Epicyclic Gearing - History

History

Epicyclic differential gearing, used for calendrical computation, has been identified in the Greek Antikythera mechanism dating to around 87 BC.

Richard of Wallingford, an English abbot of St Albans monastery is credited for reinventing epicyclic gearing for an astronomical clock in the 14th century.

In 1588, Italian military engineer Agostino Ramelli invented the bookwheel, a vertically-revolving bookstand containing epicyclic gearing with two levels of planetary gears to maintain proper orientation of the books.


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