Using the energy that can be gained from water has become important with the need to propel mills. The earliest forms of watermills were floating mills. These could be moved to that part of the river flow that was the most advantageous. The second type of mills was built on the edge of fast mountain creeks. The most ancient version of water-mills, the so called "paddle-mill", was built on piles holding it above the water.
Not only cereals were ground by mills: they burred cloth, milled oil, they used them as sawmills, carded wool with them, brayed paprika, and beat ores and stones.
The home of windmills was in the East. First it was the post-mill that found its way into the country, then came the so-called tower windmill. Both types can be turned in the direction of the wind. Windmills became widespread mainly in the Great Plains.
"Today, in the age of energy crisis, it becomes more and more important to find natural sources of energy. Most of the energy our Earth provides, is in the form of sun-rays: it is understandable why so many scholars consider solar energy as the possible solution. Even though no previous culture used solar energy to drive machines, still, the use of sunbeams is not unprecedented. The plan of villages and towns, and the placement of houses was devised in accordance with the number of sunny hours. Agriculture itself was and is based on solar energy. What is more, linen was dried and whitened outside by the sun."
(9, Tarján Gábor: Mindennapi hagyomány, 1993, p. 149)
"Native American women were taught to listen to the sounds of plants and stones. We, on the other hand, are taught to ignore them... Our culture is no longer able to see the environment differently. We believe that just because we do not see it holistically, as the shamans did, rather with an 'objective' approach, we are more developed. Focusing on the individual cells, we lose sight of the organism. We investigate minuscule particles of our experience, and lose sight of the whole that lends meaning to the components. This way we become ignorant in an increasingly scholarly way. We gather knowledge like the avaricious person, who identifies richness with avidity and with a stubborn and manic possessiveness. In the meantime, we ruin our capability to admire, what is more, perhaps, even to survive."
(9, Tarján Gábor: Mindennapi hagyomány, 1993, p. 150)
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