Bookwheel: the multiple-tabbed browser of the XVIth Century

There I Fixed It has an historical overview of the "bookwheel," a sixteenth-century book-desk combined with a water-wheel, which lets you easily rotate several books into your field of vision.

But imagine yourself back then attempting a research project. You want to learn about a topic from multiple sources and cross-reference each one. A desk with a scattered pile of books in no logical order with all sorts of bookmarks and notes trying to make sense of it all. Agostino Ramelli, an Italian engineer born in 1531 proposed a complex but intriguing solution to this problem; the bookwheel.
Based on the design of a waterwheel, the bookwheel would hold over a dozen separate titles, all sitting open at the same angle. Using either hand or foot controls, the reader could easily sort through the books he collected at ease without the fear of losing track of his place.

Historical Thursday: Agostino Ramelli’s Bookwheel (Thanks, Phead!)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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MrRocking

What manner of wizardry is this?
http://orbitnet.com JIMWICh

Middle Ages dude had like the equivalent of 12 or 14 Cinema Displays!
http://imcravingpresidency.tumblr.com/ SedanChair

Dammit, I put too many books on my bookwheel and now it turns too slow. But if I take the books off I’ll lose my place GAAHHH THE FUTURE SUCKS I NEED A BIGGER BOOKWHEEL ALREADY
- cdh1971
  
  Hmm…not sure if you’re joking…any reasonable gentleman would have a servant handy to operate the wheel.
  
  Perhaps you’re a young gentleman at University who cannot yet afford multiple full-time man-servants. (Touch the picture to enlarge the pic of my favourite, long-time manservant.)
  - http://imcravingpresidency.tumblr.com/ SedanChair
    
    Of course, the answer is always, “just hire some more servants! They’re cheap right now!”
Just_Ok

hmm, one each for ipad, iphone, macbook, other tablet, laptop, other laptop, other phone, car keys, microwave, coffee machine, baby changing station, crib, urinal

perfect work @ home setup
- SoItBegins
  
  Wouldn’t the big wheel interfere with the wi-fi signal?
http://twitter.com/Tom Tom

Feels like prior art.
George Michaelson

isn’t this in ‘system of the world’ by Neal Stephenson?
http://www.facebook.com/MichaelDawson5423 Michael Dawson

I love how pleased he looks, check me out with my bookwheel, I’m a fly mofo!
tp1024

I think it was part of “The Confusion” … unfortunately my copy of that one is AWOL …
http://twitter.com/loanssolutions פיני סולימן הלוואות

nice one
mamayama

For an amusing clip of a bookwheel in use, check out this clip from the 1973 Three Musketeers film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLkMfxHfx0o
awjt

OK, what? This is a poor solution to a problem that still exists today. Fast indexing, search, retrieval and curation of information, acting on a solo basis. Why not a lower-tech solution? Have a room with book stands laid out in an arc. The user stands in the middle of the arc and can move from one to the next with a clipboard to write down results of the various searches. No matter how you slice it, this is a serial problem. With one brain and one pair of eyeballs, there is no parallelism here.
Charles Richter

There is a smaller version of one of these in the Theological Hall of the library of the Strahov Monastery in Prague. In this photo, it’s on the lower right:

http://lh3.ggpht.com/-XgO-6r0KX6k/Ss0oNoa3ubI/AAAAAAAAIxI/7yu7qPHyPbI/1249428908547.jpg
Bob N Johnson

My version of a gentleman’s heaven.

George Vanderbilt’s Library
http://www.aculei.net/~eredien/ CP-S

Just hook it up to your Turnspit Dog and you’ll have the 18th c. equivalent of Cover Flow.
Petzl

If these become popular, you know it’s the next thing they’ll start placing restrictions on:
“Passengers, please refrain from using your bookwheel during takeoff and landing.”
http://www.falconlara.net oscarfalcon

I actually think this is quite cool. It could be made today in a more stealthy way but come on, a rotating book case, Awesome.
fight4paece

I used to work in a factory where there was a large computerized wheel that held and dispensed parts in the maintenance shop. Also it reminds me of the motorized rotating jewelry cases I have seen in some stores since I was a child.
Erik Perera

Angostino Ramelli is a largely ignored genius in the Da Vinci mode (from an engineering perspective) I have a wonderful collection of his designs that sits on a table in my place just to flick through occasionally and marvel. The Various and Ingenious Machines of Angostino Ramelli
http://clarinerd617.myopenid.com/ Henry Goodwin

Okay, I’m building myself one as soon as I gain sufficient knowledge in the trade.