In The Meadows of Gold, the Persian scholar Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali al-Mas’udi (c.896–956) combined historiography and geography into a world history. The book includes mention of the use of the first windmills. These differed from today’s models in that they had a vertical axis of rotation and vertical blades, shovels, and sails. Until the arrival of steam, windmills greatly aided the processing of cereals such as wheat and rice. Other uses included pumping water for the purposes of irrigation.
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Further Readings:
- Shboul, Ahmad. Al-Mas'udi and His World: A Muslim Humanist and His Interest in Non-Muslims. Ithaca: Ithaca Press, 1978.
- Sorensen, Bent. "History of, and Recent Progress in, Wind-Energy Utilization." Annual Review of Energy and the Environment 20 (1995): 387–424.
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