This is a light experiment from the 1600s, which I found in the British Library archive over yonder.
The book, Les raisons des forces &c was written by Salomon de Caus. You can find it … Read the rest “Science Art: From Les raisons des forces mouuantes, etc., 1615.”
Biomechanics, with acrobats. A photo illustration by Karel Frydrýšek.
The description, translated from Czech, reads: “Four acrobats, chosen coordinate system, local center… Read the rest “Science Art: Akrobati, Lokální těžiště a hmotnosti, 2016”
“Screws at one single cut,” the ad boasts. This is an ad from the front of The Engineer’s Sketch-Book of Mechanical Movements, by Thomas W. Barber – full title:… Read the rest “Science Art: Britannia Co.’s Patent Screwing Machine, 1890.”
A test apparatus, as used for the article “Modification of Force Feed Lubricators” in the 1960-05 edition of Lubrication Engineering. The idea was to study why the same oils… Read the rest “Science Art: Test Apparatus, 1960”
This is a page of assorted parts – gizmos, “contrivances,” what-have-yous – for doing things in machines. It’s from a catalog of such bits and pieces from… Read the rest “Science Art: Page 219 from The engineer’s sketch-book of mechanical movements, devices, appliances, contrivances and details…, 1890”
Among all the diagrams of force-vectors, there’s this wonderful illustration of a well-made machine in A Text-Book of Applied Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering, on archive.org… Read the rest “Science Art: Single-Acting Force Pump with Ball Valves, 1903.”
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This is a view of one of the automatic music-making devices collected by the Centre International de la Mécanique d’Art (CIMA), a Swiss museum of music boxes and … Read the rest “Science Art: Pipes and playing-drum of a “Leierkasten” hand-drawn organ, by Rama”
A hydraulic organ from the 17th century, as commemorated by Athanasius Kircher. It has a robotic skeleton! And a waterwheel!
There are some more wondrous instruments … Read the rest “Science Art: Kircher’s fanciful design for a hydraulic organ, complete with dancing skeleton, from Musurgia Universalis, 1650.”
Nature studies the beauty of mechanical advantage… in exoskeleton boots that do what feet do just a little bit better, faster, stronger:
… Read the rest “Robot feet that don’t need batteries.”People walking in the boots expend 7% less
Laboratory Equipment points out that simple solutions can have bigger effects than you’d imagine, when it comes to the raw material we’re making things out of:
… Read the rest “Want to make strong fibers? Use knots!”Publishing
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