Students built a 16th-century engineer’s book-reading machine

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/behold-the-renaissance-bookwheel

by pseudolus • 6 years ago

62 19 6 years ago

murukesh_s• 6 years ago

Wow! such a nice idea and great work by the students. On thing to note is that the modern rebuilt version is not near the original in artistic finishing. For one the original version never intended to show the cogs to the outer world, they may have thought it's either dangerous or ugly.. and had nice carvings in the other side which is visible. Also the the stands too had gorgeous wooden carvings then. Truly was a piece of art then. Wish more projects like this happen.

082349872349872• 6 years ago

An excellent hack (a lazy susan would have been the workmanlike solution) in which Xanadu's metaphorical tumbler cross references have parallels in mechanical tumbler cross references.

troupe2• 6 years ago

Books were bigger back then, so imagine trying to create a lazy susan to hold 8 books that were ~2 feet wide when open. You'd need a circle more than 10 feet in diameter.

MindGods• 6 years ago

I love the engineering in this.

I don't think I would use it to read multiple books at the same time though. I've already got a simpler solution which I use regularly - lots of bookmarks and a sturdy table to hold the big pile of books.

However, with a bit of refinement, you could repurpose it to be a rotating bookcase with each shelf holding a row of books. A standard bookcase is obviously simpler but what a way to pick your next read.

ggm• 6 years ago

Bücherrad in Neal Stephenson's "the confusion"

segfaultbuserr• 6 years ago

The earliest window manager, supports six tabs and weights 600 pounds.

dafoex• 6 years ago

Along these lines it somewhat reminds me of the iBooks shelf from pre iOS7 days

gego• 6 years ago

Tabbed browsing... doesn't this invalidate some patents on ideas of how to use multiple tabs? :P

pfdietz2• 6 years ago

It's a shame physical books seem to be obsolete at university libraries. The public can't go in and browse now -- one needs a license to access the e-books.

kristopolous• 6 years ago

There's generally unaffiliated access. If you want to take things out on loan that's an annual fee but at least at the UCs it's pretty permissable. I've even gotten access to rare book collections, just as random joe q public.

There's usually a public access backdoor somewhere. Almost nobody uses it but it's there.

Usually I'll find maybe a rare copy of something at some scholarly library, they've always been ok with me if I email ahead. It's been really painless.

Some libraries even have digitisation devices you can use as a replacement to the old copy machines.

That's more than enough for me, I don't actually need to leave with the library's copy. Some photos are fine.

Apparently even the restrictive Caltech will do it although I haven't yet had a need to exercise their system

milquetoastaf• 6 years ago

This is just categorically untrue. I've been able to peruse and yes even read very rare manuscripts at the NYU library all while being a mere "civilian" (no uni affiliation)

pfdietz2• 6 years ago

Sure, the old books are still there, and I didn't say otherwise. If you want current content, it's often only available in electronic form.

bouvin• 6 years ago

Yes! I knew exactly what they had built when I saw the headline. I have used the old drawings numerous times in lectures as examples of the very earliest kind of proto-hypermedia.

Now, if someone could build a MEMEX with the technology available in 1945...

giorgioz• 6 years ago

I'm really not getting the real added value of using such machine. Can't you just have the 8 books open on a table? Even placing them in parallel next to one another an swiveling around on a swivel chair seems easier.

jmcgough• 6 years ago

I'm sure the 16th century engineer realized that too and designed it more because it was an amusing idea than anything practical. There's a reason it wasn't built until now.

Retric• 6 years ago

Think standing desk, you can raise or lower the books to your ideal height. Further, why stop at one? You could have a semicircle of 4 of these very easily. That said, this didn’t catch on for obvious reasons.

pbhjpbhj• 6 years ago

I don't think that really works with large leather bound books, especially in low light.

Three rows of three [vellum] books on a table: You're looking at lifting a several kilogram book at a stretch of 60-80cm (quartos are about 30cm tall) ... my reach is only ~60cm (at ~175cm of height). I think what you're proposing is far less convenient than you're imagining. Especially working from candlelight (in UK most people would have used animal fat lamps at this time, I gather; but if you could afford 8 books I'm guessing you could afford proper candles).

troupe2• 6 years ago

One possible reason it might have seemed slightly more useful in its time is that many books much bigger than what we expect today. I've seen some books from the 13th century that are over 20 inches across when open and quite heavy and I don't think those books were particularly large. (Codex Gigas is over 40 inches across when opened and weights 150 pounds, but is probably the largest book we know of.) Having 8 books of 24 inches across open next to each other would take 16 feet or so of linear space. In the drawings it doesn't look big enough to handle these large books unless it was made slightly wider.

Of course your objections are probably very much why it was never built until now. :)

charliepark• 6 years ago

If you like this, you might also like to check out “John Muir’s Alarm Clock Desk”

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/john-muirs-alarm-clock-d...

Students built a 16th-century engineer’s book-reading machine

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