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This section presents a brief survey of the evolution of our knowledge about friction. For a complete and very fascinating presentation, see D. Dowson’s History of Tribology [1].
Tribology
Tribology is the science and technology of interacting solid surfaces in relative motion. The word tribology is based upon the Greek word tribos, meaning rubbing. The topics covered by this word are in the main ancient and well known and include the study of lubricants, lubrication, friction, wear, and bearings. Since surface interactions dictate or control the functioning of practically every device developed by man to enhance the quality of life, tribology has been of central importance for thousands of years, even if this has not always been generally recognized.
It is the engineering aspect of friction which has the longest pedigree.
The first practical aspects of friction have their roots in prehistory. More than 400,000 years ago, our hominid ancestors in Algeria,...
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References
Dowson D (1979) History of tribology. Longman, New York
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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Persson, B.N.T. (2014). History of Tribology. In: Mang, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Lubricants and Lubrication. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-22647-2_80
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-22647-2_80
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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