Motors

The motor is the great dominating factor in the world of industry. Every wheel and spindle; every shaft and loom, and every piece of mechanism which has motion, derives it from some sort of motor. The term motor has a wider significance than any other word. A steam engine is a motor, and so, also, is a dynamo, a water wheel or a wind mill. It would be just as descriptive to call a wind mill a wind motor, or a steam engine a steam motor, as to adhere to the old terms; and, on the other hand, since it would be out of place to call a dynamo or a wind mill an engine, the word motor seems best adapted to express the meaning of every type of mechanism which transforms energy into motion. In considering the subject I shall proceed on the theory that the boy knows nothing whatsoever of the subject, nor the terms used to designate the various phases, subjects and elements. It must be elementary in its character, and wholly devoid of technical terms or sentences.