WEBVTT - The Invention of the Gimbal 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:05.360 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind production of My 0:00:05.480 --> 0:00:15.080 Heart Radio. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 0:00:15.280 --> 0:00:18.400 My name is Robert Lamb, and I'm Joe McCormick, and 0:00:18.600 --> 0:00:21.520 I want to start this episode of the quote just 0:00:21.600 --> 0:00:25.560 because this is where my mind instantly went for this episode, 0:00:25.560 --> 0:00:27.840 which is going to be about the gimbal I. I 0:00:27.960 --> 0:00:30.760 thought of this of this line from the poem The 0:00:30.840 --> 0:00:35.080 Jabberwocke by Lewis Carroll. Okay, twas brillig and the slivey 0:00:35.159 --> 0:00:38.960 toes to gyor and gimble in the wabe. Okay, So 0:00:39.040 --> 0:00:41.199 I was about to say that every noun, verb and 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:45.000 adjective in this u in this couplet is nonsense, but 0:00:45.080 --> 0:00:47.520 then I realized there are actually a couple of real 0:00:48.000 --> 0:00:51.520 verbs in there. There's twas and there's did. In fact, 0:00:51.600 --> 0:00:54.880 actually twas I think contains a noun and a verb 0:00:55.000 --> 0:00:57.360 because the t in twas is for it, so we 0:00:57.400 --> 0:01:00.240 get it was and did. But yeah, everything else I 0:01:00.320 --> 0:01:02.080 don't know what those words mean. And you're I think 0:01:02.120 --> 0:01:06.200 you're not supposed to, Well, gyre is real um to 0:01:06.280 --> 0:01:10.280 whirl or or to gyrate um. Do you think that's 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:13.160 what it's supposed to mean? In this context, though I 0:01:13.200 --> 0:01:18.280 think yes, or mostly yes. Stem But but that's the 0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:21.080 thing about Lewis Carroll. A lot of nonsense words, and 0:01:21.120 --> 0:01:24.200 then gimbal throws one off because when you look at 0:01:24.240 --> 0:01:26.720 this gimbal, as in the title of this episode in 0:01:26.720 --> 0:01:28.399 case you don't have the title in front of you, 0:01:28.680 --> 0:01:32.039 is spelled g I M B A L, and in 0:01:32.400 --> 0:01:35.920 the Lewis Carroll poem it's spelled g I M B 0:01:36.360 --> 0:01:39.680 L E. And if you look that spelling of gimbal 0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:42.840 up in a dictionary, you get to make a face 0:01:43.160 --> 0:01:46.200 or two grimace, which does not seem to be what's 0:01:46.240 --> 0:01:50.560 going on here. Um. The gimble we're talking about is 0:01:50.720 --> 0:01:52.720 is well to define more clearly in a bit a 0:01:52.760 --> 0:01:56.760 mechanism typically consisting of rings pivoting at right angles for 0:01:56.880 --> 0:02:01.640 keeping an instrument um horizon toll uh in a moving 0:02:01.720 --> 0:02:05.280 vessel or on a moving plane, that sort of thing. Um. 0:02:05.320 --> 0:02:08.640 So it that definition would seem to sort of line 0:02:08.680 --> 0:02:11.000 up more with what's going on here, the idea of 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:15.360 some sort of um jy or some sort of revolution 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:18.440 going on. But I was reading, I read a little 0:02:18.480 --> 0:02:20.760 bit more about this, and it turns out that Lewis 0:02:20.800 --> 0:02:25.280 Carroll is absolutely of no help to us today. Um 0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:29.640 he in this text, apparently Humpty Dumpty himself weighs in, 0:02:29.919 --> 0:02:32.280 I either didn't know this or had forgotten this on 0:02:32.320 --> 0:02:34.600 the meaning of all this pointing out that toathes are 0:02:34.600 --> 0:02:38.480 a kind of lizard badger creature, and that gimbal in 0:02:38.480 --> 0:02:42.239 this context means quote to make holes like a gimlet. 