The Early History of the Pulleys and Crane Systems

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, historical figures, and mechanical concepts from the early history of pulleys and crane systems.

Crane

A hoisting machine designed to lift, lower, and shift heavy objects both vertically and horizontally using a swinging handle and hoisting apparatus.

Fixed pulley

A pulley embedded in a stationary position that provides no gain in force and is used solely to change the direction of the applied force.

Moveable pulley

A mobile pulley with one fixed rope end where the load's weight is shared between the system and the tractive force, reducing the required input force.

Compound pulley

A mechanical system combining fixed and moveable pulleys to provide a considerable gain in tractive force.

Shaduf

A wooden, hand-operated water-lifting device consisting of a long stick pivoted as a lever with a counterpoise on one end and a bucket on the other, considered an early crane form.

Mechane

A large ancient mechanism made of perishable materials capable of raising weights up to one ton and moving them over $4\,m$ vertically and around $8\,m$ horizontally in theatre performances.

Mechanopoios

The term used in ancient Greek for the machine maker or engineer who designed, built, and operated a mechane.

Problemata Mechanica

A Pseudo-Aristotelian text that, despite being generally regarded as spurious, is recognized as the first book to mention mechanics in its title.

Polyspatos

A multiple-pulley system developed by Archimedes in which several ropes run in parallel over multiple rolls.

Rechamus

The term used by Vitruvius to describe a set of pulleys fastened at the top of a hoisting device.

Tetrakolos

A type of crane constructed with two wooden beams, historically documented in annual acquisition records for building the Temple of Apollo at Didyma.

Monokolos Polypastos

A crane consisting of a single wooden beam with multiple pulleys (referred to as an artemon by the Greeks) capable of moving both sideways and forward.

Bakra

The term utilized by the medieval Islamic engineer Al-Jazari to refer to a pulley.

Four fluid theory

A medical theory attributed to Hippocrates attributing health and illness to the balance or imbalance of four bodily fluids: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile.

Karabuga

A large counterweighted catapult equipped with a pulley block, scale, and winch, utilized during the 1291 Siege of Acre.

Mancanik Farisi

A counterbalanced arrow-shooting catapult described by Murdâ b. 'Ali et-Tarsûsî in which a double pulley replaces a traditional winch.

Le Mecaniche

A treatise written by Galileo Galilei that offered the first academic course on machine theory using modern concepts, treating simple machines as applications of the lever.