“the Romans built cranes with a mechanical advantage of up to 70 to one, meaning that one man exerting a force of only 25 kg could raise a weight of 1.75 tonnes.
However, the hydraulic version of the lever has one outstanding advantage over earlier mechanisms … the possible multiplication ratio is almost infintely greater and both pistons may be a considerable distance apart — up to about 25 km”
https://mstdn.social/@markhburton/114856001920894810
@urlyman - thanks for marvellous link, had only thought of #waterpower in re gravity (and cf Malm's 'Fossil Capital')
#engineering and ping @CrispinHughes
#engineering and ping @CrispinHughes