As the first successful steam engines were developed in the 1700s, many inventors wondered how these new machines could be harnessed to drive boats. The problem was to transfer the motion of the engine to some device that would propel the boat. Several odd arrangements were tried, like mechanical oars and mechanical duck feet. It was natural for many early inventors to try paddlewheels. They took their inspiration from water wheels, which spun around under the power of running water. If paddles were attached to a boat and made to spin in such a way that they dug into the water, they might provide forward motion.

The Chinese were using paddlewheels on ships as early as the eighth century, and by the twelfth century large numbers of paddlewheel ships plied the Yangtze River. The wheels on these boats were powered by human muscle--some of the largest required as...