The Originality of Faust Vrančić’s Inventions

Based on the current understanding of the term ‘invention’, this paper examines the originality of three of Faust Vrančić’s inventions. The first invention studied in the paper is the parachute; it is concluded that Faust did not invent it, but made an exceptional technical contribution to its design that is very similar to modern technical solutions. Since he is widely considered the inventor of the parachute, many will be surprised to learn that this is, in fact, not true. The second analysed invention, which is insufficiently publicised today, is Vrančić’s tide mill. His idea was not new, as it had been employed long before his lifetime, especially in Ireland and England. The innovation in Vrančić’s mill is the use of the bidirectional tidal current, with the water wheel being constructed in such a way as to always turn in the same direction regardless of the tidal current. The third innovation, involving Vrančić’s solution to the application of stators and rotors on windmills that enables harnessing the wind from any direction, is today used in turbines for various fluids (water, steam, gases).