of different sizes than epicycloidal.<ref name="Robinson&Musson"/>  Gear cutting machines came into use in the 18th century.<ref name="Roe1916"/>