This dissertation tells the story of man's inventiveness and ingenuity to create fountains, using water, energy, technology and available materials.

The development of the fountain has been affected by the same criteria changing in different ways, namely:

• the availability of water,
• the technology available,
• the evolved style of the environment of the feature,
• the topography,
• the wealth and temperament of the builders of the feature.

It is these factors that we shall explore.

The first requirement of any fountain is water. If nature provided no water no fountains could flow and it is from the generosity of nature the first fountains came. Greek culture has been chosen to best illustrate the evolution of "spring" fountains.

The creation of reservoirs, filled by the regular rising of river water, started another breakthrough and affected the gardens of the Ancient Egyptians, Persians and Islamic cultures.

The basics of hydraulic engineering allowed man to develop away from the source using open pipes, then closed pipes, which allowed gravity to feed water under pressure and created the first man made rising jet fountains. These are illustrated using the city of Rome, the Islamic gardens of the Vale of Kashmir, and the gardens of Chatsworth .

All used nature and gravity as the power system which drove the water displays.

Pumps changed all that and the evolution of the pump is used to illustrate the development of the fountain, particularly in modern times, and in the chapter which details each advance in technology.

Because the development of fountains evolved around both style and technology and the two are inseparably mixed it is only towards the end of the dissertation that a clear picture comes into focus. The concluding sections outline available modern technology and ends with a chapter outlining some of the requirements and pitfalls in the creation of sucessful fountains.