Who Invented Flywheel Energy Storage? The Untold Story Behind the Spinning Marvel

Let’s start with a question: What do your gym’s spin class and renewable energy grids have in common? The answer lies in flywheel energy storage—a technology older than sliced bread but hotter than a Tesla battery these days. While modern systems feel futuristic, their roots trace back to Claude Louis Marie Henri Navier, a 19th-century French engineer. But hold on—Navier didn’t exactly invent the flywheel. He just gave it a PhD-level math makeover with his elasticity theories. The real MVP? Meet John James Urry, a British engineer who patented the first industrial flywheel energy storage system in 1857. His design powered textile mills, proving that spinning things fast could save money (and coal). [2017-05-28 21:06]