Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Muscle power
(2,817 words)

1. Concept

Until the widespread introduction of the steam engine and electric motor in the course of industrialization in the late 19th century, muscle power was by far the most important form of energy in all fields of activity [16]. Apart from animal muscle power, which was mostly used in agriculture (Harness), human muscle power formed the basic precondition for all work and was thus indispensable for making a living. The limits…

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Bleidick, Dietmar, “Muscle power”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 01 June 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_024432>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20200128



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