The Machines of Leonardo Da Vinci and Franz Reuleaux: Kinematics of Machines from the Renaissance to the 20th Century (History of Mechanism and Machine Science)

443 Pages·2007·8.77 MB·English

by  Francis C. Moon

THEMACHINESOFLEONARDODAVINCIANDFRANZREULEAUX
HISTORYOFMECHANISMANDMACHINESCIENCE
Volume2
SeriesEditor
G.M.L.CECCARELLI
AimsandScopeoftheSeries
This book series aims to establish a well defined forum for Monographsand Pro-
ceedings on the History of Mechanism and Machine Science (MMS). The series
publishesworksthatgiveanoverviewofthehistoricaldevelopments,fromtheearli-
esttimesuptoandincludingtherecentpast,ofMMSinallitstechnicalaspects.
This technical approach is an essential characteristic of the series. By discussing
technicaldetailsandformulationsandevenreformulatingthoseintermsofmodern
formalismsthepossibilityiscreatednotonlytotrackthehistoricaltechnicaldevel-
opmentsbutalsotousepastexperiencesintechnicalteachingandresearchtoday.In
ordertodoso,theemphasismustbeontechnicalaspectsratherthanapurelyhistor-
icalfocus,althoughthelatterhasitsplacetoo.
Furthermore, the series will consider the republication of out-of-printolder works
withEnglishtranslationandcomments.
Thebookseriesisintendedtocollecttechnicalviewsonhistoricaldevelopmentsof
the broadfield of MMSin a uniqueframethatcan beseen in its totalityas an En-
cyclopaediaoftheHistoryofMMSbutwiththeadditionalpurposeofarchivingand
teachingtheHistoryofMMS.Thereforethebookseriesisintendednotonlyforre-
searchersoftheHistoryofEngineeringbutalsoforprofessionalsandstudentswho
are interested in obtaining a clear perspective of the past for their future technical
works.Thebookswillbewritteningeneralbyengineersbutnotonlyforengineers.
ProspectiveauthorsandeditorscancontacttheSeriesEditor,ProfessorM.Ceccarelli,
aboutfuturepublicationswithintheseriesat:
LARM:LaboratoryofRoboticsandMechatronics
DiMSAT–UniversityofCassino
ViaDiBiasio43,03043Cassino(Fr)
Italy
E-mail:[email protected]
Foralistofrelatedmechanicstitles,seefinalpages.
The Machines of Leonardo da Vinci
and Franz Reuleaux
Kinematics of Machines from the Renaissance
to the 20th Century
By
FRANCIS C. MOON
MechanicalandAerospaceEngineering,
CornellUniversity,
Ithaca,NewYork,USA
AC.I.P.CataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheLibraryofCongress.
ISBN978-1-4020-5598-0(HB)
ISBN978-1-4020-5599-7(e-book)
PublishedbySpringer,
P.O.Box17,3300AADordrecht,TheNetherlands.
www.springer.com
Cover figures:Selfportrait of Leonardo daVinci,Royal LibraryTurin;Leonardo’s ratchet
drawingfromCodexMadrid,NationalLibraryMadrid;PortraitofFranzReuleauxandratchet
mechanismdrawingfromKinematicsofMachinery,FranzReuleaux(1876)
Everyefforthasbeenmadetocontact thecopyright holdersofthefigureswhichhavebeen
reproduced fromother sources. Anyone whohas not been properly credited isrequested to
contactthepublishers,sothatdueacknowledgementsmaybemadeinsubsequenteditions.
Printedonacid-freepaper
AllRightsReserved
©2007Springer
Nopartofthisworkmaybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted
inanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,microfilming,recording
orotherwise,withoutwrittenpermissionfromthePublisher,withtheexception
ofanymaterialsuppliedspecificallyforthepurposeofbeingentered
andexecutedonacomputersystem,forexclusiveusebythepurchaserofthework.
ToLee,myhelpmateinthissix-yearproject;sheistheonly
oneIknowwhocanreadReuleaux’s handwriting.
Contents
PrefacebytheSeriesEditor,Professor M.Ceccarelli ............. xi
Preface...................................................... xiii
Acknowledgements ........................................... xvii
Notes ....................................................... xxi
ListofFigures ...............................................xxiii
ListofTables ...............................................xxxiii
PARTI
I LeonardodaVinciandFranzReuleaux:MachineEngineers .. 3
I.1 Introduction. ......................................... 3
I.2 Modern Applications of Kinematics: Leonardo in Your
Toothbrush........................................... 15
I.3 Deconstructing theMachine:Constructive ElementsofDesign 27
I.4 Leonardo, ‘Ingenieur Ordinaire’ ......................... 37
I.5 FranzReuleaux:Engineer-Scientist ...................... 47
I.6 InfluenceofLeonardodaVincion19thC.MachineTheorists 59
I.7 KinematicsofMachines: TheGeometryofMotion ......... 66
I.8 Visualand Topological Thinking: Reuleaux’s Language of
Invention ............................................ 76
I.9 Summary ............................................ 96
viii Contents
