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2013 | Book

Introduction Read chapter Read first chapter

Machines and Signs

A History of the Drawing of Machines

Author: Edoardo Rovida

Publisher: Springer Netherlands

Book Series : History of Mechanism and Machine Science

Part of: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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About this book

This volume addresses the cultural, technical and ethical motivations of the history of drawing of machines and its developments step by step. First it treats drawings without any technical character; then the Renaissance with its new forms of drawing; the 18th century, with orthographic projections, immediately used by industry; the 19th century, including the applications of drawing in industry; and the 20th century, with the standardization institutions and the use of the computer. The role of historical drawings and archives in modern design is also examined.

This book is of value to all those who are interested in technical drawing, either from an artistic, from a design, or from an engineering point of view.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter
Chapter 1. Introduction
Abstract
Interest among scholars in the history of science and technology (and, particularly, in classical mechanics) is today very high and still increasing. In this preliminary chapter, some general observations and a very short “state of the art” of the history of technology, as a background for the present book, are offered.
Edoardo Rovida
Chapter 2. Motivations of the History of Technique
Abstract
The study of the history of technique, and, in particular, of mechanics can be very useful for a complete and systematic survey of the technical development of today. The history of mechanics is of great interest from many points of view: the most important could be classified as the following: cultural, technical, aesthetic, ethical.
Edoardo Rovida
Chapter 3. The First Steps
Abstract
Prehistoric man was the first “designer”: to kill an animal, he needed a branch of a tree. In this operation, the abovementioned prehistoric man searched for a branch with a form useful for the necessary function (in the modern “methodic design” such an operation is called “design for function”, i.e. to realize a given object with a configuration suitable to perform the wanted function), with a useful diameter (not too little for strength requirements and not too big for need for gripping). In the choice of the dimension, our ancestor realized an optimization process, without the knowledge, of course, of the definition of “optimization”! The branch, also, had to be easy to find: our ancestor solved a problem of “design for manufacturing” (such an operation, in the modern “methodic design” is intended as the realization of an object with a configuration suitable to be realized easily and economically). A big problem in the development of an industrial product is to realize such a product with a configuration able to perform a wanted function and at the same time easy to be manufactured. Our ancestor had to solve this problem!
Edoardo Rovida
Chapter 4. Renaissance
Abstract
It is significant to observe that, in the present work, we focus on the period of time corresponding to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, with some linkages to the first years of the seventeenth century. That significance lies in the sudden discovery and rapid growth of the idea of representation in drawings and illustrations as a mode of communication.
Edoardo Rovida
Chapter 5. The Eighteenth Century
Abstract
The eighteenth century was dominated, from the point of view of technical drawing, by some important events, such as the activity of the mathematician Gaspard Monge (the father of Descriptive Geometry), the first steps of industry and the utilization of orthographic projections, the first encyclopedic books and the growing use of drawing as a documentary tool for use by scientists.
Edoardo Rovida
Chapter 6. The Nineteenth Century
Abstract
Some important events related to the drawing of machines in the nineteenth century are as follows:
Edoardo Rovida
Chapter 7. The Twentieth Century
Abstract
The twentieth century is characterized by several events relative to technical drawing. The most important correspond to the paragraphs of the present chapter as follows.
Edoardo Rovida
Chapter 8. Archives of Historical Drawings
Abstract
Historical drawings, as mentioned in many previous chapters, are one of the most important witnesses of technical realization in past times. Therefore, archives of ancient drawings are the best “photography” of technical development in all times. With an organic collection of historical drawings it is possible to reconstruct the historical evolution of a machine, a mechanism, a device. People in many professional categories would benefit from knowledge of these historical evolutions:
Edoardo Rovida
Chapter 9. The Critical Observation of Historical Drawings
Abstract
The archives of historical drawings represent the complex of all realized constructive solutions in all technical fields. Therefore, the complex of all historical drawings represents the database of all human constructions and can be utilized to know and to study, from several points of view, the evolution of technology that is the basis of applied scientific research as we know it today.
Edoardo Rovida
Metadata
Title
Machines and Signs
Author
Edoardo Rovida
Copyright Year
2013
Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Electronic ISBN
978-94-007-5407-2
Print ISBN
978-94-007-5406-5
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5407-2

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