General Theater of Machines

...required of a Mechanic. Above all others, however, he must be born to be a Mechanic, so that by natural instinct he is not only adept at inventing, but can also quickly grasp all arts and sciences with little effort, so that one may say of him: What his eyes see, his hands can also do; and that out of love for the art, he spares no effort, labor, or expense, because throughout his life he has something new to learn and experiment with every day.

(1.) Thus, so many requirements original: "Requisita" are demanded of a skilled Mechanic that even one in ten Mechanics does not yet know what he ought to know. All of this, however, will be detailed at length in a future special treatise entitled: The Mechanic, Highly Indispensable for the Advancement of the Land.

(2.) Some wish to make a distinction between a Mechanic original: "Mechanico" and a Machinist original: "Machinario", such that a Machinist is one who only knows how to invent and specify machines; a Mechanic, however, is one who can make the machines and instruments himself and well understands manual labor. However, both are so firmly connected to one another that one will rarely accomplish anything without the other: for this reason, it has also happened that great mathematicians have often been unsuccessful with their inventions original: "Inventionibus" because they did not understand manual labor. As a great man recently died who, according to the reports of the Scholarly Journals original: "Gelehrten Zeitungen", spent 24,000 Reichsthaler A significant fortune in the 18th century; a Reichsthaler was a standard silver coin on a single machine of his invention (which could have been done for a few hundred), but nevertheless did not live to see it reach perfection; and this was not because his invention and specifications were incorrect—no—but because he did not understand manual labor and what belongs to it, or rather could not put it into work with his own hands. And such things still happen daily, so that often the best and most useful inventions get stuck because the inventor cannot complete them himself; for sometimes a very minor detail, which the workman does not understand, makes the whole work useless, and it must then be called to the unfair shame of the inventor: "It was only wind" A German idiom meaning the project was a failure or lacked substance.

§. 3.

A machine or apparatus original: "Rüstzeug" is an artificial work through which one can achieve an advantageous motion, and move something either with a saving of time or force, which would otherwise not be possible. Machines are either simple or compound.

[1] Simple machines are the so-called five powers, namely:

I. The Lever. original: "Vectis"
II. Rope and Pulley or Block and Tackle. original: "Trochlea"
III. The Windlass along with the wheel and gear. original: "Rota. Axis peritrochio"
IV. The Wedge. original: "Cuneus"
V. The Screw. original: "Cochlea"

Of these five, this part of the work will mainly deal first.

[2] Compound machines are those that consist of two or more similar or different simple ones. To be counted here are all kinds of mills, water-works referring to pumping engines or decorative fountains, and the like. Regarding these, the following parts of this work will provide a report.

(1.) A machine should be distinguished from an instrument in that with a machine, an advantageous mechanical motion is to be made, which cannot happen through an instrument; therefore, not only lifting-tools, mills, water-works, and similar large works, but also the smith's tongs, the tailor's scissors, the woodcutter's axe and wedge, and other such things are to be counted among the machines; because through them, advantageous motions that have their foundation in Mechanics are to be obtained. Conversely, an instrument may be used in geometry: a compass, ruler, protractor original: "Transporteur", square, disc-instrument, and countless similar things, both in this and all other sciences and arts...