Doodles, Drafts, and Designs: Industrial Drawings from the Smithsonian

Patent drawing for water wheel, 1838
Samuel B. Howd, Geneva, New York

Howd’s drawings of a waterwheel (hydraulic turbine) show the particular improvement being patented and how it fits into the context of the entire waterwheel. Countless waterwheels were patented in 19th-century America, when water power was a cheap and available energy resource.