0:02:42.680 --> 0:02:45.799 A gimlet is a hand tool for drilling small holes 0:02:45.800 --> 0:02:49.840 in wood. Slithy is a combination of lithe and slimy, 0:02:50.280 --> 0:02:54.560 so it's a slimy badger lizard that rotates in bores. Okay, 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:56.880 I see, but wait, I'm still confused when you say 0:02:56.960 --> 0:02:59.520 that gimbal in this line means to make holes like 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:03.600 a gimble. It was that a general definition of the 0:03:03.639 --> 0:03:05.600 word at the time this poem was written, or is 0:03:05.680 --> 0:03:09.600 that unique to the meaning within the poem. My understanding 0:03:09.720 --> 0:03:13.560 is that this is a Lewis Carroll thing. Okay, Humpty 0:03:13.600 --> 0:03:16.360 Dumpty is explaining it because, or at least in the 0:03:16.360 --> 0:03:18.799 dictionaries I was looking at, I did not see this 0:03:18.960 --> 0:03:24.079 as an accepted definition or alternate definition for gimbal g 0:03:24.280 --> 0:03:26.200 I M. B. L E. Well, in that case, that 0:03:26.280 --> 0:03:30.000 would support my initial interpretation that even though gyre is 0:03:30.040 --> 0:03:33.080 a real word, in this context, is supposed to be 0:03:33.120 --> 0:03:37.320 a nonsense word, right, but but the nonsense being perhaps 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:40.880 less removed from the reality. It's it's I mean, that's 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:43.200 I guess that the light of Lewis Carroll text. As 0:03:43.240 --> 0:03:45.520 you have all of these nonsense words, you have words 0:03:45.560 --> 0:03:49.000 that are are being used, at the very least in 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:52.040 the pursuit of some sort of nonsense. This may be 0:03:52.160 --> 0:03:55.080 the most whimsical opening effort to a podcast about a 0:03:55.200 --> 0:03:59.520 rotation mechanism. Yeah, it's probably a bad opening since the 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:03.360 com well, now the example does not have a useful 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:06.720 definition of the word involved. It's more of a tangent. 0:04:06.760 --> 0:04:09.200 But still, I mean entertaining, I would hope. I I 0:04:09.320 --> 0:04:11.680 enjoyed going on this little Lewis Carroll journey with you. 0:04:11.760 --> 0:04:15.040 But okay, so we're gonna talk about gimbals today. What 0:04:15.240 --> 0:04:17.599 is a gimbal? I think we might need to do 0:04:17.680 --> 0:04:20.760 a little bit of concept sorting, because when I was 0:04:20.800 --> 0:04:24.320 searching for information about gimbals on the internet, first of all, 0:04:24.320 --> 0:04:26.600 a lot of what comes up is just camera equipment, 0:04:26.640 --> 0:04:29.159 and we can discuss that later in the episode. But 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:31.800 even when you're just trying to find information about the 0:04:31.880 --> 0:04:35.479 underlying mechanical concept. A lot of what comes up seems 0:04:35.520 --> 0:04:38.599 to be references to a complex device made out of 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:43.839 three parts that are in fact each individually called a gimbal. 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:46.440 So anyway, I got this sorted out by consulting a 0:04:46.480 --> 0:04:50.880 reference manual. I went to the Oxford Dictionary of Mechanical Engineering. 0:04:50.920 --> 0:04:53.520 If that's not an authoritative source, I don't know what is. 0:04:54.040 --> 0:04:57.599 And according to this volume, a gimbal is quote, a 0:04:57.640 --> 0:05:02.040 pivoted support that allows row tation of a supported object 0:05:02.160 --> 0:05:06.960 about a single axis. Two orthogonal gimbals are used in 0:05:07.000 --> 0:05:11.800 supports of, for example, compasses. So I think the object 0:05:11.839 --> 0:05:14.840 mounted within a gimbal is most often going to be 0:05:15.120 --> 0:05:18.800 a platform that is supposed to maintain its orientation with 0:05:18.839 --> 0:05:23.320 respect to gravity, or it's some kind of detector, sensor 0:05:23.560 --> 0:05:27.279 or measuring device. But when I was thinking about simple 0:05:27.360 --> 0:05:31.080 examples that people might know from around their homes, actually 0:05:31.120 --> 0:05:34.960 thought of the C shaped mounting for a globe. Uh 0:05:35.520 --> 0:05:37.800 Actually was was looking at a globe just the other 0:05:37.880 --> 0:05:40.440 day and admiring all of the like names of countries 0:05:40.480 --> 0:05:44.000 that are no longer accurate on it um. But on 0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:46.080 a globe, you've got this. You know often have this 0:05:46.440 --> 0:05:48.880 either either a full ring or or sort of a 0:05:48.920 --> 0:05:52.359 C shaped metal ring that connects to the globe at 0:05:52.400 --> 0:05:55.320 the poles and allows the globe to rotate within it. 0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:59.640 Uh and of course this simulates the rotation of the Earth. Now, 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:02.920 often when you read about references to gimbals, they