John Wilkins, Mathematical Magic or the Wonders that may be Performed by Mechanical Geometry (1648)
Date
1648
Author
John
Wilkins
Note: 15/10/2005
Book title
Mathematicall Magick or, the Wonders That may be performed by Mechanicall Geometry. In two Books. Concerning Mechanicall Powers. Mechanicall Motions. Being One Of The most easie, pleasant, usefull, (and yet most neglected) part of Mathematicks. Not before treated of in this language
Publication place
London
Printer
M. F.
Publisher
Samuel Gellibrand
Text type
printed book
Genre
Hard-word, term-of-art, and dialect dictionaries, glossaries, and definitions
Subject area
- mathematics
- war
Summary
Intermittent explanations of technical vocabulary
Word-group
type: undifferentiated
Word-entry
type: logical
sample: 'Tis reported of Archimedes, that with an engine of Pulleys, to which he applyed onely his left hand, he lifted up 5000 bushels of corn at once, and drew a ship with all its lading upon dry land. This engine Zetzes cals Trispatum, or Trispastum, which signifies only a threefold Pulley; But herein he doth evidently mistake, for 'tis not possible that this alone should serve for the motion of so great a weight, because such an engine can but make a subsextuple, or at most a subseptuple proportion betwixt the weight and power, which is much too little, to reconcile the strength of a man unto so much heavinesse. Therefore Vbaldus doth more properly style it olyspaston, or an instrument of many Pulleys: How many, were easie to find out, if we did exactly know the weight of those ancient measures; supposing them to be the same with our bushell in England, which contains 64 pintes or pounds, the whole would amount to 320000 pounds, half of which would be lightned by the help of one Pulley, three quarters by two Pulleys, and so onward, according to this subduple, subquadruple, and subsextuple proportion ... (pp. 92-93)
sample: 'Tis reported of Archimedes, that with an engine of Pulleys, to which he applyed onely his left hand, he lifted up 5000 bushels of corn at once, and drew a ship with all its lading upon dry land. This engine Zetzes cals Trispatum, or Trispastum, which signifies only a threefold Pulley; But herein he doth evidently mistake, for 'tis not possible that this alone should serve for the motion of so great a weight, because such an engine can but make a subsextuple, or at most a subseptuple proportion betwixt the weight and power, which is much too little, to reconcile the strength of a man unto so much heavinesse. Therefore Vbaldus doth more properly style it olyspaston, or an instrument of many Pulleys: How many, were easie to find out, if we did exactly know the weight of those ancient measures; supposing them to be the same with our bushell in England, which contains 64 pintes or pounds, the whole would amount to 320000 pounds, half of which would be lightned by the help of one Pulley, three quarters by two Pulleys, and so onward, according to this subduple, subquadruple, and subsextuple proportion ... (pp. 92-93)
Wing
W2198-99
Other editions
1680: Wing W2200;
1691: Wing W2201;
1695: Wing W2201a
1691: Wing W2201;
1695: Wing W2201a
