When the machinists and inventors of the late eighteenth century perfected the art of creating the precisely fitting piston and cylinder—and linked the piston with a precisely machined crankshaft—the back-and-forth motion of the piston was converted into continuously rotating motion, and the “reciprocating engine” was born. The steam engine was the quintessential reciprocating engine of the nineteenth century, and it quickly became the primary source of power for the mills, ships, and railroads of Europe. But the reciprocating engine was destined for an even more exotic and transformative
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