News & Articles on History of Wind Power
This page was prompted by a technical question about early electricity-generating wind turbines in the United States. The question followed a similar question about “who was the first” to interconnect a wind turbine with an electricity network. There is a lot of confusion internationally about both subjects.
The history of wind energy is a broad subject and many have written about it. I’ve pulled together a list of sources, books, links, and museums that I know about. This list is far from comprehensive. If anyone wants to add to this list or edit this list, please do so.
A number of the entries below are reviews I’ve written of books that include the history of wind energy. The original book can usually be reached from the review. Other news items are relevant to the history of wind turbine development.
Carl Wilcox’s Role in the Smith-Putnam Project
By
Paul Gipe
To illustrate the role that Carl Wilcox played in the Smith-Putnam project, I’ve pulled together several citations as well as …
Carl Wilcox References in the Text of Putnam’s Power from the Wind
By
Paul Gipe
To further illustrate the role of Carl Wilcox in the Smith-Putnam project, I searched the name index and pulled together …
Carl Wilcox Citations in Palmer Putnam’s Power from the Wind
By
Paul Gipe
In the 1970s Carl Wilcox gave me a box of archive materials on the Smith-Putnam wind turbine project. I had …
The Rest of the Story: Part 2 of History of Conventional Wind Turbines–the 1970s onward
By
Paul Gipe
The historical saga begun by Erik Möllerström and myself finally reaches its conclusion with the publication of Part 2 in …
Was the Zaanstreek the Birthplace of the Industrial Revolution?
By
Paul Gipe
The Zaanstreek or the district on the Zaan river in the Dutch province of Noord Holland once contained the largest …
Traditional Windmills in Germany at the turn of the 19th Century
By
Paul Gipe
In trying to find the original sources for my table on the number of traditional European windmills I’ve come across …
