Editing Gimbal (section)

== History ==
[[File:Villard de Honnecourt - Sketchbook - 17.jpg|thumb|Cardan suspension in [[Villard de Honnecourt]]'s sketchbook (ca. 1230)]]
[[File:Kardanischer-Kompass.jpg|thumb|[[Early modern period|Early modern]] [[Compass#Dry compass|dry compass]] suspended by gimbals (1570)]]

The gimbal was first described by the [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] inventor [[Philo of Byzantium]] (280–220 BC).<ref name="sarton 349 350"/><ref>{{cite book|first= Ernest Frank |last= Carter |title= Dictionary of Inventions and Discoveries |url= https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofinve00cart |url-access= registration |year= 1967 |page= [https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofinve00cart/page/74 74] |publisher= Philosophical Library }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=Hans-Christoph |last1=Seherr-Thoss| first2= Friedrich |last2= Schmelz |first3= Erich |last3= Aucktor |title= Universal Joints and Driveshafts: Analysis, Design, Applications |year=2006 |isbn= 978-3-540-30169-1 |page= 1 | publisher= Springer}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first1= Robert E. |last1= Krebs |first2= Carolyn A. |last2= Krebs |title=Groundbreaking Scientific Experiments, Inventions, and Discoveries of the Ancient World |year= 2003| isbn= 978-0-313-31342-4 |page= 216 |publisher= Greenwood Press}}</ref> Philo described an eight-sided ink pot with an opening on each side, which can be turned so that while any face is on top, a pen can be dipped and inked — yet the ink never runs out through the holes of the other sides. This was done by the suspension of the inkwell at the center, which was mounted on a series of concentric metal rings so that it remained stationary no matter which way the pot is turned.<ref name="sarton 349 350">{{cite book |last=Sarton |first= George |year= 1959 |title= A History of Science: Hellenistic Science and Culture in the Last Three centuries B.C. |location= Cambridge |publisher=Harvard University Press |pages=349–350}}</ref>

In [[Ancient China]], the [[Han dynasty]] (202 BC – 220 AD) inventor and mechanical engineer [[Ding Huan]]  created a gimbal [[Censer|incense burner]] around 180 AD.<ref name="sarton 349 350"/><ref>Needham, Joseph. (1986). ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology; Part 2, Mechanical Engineering''. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd. p.233.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture |last=Handler |first=Sarah |publisher= University of California Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0520214842 |publication-date=October 1, 2001 |page=308}}</ref> There is a hint in the writing of the earlier [[Sima Xiangru]] (179–117 BC) that the gimbal existed in China since the 2nd century BC.<ref>Needham, Joseph. (1986). ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology; Part 2, Mechanical Engineering''. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd. pp.233–234.</ref> There is mention during the [[Liang dynasty]] (502–557) that gimbals were used for hinges of doors and windows, while an artisan once presented a portable warming [[stove]] to Empress [[Wu Zetian]] (r. 690–705) which employed gimbals.<ref>Needham, Joseph. (1986). ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology; Part 2, Mechanical Engineering''. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd. p.234.</ref> Extant specimens of Chinese gimbals used for incense burners date to the early [[Tang dynasty]] (618–907), and were part of the [[silver]]-smithing tradition in China.<ref>Needham, Joseph. (1986). ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology; Part 2, Mechanical Engineering''. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd. pp.234–235.</ref>

The authenticity of Philo's description of a cardan suspension has been doubted by some authors on the ground that the part of Philo's ''Pneumatica'' which describes the use of the gimbal survived only in an [[Arabic]] translation of the early 9th century.<ref name="sarton 349 350"/> Thus, as late as 1965, the [[Sinology|sinologist]] [[Joseph Needham]] suspected Arab [[Interpolation (manuscripts)|interpolation]].<ref>Needham, Joseph. (1986). ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology; Part 2, Mechanical Engineering''. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd. p.236.</ref> However, Carra de Vaux, author of the French translation which still provides the basis for modern scholars,<ref>{{cite book |first1= D. R. |last1= Hill |title= History of Technology |volume= Part II |year=1977 |page= 75}}</ref> regards the ''Pneumatics'' as essentially genuine.<ref>Carra de Vaux: "''Le livre des appareils pneumatiques et des machines hydrauliques de Philon de Byzance d'après les versions d'Oxford et de Constantinople''", ''Académie des Inscriptions et des Belles Artes: notice et extraits des mss. de la Bibliothèque nationale'', Paris 38 (1903), pp.27-235</ref> The historian of technology George Sarton (1959) also asserts that it is safe to assume the Arabic version is a faithful copying of Philo's original, and credits Philon explicitly with the invention.<ref>Sarton, George. (1959). A History of Science: Hellenistic Science and Culture in the Last Three centuries B.C. New York: The Norton Library, Norton & Company Inc. SBN 393005267. pp.343–350.</ref> So does his colleague Michael Lewis (2001).<ref>{{cite book |first1= M. J. T. |last1= Lewis |title= Surveying Instruments of Greece and Rome| publisher= Cambridge University Press |year= 2001 |isbn= 978-0-521-79297-4 |page=76 at Fn. 45}}</ref> In fact, research by the latter scholar (1997) demonstrates that the Arab copy contains sequences of Greek letters which fell out of use after the 1st century, thereby strengthening the case that it is a faithful copy of the [[Hellenistic]] original,<ref>{{cite book |first1= M. J. T. |last1= Lewis |title= Millstone and Hammer: the Origins of Water Power |year= 1997 |pages= 26–36}}</ref> a view recently also shared by the classicist [[Andrew Wilson (classical archaeologist)|Andrew Wilson]] (2002).<ref>{{cite journal |first= Andrew |last= Wilson |title= Machines, Power and the Ancient Economy |journal= The Journal of Roman Studies |volume= 92 |year= 2002 |pages= 1–32 |number= 7 |doi= 10.1017/S0075435800032135 }}</ref>

The [[ancient Roman]] author [[Athenaeus Mechanicus]], writing during the reign of [[Augustus]] (30 BC–14 AD), described the military use of a gimbal-like mechanism, calling it "little ape" (''pithêkion''). When preparing to attack coastal towns from the sea-side, military engineers used to yoke merchant-ships together to take the siege machines up to the walls. But to prevent the shipborne machinery from rolling around the deck in heavy seas, Athenaeus advises that "you must fix the ''pithêkion'' on the platform attached to the merchant-ships in the middle, so that the machine stays upright in any angle".<ref>Athenaeus Mechanicus, "On Machines" ("''Peri Mēchanēmatōn''"), 32.1-33.3</ref>

After [[ancient history|antiquity]], gimbals remained widely known in the [[Muslim world|Near East]]. In the Latin West, reference to the device appeared again in the 9th century recipe book called the ''Little Key of Painting''' (''[[mappae clavicula]]'').<ref>Needham, Joseph. (1986). ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology; Part 2, Mechanical Engineering''. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd. pp.229, 231.</ref> The [[France|French]] inventor [[Villard de Honnecourt]] depicts a set of gimbals in his sketchbook (see right). In the early modern period, dry compasses were suspended in gimbals.