will 0:06:02.920 --> 0:06:06.680 be referring to systems that use two or three or 0:06:06.680 --> 0:06:11.839 even more gimbals in combination in succession with one another 0:06:12.200 --> 0:06:16.760 to allow more dimensions of free rotation. For example, probably 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:19.920 the most famous one is known as card Ends suspension, 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:23.600 and this is again according to the the Oxford Handbook 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:28.360 of Mechanical Engineering, quote a system that uses three gimbals 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:32.960 with orthogonal axis orthogonal meaning at at ninety degree angles 0:06:33.360 --> 0:06:37.200 orthogonal axis, so as to support a component in a 0:06:37.320 --> 0:06:42.760 fixed orientation despite rotation of the mounting of the gimbals. 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:48.000 Card And, by the way, that's named for Geralamo Cardano, 0:06:48.160 --> 0:06:51.760 a sixteenth century Italian polymath who developed a or made 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:55.000 use of a three ring gimbal. Right, and the handbook 0:06:55.000 --> 0:06:57.680 goes on to say that the card and suspension is 0:06:57.760 --> 0:07:01.919 most often used to support gyroscopes for navigational use or 0:07:02.000 --> 0:07:07.320 for various types of experiments about freely rotating bodies. So 0:07:07.440 --> 0:07:09.920 to return to the globe analogy, imagine you've got a 0:07:09.960 --> 0:07:12.720 regular globe. It's got a C shaped mounting that allows 0:07:12.720 --> 0:07:15.960 it to rotate freely on its axis. But then imagine 0:07:16.160 --> 0:07:19.800 you mount that C shaped mounting to a ring that 0:07:19.880 --> 0:07:22.720 allows the C shaped mounting to rotate freely on the 0:07:22.760 --> 0:07:27.520 equatorial axis. So that's two dimensions of rotation. And then 0:07:27.600 --> 0:07:31.280 say you mount that within a third ring, and within 0:07:31.360 --> 0:07:34.040 that ring you can actually have the globe rotate sort 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:37.960 of say top front to back. And with these three 0:07:38.040 --> 0:07:42.560 rings you can rotate freely in all three dimensions of space, 0:07:42.960 --> 0:07:45.880 the dimensions that in the context of, say talking about 0:07:45.920 --> 0:07:48.680 the attitude of an airplane, you would call pitch, roll 0:07:48.920 --> 0:07:52.480 and yaw. Now, there's normally no reason you would want 0:07:52.520 --> 0:07:56.440 a globe to rotate in three dimensions, but there are 0:07:56.560 --> 0:07:59.360 situations where it would be very useful to have an 0:07:59.360 --> 0:08:04.480 object mounted within two or three gimbals. For example, what 0:08:04.600 --> 0:08:07.400 if you want to create an object that maintains a 0:08:07.520 --> 0:08:12.520 fixed orientation with respect to some outside frame of reference, 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:16.000 even though the ground or the housing in which the 0:08:16.040 --> 0:08:20.080 object is mounted will itself move. So so you want 0:08:20.080 --> 0:08:24.120 a platform that maintains orientation with respect to the Earth, 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:28.800 maybe the Earth's center of gravity, or maintains uh, maintains 0:08:28.840 --> 0:08:32.520 orientation with respect to some point in the stars, or 0:08:32.640 --> 0:08:35.800 some fixed point of focus like say the subject of 0:08:35.840 --> 0:08:39.520 a frame. Uh, when you're using a camera, all while 0:08:39.600 --> 0:08:43.280 being mounted inside of housing that is prone to moving 0:08:43.320 --> 0:08:46.400 and jostling around. For a simpler version of all that, 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:50.800 just imagine you want you want a cup holder or 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:54.480 any open reservoir for liquid that will stay upright and 0:08:54.559 --> 0:08:58.520 not spill, even though it's a mounted in a ship 0:08:58.600 --> 0:09:01.800 that is expected to be going through rough seas. Yeah, 0:09:01.840 --> 0:09:04.600 and looking around, I know you can get some some 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:10.120 gimbal duh drink holders for I think mostly boats. This 0:09:10.160 --> 0:09:13.800 reminds me, though, I think the earliest example of this 0:09:13.840 --> 0:09:17.080 mechanism that I remember seeing, uh, I mean I would 0:09:17.080 --> 