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Nicolas Grollier De Servière
Nicolas Grollier de Servière (1596–1689) was a French inventor and ornamental turner who became well known for creating a series of fantastic machines. Grollier de Servière, a cousin of Jean Grolier de Servières (1489/90–1565), Treasurer of France and famed bibliophile, was born in Lyon, the fourth son of Antoine Grollier de ServièreRoger Le Roux de Lincy, baron Portalis, 1907. ''Researches Concerning Jean Grolier: His Life and His Library'' pp25ff. and in his youth followed a military career that took him to Flanders, Germany, Italy and Constantinople; as an engineer, he specialized in deploying movable bridges in the field. After he retired to his home in Lyon, he worked on ornamental lathe-work and built a series of fantastic models. He displayed his work in a cabinet that he opened to the public once a week and which became famous enough to attract politicians, scholars, artisans and other inventors. It featured model water pumps and Archimedes' screws, siege engin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bookwheel
The bookwheel (also written book wheel and sometimes called a reading wheel) is a type of rotating bookcase that allows one person to read multiple books in one location with ease. The books are rotated vertically similar to the motion of a water wheel, as opposed to rotating on a flat table surface. The design for the bookwheel originally appeared in a 16th-century illustration by Agostino Ramelli at a time when large books posed practical problems for readers. Ramelli's design influenced other engineers and, though now obsolete, inspires modern artists and historians. History and design The bookwheel, in its most commonly seen form, was invented in 1588 by Italian military engineer Agostino Ramelli, presented as one of the 195 designs in ''Le diverse et artificiose machine del Capitano Agostino Ramelli'' (''The various and ingenious machines of Captain Agostino Ramelli'').Brashear, Ronald"Ramelli's Machines: Original drawings of the 16th century machines" Smithsonian Libraries. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wheelchair
A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebral palsy, brain injury, osteogenesis imperfecta, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, spina bifida, and more. Wheelchairs come in a wide variety of formats to meet the specific needs of their users. They may include specialized seating adaptions, individualized controls, and may be specific to particular activities, as seen with sports wheelchairs and beach wheelchairs. The most widely recognized distinction is between motorized wheelchairs, where propulsion is provided by batteries and electric motors, and manual wheelchairs, where the propulsive force is provided either by the wheelchair user or occupant pushing the wheelchair by hand ("self-propelled"), by an attendant pushing from the rear using the handle( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
17th-century French Engineers
The 17th century lasted from January 1, 1601 ( MDCI), to December 31, 1700 ( MDCC). It falls into the early modern period of Europe and in that continent (whose impact on the world was increasing) was characterized by the Baroque cultural movement, the latter part of the Spanish Golden Age, the Dutch Golden Age, the French ''Grand Siècle'' dominated by Louis XIV, the Scientific Revolution, the world's first public company and megacorporation known as the Dutch East India Company, and according to some historians, the General Crisis. From the mid-17th century, European politics were increasingly dominated by the Kingdom of France of Louis XIV, where royal power was solidified domestically in the civil war of the Fronde. The semi-feudal territorial French nobility was weakened and subjugated to the power of an absolute monarchy through the reinvention of the Palace of Versailles from a hunting lodge to a gilded prison, in which a greatly expanded royal court could be more easil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
17th-century French Inventors
The 17th century lasted from January 1, 1601 (Roman numerals, MDCI), to December 31, 1700 (Roman numerals, MDCC). It falls into the early modern period of Europe and in that continent (whose impact on the world was increasing) was characterized by the Baroque cultural movement, the latter part of the Spanish Golden Age, the Dutch Golden Age, the French ''Grand Siècle'' dominated by Louis XIV, the Scientific Revolution, the world's first public company and megacorporation known as the Dutch East India Company, and according to some historians, the General Crisis. From the mid-17th century, European politics were increasingly dominated by the Kingdom of France of Louis XIV, where royal power was solidified domestically in the civil war of the Fronde. The semi-feudal territorial French nobility was weakened and subjugated to the power of an absolute monarchy through the reinvention of the Palace of Versailles from a hunting lodge to a gilded prison, in which a greatly expanded royal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1689 Deaths
Events January–March * January 22 (January 12, 1688 O.S.) – Glorious Revolution in England: The Convention Parliament is convened to determine if King James II of England, the last Roman Catholic British monarch, vacated the throne when he fled to France, at the end of 1688. The settlement of this is agreed on 8 February. * January 30 – The first performance of the opera '' Henrico Leone'' composed by Agostino Steffani takes place in Hannover to inaugurate the new royal theatre in the Leineschloss. * February 23 (February 13, 1688 O.S.) – William III and Mary II are proclaimed co-rulers of England, Scotland and Ireland. * March 2 – Nine Years' War: As French forces leave, they set fire to Heidelberg Castle, and the nearby town of Heidelberg. * March 22 (March 12 O.S.) – Start of the Williamite War in Ireland: The deposed James II of England lands with 6,000 French soldiers in Ireland, where there is a Catholic majority, ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1596 Births
