Over the centuries a wide array of devices and systems has been developed for this purpose. Some of these energy converters are quite simple. The early windmills, for example, transformed the kinetic energy of wind into mechanical energy for pumping water and grinding grain. Other energy-conversion systems are decidedly more complex, particularly those that take raw energy from fossil fuels and nuclear fuels to generate electrical power. Systems of this kind require multiple steps or processes in which energy undergoes a whole series of transformations through various intermediate forms.