Stirlingengineforum.com

Since you guys are into SE, as a sidebar, does anyone know what the first alpha was and when it was made ? I've wondered this for years and only recently found the answer. The wiki article on SE tells us that Philips chose Stirling engine to denote their engine in 1945 as they were eager to distinguish their engine from other hot 'air' engines. So, the alpha-beta-gamma buzz obviously came after 1945, but when, and what was the first alpha ???

Perhaps the 1827 Parkinson and Crossley?

According to this 2009 thesis, the original Rider was the first alpha (later Rider was a beta). Note that this timeline indicates design date order was beta-gamma-alpha. So, who came up with alpha-beta-gamma buzz and how did they arrive at it ??? I'm clueless, but I have a rare copy of Walker's first book (1973) and might dig it out to see if he's the culprit.