It goes to the beginnings of Western science. The alchemist Cornelis Drebbel successfully harnessed what he considered to be the perpetual motion of the univer

It goes to the beginnings of Western science. The alchemist Cornelis Drebbel successfully harnessed what he considered to be the perpetual motion of the universe for his perpetual motion machine... https://antonhowes.substack.com/p/age-of-invention-why-wasnt-the-steam-cc8 https://antonhowes.substack.com/p/age-of-invention-why-wasnt... ... that now we know to have been changes in temperature and atmospheric pressure, both concepts which were very fuzzy at the time, especially the pressure. Sadly, his machine had made such an impression, that the legend of it then continued to plague patent applications for centuries !