### id261665394 waterwheel designs could have been improved earlier > The Pelton wheel is a more efficient waterwheel from the 1870s, about 1400 years after the earliest known waterwheel. Its primary differences are using pressurized water and a better paddle shape. It *really* doesn’t feel like discovering those two should have taken 1400 years, but it did. It’s made worse when the book cites a [source](https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/200979544) that Pelton was inspired by spraying a cow in the face. - [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01fqpczhafhy22hbp953xvfj6j) - [[Review How To Invent Everything by Alex Irpan#id261665394 waterwheel designs could have been improved earlier|View in Vault]]