Molinology (from
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
: molīna, mill; and
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
λόγος, study) is the study of
mills and other similar devices which use energy for mechanical purposes such as grinding, fulling or sawing.
Mill technology
The term "Molinology" was coined in 1965 by the Portuguese industrial historian João Miguel dos Santos Simões.
Mills make use of moving water or wind, or the strength of animal or human muscle to power machines for purposes such as
hammer
A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nail (fastener), nails into wood, to sh ...
ing,
grinding,
pump
A pump is a device that moves fluids (liquids or gases), or sometimes Slurry, slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic or pneumatic energy.
Mechanical pumps serve in a wide range of application ...
ing,
saw
A saw is a tool consisting of a tough blade, Wire saw, wire, or Chainsaw, chain with a hard toothed edge used to cut through material. Various terms are used to describe toothed and abrasive saws.
Saws began as serrated materials, and when man ...
ing,
pressing or
fulling
Fulling, also known as tucking or walking ( Scots: ''waukin'', hence often spelt waulking in Scottish English), is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of woven cloth (particularly wool) to eliminate ( lanolin) oils, ...
. Since the material resources and technology available to harness mill power have varied across societies and across time, different human societies developed different solutions to the problem. Thus molinology is a multidisciplinary area of study which reaches beyond mechanical analysis of the mills.
Cultural and scientific interest in molinology is maintained by
The International Molinological Society (TIMS), a non-profit organisation which brings together around five hundred members worldwide. It was founded in 1973 after earlier international symposia in 1965 and 1969. The Society aims to retain the knowledge of those traditional engines which have been rendered obsolete by modern technical and
economic trend Economic trend may refer to:
*all the economic indicators that are the subject of economic forecasting
**see also: econometrics
*general trends in the economy, see: economic history
Economic history is the study of history using methodologica ...
s.
See also
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Further reading
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External links
Official website of The International Molinological SocietyThe Society for the Preservation of Old Mills (SPOOM)The Mills Archive
References
History of technology
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