A volvelle or wheel chart is a type of

slide chart A slide chart is a hand-held device, usually of paper, cardboard, or plastic, for conducting simple calculations or looking up information. A circular slide chart is sometimes referred to as a wheel chart or volvelle. Unlike other hand-held mechan ...

, a

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distributed ...

construction with rotating parts. It is considered an early example of a paper

analog computer An analog computer or analogue computer is a type of computer that uses the continuous variation aspect of physical phenomena such as electrical, mechanical, or hydraulic quantities (''analog signals'') to model the problem being solved. In c ...

. Volvelles have been produced to accommodate organization and calculation in many diverse subjects. Early examples of volvelles are found in the pages of

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

books. They can be traced back to "certain Arabic treatises on humoral medicine" and to the Persian astronomer,

Abu Rayhan Biruni Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni (973 – after 1050) commonly known as al-Biruni, was a Khwarazmian Iranian in scholar and polymath during the Islamic Golden Age. He has been called variously the "founder of Indology", "Father of Co ...

(c. 1000), who made important contributions to the development of the volvelle. In the twentieth century, the volvelle had many diverse uses. In ''Reinventing the Wheel'', author

Jessica Helfand Jessica Helfand (born 1960 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a designer, author, and educator. She is a former contributing editor and columnist for Print, Eye and Communications Arts magazine, and founding editor of the website Design Observer. S ...

introduces twentieth-century volvelles with this: The rock band

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

employed a volvelle in the sleeve design for the album ''

Led Zeppelin III ''Led Zeppelin III'' is the third studio album by the English rock music, rock band Led Zeppelin, released on 5 October 1970. It was recorded in three locations. Much of the work was done at Headley Grange, a country house, using the Rolling St ...

'' (1970). Two games from the game company

Infocom Infocom was an American software company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced a business application, a relational database called ''Cornerstone (software), Cornerstone''. ...

included volvelles inside their package as "

feelie Infocom was an American software company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced a business application, a relational database called ''Cornerstone''. Infocom was founded on ...

s": '' Sorcerer'' (1983) and ''

A Mind Forever Voyaging ''A Mind Forever Voyaging'' (''AMFV'') is a 1985 interactive fiction game designed and implemented by Steve Meretzky and published by Infocom. It is Infocom's seventeenth game. The game was intended as a Polemic, polemical critique of Ronald Reag ...

'' (1985). Both volvelles served to impede copying of the games, because they contained information needed to play the game.

See also

References

Further reading