Events January–June * January 6– 20 – An English attempt led by Francis Drake to cross the Isthmus of Panama ends in defeat. * January 28 – Francis Drake dies of dysentery off Portobelo. * February 14 – Archbishop John Whitgift begins building his hospital at Croydon. * April 9 – Siege of Calais: Spanish troops capture Calais. * May 18 – Willem Barents leaves Vlie, on his third and final Arctic voyage. * June – Sir John Norreys and Sir Geoffrey Fenton travel to Connaught, to parley with the local Irish lords. * June 10 – Willem Barents and Jacob van Heemskerk discover Bear Island. * June 17 – Willem Barents discovers Spitsbergen. * June 24 – Cornelis de Houtman arrives in Banten, the first Dutch sailor to reach Indonesia.. July–December * July 5 – Capture of Cádiz: An English fleet, commanded by Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, and Lord Howard of Effingham, sacks Cádiz. * July 14 – King Dominicus Corea (Edirille Bandara) is beheaded ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London Science Museum
The Science Museum is a major museum on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London. It was founded in 1857 and is one of the city's major tourist attractions, attracting 3.3 million visitors annually in 2019. Like other publicly funded national museums in the United Kingdom, the Science Museum does not charge visitors for admission, although visitors are requested to make a donation if they are able. Temporary exhibitions may incur an admission fee. It is one of the five museums in the Science Museum Group. Founding and history The museum was founded in 1857 under Bennet Woodcroft from the collection of the Royal Society of Arts and surplus items from the Great Exhibition as part of the South Kensington Museum, together with what is now the Victoria and Albert Museum. It included a collection of machinery which became the ''Museum of Patents'' in 1858, and the ''Patent Office Museum'' in 1863. This collection contained many of the most famous exhibits of what is now t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Demainbray
Stephen Charles Triboudet Demainbray (1710 – 20 February 1782) was an English natural scientist and astronomer, who was Superintendent (or King's Astronomer) at the King's Observatory in Richmond, Surrey (now in London) from 1768 to 1782. Early life and education Demainbray was born in the parish of St Martins, London in 1710.Lysons, D.: ''The Environs of London: volume 3: County of Middlesex'', entryNorthall (Northolt), pp. 306–319; 1795. Retrieved 18 February 2016. His parents, (Charles) Stephen Demainbray (d.c. 1710) and Mary, daughter of Rev Alexander Descairac, were married on 21 September 1699 at St Mary Magdalen Old Fish Street, London. His father, who had come to England from France following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, died soon afterwards and he was brought up by his uncle, Captain Peter Demainbray (d. 1733) who placed him at Westminster School. There he studied under Dr Desaguliers, who taught him mathematics and natural philosophy. After that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Plumier
Charles Plumier (; 20 April 1646 – 20 November 1704) was a French botanist after whom the frangipani genus ''Plumeria'' is named. Plumier is considered one of the most important of the botanical explorers of his time. He made three botanizing expeditions to the West Indies, which resulted in a massive work ''Nova Plantarum Americanarum Genera'' (1703–1704) and was appointed botanist to King Louis XIV of France. Biography Born in Marseille, at the age of 16, he entered the religious order of the Minims. He devoted himself to the study of mathematics and physics, made physical instruments, and was an excellent draughtsman, painter, and turner. On being sent to the French monastery of Trinità dei Monti at Rome, Plumier studied botany under two members of the order, and especially under Cistercian botanist, Paolo Boccone. After his return to France, he became a pupil of Joseph Pitton de Tournefort, whom he accompanied on botanical expeditions. He also explored the coasts ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Versailles, Versailles, France , burial_date = 9 September 1715 , burial_place = Basilica of Saint-Denis , religion = Catholicism (Gallican Rite) , signature = Louis XIV Signature.svg Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest of any sovereign in history whose date is verifiable. Although Louis XIV's France was emblematic of the age of absolutism in Europe, the King surrounded himself with a variety of significant political, military, and cultural figures, such as Bossuet, Colbert, Le Brun, Le Nôtre, Lully, Mazarin, Molière, Racine, Turenne, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agostino Ramelli
Agostino Ramelli (1531–ca. 1610) was an Italian engineer best known for writing and illustrating the book of engineering designs ''Le diverse et artificiose machine del Capitano Agostino Ramelli'', which contains, among others, his design for the bookwheel. Ramelli was born in Ponte Tresa or Mesanzena, today in Switzerland. During the Siege of La Rochelle (1572–1573), he successfully engineered a mine under a bastion and breached the fortification,"One Good Turn: A Natural History of the Screwdriver and Screw" Witold Rybczynski p.47 making him popular with his commander, Henri d'Anjou, who later became King Henri III of France. In 1588 Ramelli published ''Le diverse et artificiose machine del Capitano Agostino Ramelli'', or ''The various and ingenious machines of Captain Agostino Ramelli''. The book contains 195 designs, over 100 of which are water-raising machines, such as water pumps or wells.Brashear, RonaldRamelli's Machines Smithsonian Libraries. Other design ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
