Screw (simple machine) of the last of the simple machines to be invented. It first appeared in ancient Greece and Egypt, and by the first century BC was used in the form of the screw press and the Archimedes' screw, but when it was invented is unknown. Greek philosopher Archytas of Tarrentum (428 – 347 BC) was said by the Greeks to have invented the screw. Although the Greek philosopher Archimedes is credited by the Greeks with inventing the Archimedes screw water pump around 234 BC. records indicate it was first used in ancient Egypt. Archimedes was first to study the screw as
SS Archimedes the Archimedes' screw, named after Archimedes of Syracuse who lived in the 3rd Century BC. It was not until the 18th century however, and the invention of the steam engine, that a practical means of delivering effective power to a marine screw propulsion system became available, but initial attempts to build such a vessel met with failure. In 1807, the world's first commercially successful steam-powered vessel, Robert Fulton's "North River Steamboat", made its debut. As this vessel was powered by paddlewheels rather than a propeller, the paddlewheel thereby became the "de facto" early standard for steamship propulsion. Experimentation with screw