Paddle steamer in the context of "Propeller"

A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be transformed by a connecting rod and crank into rotational force for work. The term "steam engine" is most commonly applied to reciprocating engines as just described, although some authorities have also referred to the steam turbine and devices such as Hero's aeolipile as "steam engines". The essential feature of steam engines is that they are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separated from the combustion products. The ideal thermodynamic cycle used to analyze this process is called the Rankine cycle. In general usage, the term steam engine can refer to either complete steam plants (including boilers etc.), such as railway steam locomotives and portable engines, or may refer to the piston or turbine machinery alone, as in the beam engine and stationary steam engine.

Steam-driven devices such as the aeolipile were known in the first century AD, and there were a few other uses recorded in the 16th century. In 1606 Jerónimo de Ayanz y Beaumont patented his invention of the first steam-powered water pump for draining mines. Thomas Savery is considered the inventor of the first commercially used steam powered device, a steam pump that used steam pressure operating directly on the water. The first commercially successful engine that could transmit continuous power to a machine was developed in 1712 by Thomas Newcomen. In 1764, James Watt made a critical improvement by removing spent steam to a separate vessel for condensation, greatly improving the amount of work obtained per unit of fuel consumed. By the 19th century, stationary steam engines powered the factories of the Industrial Revolution. Steam engines replaced sails for ships on paddle steamers, and steam locomotives operated on the railways.

A steamboat is a boat that is propelled primarily by steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels. The term steamboat is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels working on lakes, rivers, and in short-sea shipping. The development of the steamboat led to the larger steamship, which is a seaworthy and often ocean-going ship.

Steamboats sometimes use the prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S (for 'Screw Steamer') or PS (for 'Paddle Steamer'); however, these designations are most often used for steamships.

Nauta is a town in the northeastern part of Loreto Province in the Peruvian Amazon, roughly 62 miles (100 km) south of Iquitos, the provincial capital. Nauta is located on the north bank of the Marañón River, a major tributary of the Upper Amazon, a few miles from the confluence of the Río Ucayali.

Established by Manuel Pacaya–Samiria, a leader of the Kokama people, following the 1830 uprising at the Jesuit mission of Lagunas, Nauta soon became the primary commercial hub of the Peruvian selva baja (known also as Omagua, or the Amazonian lowlands). In 1853, a Brazilian-owned paddle steamer made it all the way to Nauta.

A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships came into practical usage during the early 19th century; however, there were exceptions that came before. Steamships usually use the prefix designations of "PS" for paddle steamer or "SS" for screw steamer (using a propeller or screw). As paddle steamers became less common, "SS" is incorrectly assumed by many to stand for "steamship". Ships powered by internal combustion engines use a prefix such as "MV" for motor vessel, so it is not correct to use "SS" for most modern vessels.

As steamships were less dependent on wind patterns, new trade routes opened up. The steamship has been described as a "major driver of the first wave of trade globalization (1870–1913)" and contributor to "an increase in international trade that was unprecedented in human history".

Laukontori (or the Laukko Square, also known as Alaranta) is a market square in the southern part of the city center of Tampere, Finland, on the shores of Lake Pyhäjärvi. It is located just a few hundred meters from Tampere Central Square. Square's beach serves as a harbor for cruise ships to the Viikinsaari island and the city of Hämeenlinna in the summer.

Laukontori got its name from the first steamboat sailing on Lake Pyhäjärvi, the Laukko paddle steamer, which was built in 1859 but scrapped as early as 1864. As such, the ship was so significant that the people of Tampere began to use the name Laukontori, or the square on which Laukko landed. The same berth was later used by another steamboat named Laukko. Alaranta and Alasatama have been used as parallel names for Laukontori, although on the other hand the port of the Mustalahti bay on the shores of Lake Näsijärvi has never been called Yläranta or Yläsatama. Laukontori has officially belonged to the Tampere street system in 1868–1886 and again since 1897. In the intervening years, the market was called Kalatori ("fish market square"). Residential apartment buildings were built on the outskirts of Laukontori in the early 20th century, and the area was a favorite residential area for wealthy city dwellers. In 1905, almost half of the residents of the entire Nalkala district were considered to belong to the highest social group. Until the 1950s, Laukontori was a lively trading place where rural residents who came to Tampere from the Lake Pyhäjärvi area sold their products on inland waterway vessels.

A paddle wheel is a form of waterwheel or impeller in which a number of paddles are set around the periphery of the wheel. It has several uses, of which some are:

• Very low-lift water pumping, such as flooding paddy fields at no more than about 0.5 m (20 in) height above the water source.
• To move and mix algae culture in the raceway ponds used for algaculture.
• Propulsion of watercraft (as a paddlewheel)
• Low head hydro power (as a waterwheel)
• Flow sensors
• Aerators

The paddle wheel is an ancient invention but is still used today in a wide range of industrial and agriculture applications.