Internet Resources

History of Hydroelectric Power. 7 Apr. 2008.

This website talks about the history of hydropower. First, it describes the Greek's use of water for energy. Then it goes on to talk about the first inventors of hydroturbines, and briefly describes the first basic designs. It then talks about hydroelectric power in the early 20th century. This was a good site because it was fairly simple to find, and there wasn't much extra stuff to keep you from finding the good information, which there was a lot of. The bad part of this website was that the author didn't disclose them self, so I'm not sure how credible the information was. This aided my research by informing me about the early inventors of modern hydroturbines, such as Lester Pelton and Eric Crewdson. It also gave a simple history of hydropower, and what people used it for. This website was very helpful for me.


Hydroelectric Power: How it Works. 26 Feb. 2008. United States Geological Survey. 8 Apr. 2008.

This website basically talks about how hydropower turbines function. First, it gives a general overview of the theory of hydropower, Then it gives the details of an efficient hydro-project, and how the entire process works. After that, it quotes the Army Corp of Engineers, and how they describe hydropower.This was a good site because it gave simple and easy to read information about hydroelectricity. Also, it came from USGS, so I know that it is credible, even though it never mentions an author. Some disadvantages were that the site had several pictures and links that were slightly distracting. This assisted my research because it gave a lot of details that I wasn't totally sure of, like the steel laminations. I wasn't sure what they were called. Also, it gave details on the common design of hydroturbines.