Aeolipile

An aeolipile, aeolipyle, or eolipile, from the Greek "Αἰόλου πύλη", 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. Torque is produced by steam jets exiting the turbine. 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. However, Vitruvius was the first to describe this appliance in his De architectura (ca. 30–20 BC).

The aeolipile is considered to be the first recorded steam engine or reaction steam turbine, but it is neither a practical source of power nor a direct predecessor of the type of steam engine invented during the Industrial Revolution.

The name – derived from the Greek word Αἴολος and Latin word pila – translates to "the ball of Aeolus", Aeolus being the Greek god of the air and wind.

Due to its use of steam as the medium for performing work, the Aeolipile (in profile view) was adopted as the symbol for the U.S. Navy's Boiler Technician Rate - which had formed out of the Watertender, Boilermaker, and Boilerman ratings (that used the same symbol).