The Origins of Feedback Control

161 Pages·1970·13.37 MB·English

by  Otto Mayr

The Origins of Feedback
Control
The MIT Press
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The MIT Press One Rogers Street Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142
The Origins of Feedback Control
Otto Mayr
The M.I.T. Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England
026213067X
MAYR
ORIGINS FEEDBACK
Originally published by R. Oldenbourg Verlag,
Munich and Vienna, under the title
“Zur Friihgeschichte der Technischen Regelungen”
Copyright© 1969 by R. Oldenbourg, Munchen
English translation
Copyright © 1970 by
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Set in IBM Press Roman
Printed and bound in the United States of America by
The Colonial Press Inc., Clinton, Massachusetts
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
ISBN 262 13067 X (hardcover)
ISBN 262 63035 4 (paperback)
Library of Congress catalog card number: 72-123250
Preface to the English Edition
The present volume is a slightly revised version of a book that appeared
originally in German in 1969. The translation was made by myself, except
for that of the various French passages, which was supplied by Joseph
Stein of the M.I.T. Press. For advice on Arabic orthography I am indebted
to my colleague Dr. Sami Hamarneh of the Smithsonian Institution.
Acknowledgment, finally, is due to my wife Louise, who not only typed
the manuscript but also gave crucial support to the whole project in her
usual sporting and forbearing spirit.
Washington, D.C. Otto Mayr
July 1970

Contents
Introduction 1
I. The Definition of Feedback 2
1. An Example: James Watt’s Centrifugal Governor 2
2. The Block Diagram 4
3. Criteria for the Identification of Feedback Control
Systems 6
Part One: Antiquity, Middle Ages, and Renaissance 9
II. Feedback Control in Hellenistic Technology 11
1. Ktesibios H
2. The Oil Lamp of Philon of Byzantium 16
3. Heron of Alexandria 19
4. Ancient Feedback Devices: Summary 25
III. Float Valve Regulators in the Tradition of Ancient Water
Clocks 27
1. The Clock of Gaza 28
2. The Clock of Pseudo-Archimedes 28
3. Al-Jazari" 32
4. Ridwan al-Khurasanf, called Ibn al-Sa‘atI 35
5. Subsequent Fate of the Water Clocks 38
v
vi CONTENTS
IV. Float Valves in the Tradition of Heron’s Pneumatica 40
1. The Banu Musa 40
a) Float Valve Regulators 42
b) On-Off Control 44
c) The Principle of Philon’s Oil Lamp 44
2. Heron’s Pneumatica after the Banu Musa 46
V. ' Automatic Control in Ancient China 49
1. The South-Pointing Chariot 49
2. The Drinking-Straw Regulator 50
3. Float Valve Regulators 5 1
Part Two: Modern Times after 1600 53
VI. Temperature Regulators 55
1. The Thermostatic Furnaces of Cornelis Drebbel 55
2. Further Temperature Regulators in the 17th Century:
Schwenter, Hooke, Becher 65
3. Reaumur and the Prince de Conti 67
4. William Henry’s “Sentinel Register” 69
5. Bonnemain 70
VII. Float Valve Regulators 76
1. The Reappearance of Float Valve Regulators in the 18th
Century 76
2. James Brindley 77
3. 1.1. Polzunov 77
4. Sutton Thomas Wood 78
5. Final Acceptance as a Component of Steam Boilers 79
VIII. Pressure Regulators 82
1. The Safety Valve of Papin 82
2. Robert Delap 83
3. Matthew Murray 86
4. Boulton & Watt 87
IX. Feedback Control on Mills 90
1. The Mill-Hopper 90
2. The Fan-Tail 93
3. Self-regulating Windmill Sails 95
4. Sensing the Speed of Rotation 99
a) Centrifugal Fan with Baffle 99
b) Centrifugal Pendulums 100
5. Speed Regulation 102
a) Mead’s Regulator 102
CONTENTS vii
b) Hooper’s Regulator 106
6. The Millwrights: Summary 107
X. The Speed Regulation of the Steam Engine 109
1. James Watt’s Centrifugal Governor 109
2. The Spread of the Centrifugal Governor 113
3. The Regulator of the Brothers Perier 115
XI. The PenduleSympathique of Abraham-Louis Breguet 119
XII. Concluding Remarks 125
1. Completeness 125
2. The Rise during the 18th Century 127
3. The General Concept of the Closed Feedback Loop 129
4. Subsequent Developments 131
Notes 133
Picture Credits 147
Index 149