The Medieval and Renaissance Machine

Fundamental for technological innovation, mechanics and mechanical devices before the eighteenth century improved productivity, converted inanimate energy, and in general, expanded physical and intellectual capability. We will question and assess historical approaches to these developments, particularly with regard to transcultural innovative trends that were central to significant social and economic activities. In general, we will cover a historical trajectory from relatively simple machines to more complex devices and instruments. Initial examples include water lifting devices, mills, presses, looms, siege engines, and machine parts like gears and pulleys. Advanced examples include industrial scale versions of these earlier mechanisms, as well as fountains, paddle boats, programmable automata, clocks, and complex musical mechanisms. These case studies, along with reconstructions of some devices, help plot the development and influences of mechanical innovations across major global regions, illustrating their contributions to regional transitions of power and wealth. Although the discussion will concentrate on a global survey of specific innovations in mechanics and machines, the purpose of the study will be to locate and examine these developments within the broader expansion of human knowledge, agency, productivity, and hegemony. Part of this discussion will also address the Asian origins of European technology: theatre of machines in a global context.