PARTII
II EvolutionofDesignofMachines ........................... 99
II.1 Introduction. ......................................... 99
II.2 VisualKinematicPerception ofMechanisms .............. 102
II.3 AncientGreekandRomanMachines ..................... 107
II.4 MachinesintheBible.................................. 116
II.5 RogerBacononMarvelous Machinesinthe13thCentury ... 118
II.6 MachinesoftheMiddleAges ........................... 121
II.7 ScientificandTechnical MilieuintheRenaissance Machine
Age................................................. 125
II.8 FrancescodiGiorgioMartini:TheLeonardoofSiena ....... 135
II.9 TheatreofMachinesBooks:ImitationorInvention? ........ 146
II.10Mathematics, Mechanics andDesignofMachines .......... 160
II.11ArtandtheMachineEngineer........................... 175
II.12ConceptsofDesignandInvention byLeonardoandReuleaux 188
II.13ModelsastheNew‘TheatreofMachines’................. 199
II.14James Watt and the Steam Engine: Pathways of Machine
Evolution ............................................ 212
II.15MachineEngineersandInventors inthe19thCentury ....... 223
II.16BerlinandtheMachineAgeofthe19thCentury ........... 228
II.17LostKnowledge from theAgeofMachines: Mathematical
KinematicsandRotaryEngines ......................... 239
II.18PrimeMoverMachines: Thermodynamics, Kinematics and
Materials ............................................ 248
II.19FlyingMachinesofLeonardoandLilienthal............... 255
II.20KinematicsofAnimalandHumanMotion ................ 262
II.21Leonardo in a Robot: Automata, Clocks and Controlled
Machines ............................................ 276
II.22LeonardoandReuleaux:ASummary..................... 289
Color Plates 293
PARTIII
III Comparison oftheKinematicMechanismsofLeonardoand
Reuleaux ................................................ 303
TheMachinesofLeonardoDaVinciandFranzReuleaux ix
PARTIV
IV References, Bibliography&Appendices..................... 351
CitedReferences .......................................... 351
BooksontheLifeofLeonardodaVinciandasMachineEngineer . 364
BooksontheHistoryofMachines intheIndustrial Age.......... 365
BooksontheHistoryoftheRenaissance inEurope ............. 366
BooksandArticlesonFranzReuleaux andtheKinematicTheory
ofMachines.......................................... 366
BooksandArticlesonKinematicsofHumanandAnimalMotion . 368
HistoryofMachines-related BooksforaTeaching, DesignStudio
Library .............................................. 369
Appendix I: A Summary of ‘Theatre of Machines’ Books
15th–18th Centuries ................................... 372
Appendix II: On-Line Books and Papers at Cornell University
LibraryonTheHistoryofMachinesandMechanisms....... 391
AppendixIII:StudentExercisesintheHistoryofMachines ...... 394
AuthorIndex ................................................ 401
SubjectIndex ................................................ 407
AbouttheAuthor ............................................ 417
Preface by the Series Editor,
Professor M. Ceccarelli
ThisbookispartofabookseriesontheHistoryofMechanism andMachine
Science(HMMS).
Thisseriesisnovelinitsconceptoftreatinghistorical developmentswith
atechnicalapproachtoillustratetheevolutionofmattersofMechanicalEngi-
neeringthatarerelatedspecificallytomechanismandmachinescience.Thus,
books in the series will describe historical developments by mainly looking
at technical details with the aim to give interpretations and insights of past
achievements. The attention to technical details is used not only to track the
pastbygivingcredittopasteffortsandsolutionsbutmainlytolearnfromthe
past approaches and procedures that can still be of current interest and use
bothforteaching andresearch.
The intended re-interpretation and re-formulation of past studies on ma-
chines and mechanisms requires technical expertise more than a merely his-
torical perspective, therefore, thebooks oftheseries canbecharacterized by
thisemphasis ontechnical information, although historical development will
notbeoverlooked.
Furthermore,theserieswillofferthepossibilityofpublishingtranslations
ofworksnotoriginally writteninEnglish,andofreprinting worksofhistori-
calinterestthathavegoneoutofprintbutarecurrently ofinterestagain.
Ibelievethattheworkspublishedinthisserieswillbeofinteresttoawide
range of readers from professionals to students, and from historians to tech-
nical researchers. They will all obtain both satisfaction from and motivation
for their work by becoming aware of the historical framework which forms
thebackground oftheirresearch.