0:09:19.800 have seen compasses and so forth, but a situation where 0:09:19.800 --> 0:09:23.440 someone who's really calling out the gimbal technology was some 0:09:23.640 --> 0:09:25.839 sort of I don't know if this was like a Mr. 0:09:25.920 --> 0:09:29.440 Wizard or Reading Rainbow or some Nickelodeon show, but it 0:09:29.480 --> 0:09:32.880 was like something with kid inventors, and kids were rolling 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:36.400 out their inventions, and one of the kid inventions was 0:09:36.520 --> 0:09:40.120 essentially a gimbal drink tray. Um so I think, if 0:09:40.160 --> 0:09:44.080 memory serves, these weren't round frames, but they were square frames. 0:09:44.080 --> 0:09:46.760 But it created the same sort of situation, and they 0:09:46.840 --> 0:09:50.439 demonstrated it showing like a glass of coke or PEPSI, 0:09:50.559 --> 0:09:51.880 you know, they're in the middle of it. And I 0:09:51.920 --> 0:09:54.920 remember at the time thinking, well, this is phenomenal. This 0:09:55.000 --> 0:09:58.360 is what we should use all the time. And and 0:09:58.400 --> 0:10:00.440 of course then you go back into the world you know, well, no, 0:10:00.520 --> 0:10:03.120 I guess, I guess the engineering benefits of this design 0:10:04.080 --> 0:10:07.240 do not make this a better option than simply being 0:10:07.280 --> 0:10:10.640 careful with a tray. But at the time I remember 0:10:10.679 --> 0:10:12.760 being really impressed with it and thinking, well, this, this 0:10:12.880 --> 0:10:14.560 is the way, This is the way we should be 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:16.640 carrying drinks around on trays. We should see this in 0:10:16.720 --> 0:10:20.439 every restaurant in in every city around the world. Oh yeah, 0:10:20.480 --> 0:10:22.960 I mean when you're carrying your coffee cup and it's 0:10:23.040 --> 0:10:25.400 and it's too full, and it just starts slashing back 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:27.800 and forth and you're like, I can't I've got to 0:10:27.840 --> 0:10:30.200 stop walking, or I've got to spill it there. That's 0:10:30.240 --> 0:10:33.319 pretty much it a sort of gimbaled sling for your 0:10:33.360 --> 0:10:36.840 coffee cup. I suspect would help overcome that problem. Yeah, 0:10:36.960 --> 0:10:39.640 or say a Martini glass where it's like this, This 0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:43.719 is a horrible design. I mean, and you know, I 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:45.840 could easily go off on the Martine glass is easy. 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:48.200 It's so easy to slash. But it makes you think, well, 0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:50.240 we gotta have gimbal trays for these things. If we're 0:10:50.240 --> 0:10:53.320 gonna insist on drinking out of these ridiculous glasses and 0:10:53.400 --> 0:10:57.200 not something more reasonable, like a like a coop or 0:10:57.200 --> 0:10:59.679 a Nick and Nora, then well then well let's get 0:10:59.720 --> 0:11:03.160 special lies trays. You know, I think the poor design 0:11:03.200 --> 0:11:06.920 of the Martini glass is actually intentional. There's like a 0:11:06.960 --> 0:11:10.160 psychological effect of the fact that it slashes so easily. 0:11:10.480 --> 0:11:13.360 It makes the act of drinking the martini kind of 0:11:13.400 --> 0:11:16.480 delicate experience. So you imagine, I don't know, Don Draper 0:11:16.520 --> 0:11:19.400 having a martini or whatever, and he's not just knocking 0:11:19.440 --> 0:11:21.360 it back, you know, he's got to like hold it 0:11:21.520 --> 0:11:24.600 very carefully and sip it carefully, and it makes it 0:11:24.760 --> 0:11:28.400 a tender moment. Yeah, And then I guess the threshold 0:11:28.480 --> 0:11:32.400 for for for becoming sloppy with your drink is that 0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:35.320 much closer, and therefore maybe the idea as well if 0:11:35.320 --> 0:11:37.440 they're getting they're having too much to drink, They're gonna 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:39.920 spill more of it. They'll spill more of it on themselves, 0:11:40.320 --> 0:11:43.480 and they'll think twice about ordering more of this particular bedridge. 0:11:43.480 --> 0:11:45.440 They'll realize, I maybe I should just get a water 0:11:45.480 --> 0:11:47.559 and go home. Maybe I should just get six dozen 0:11:47.600 --> 0:11:51.600 more oysters and then go to the meeting. Well, okay, anyway, 0:11:51.800 --> 0:11:53.920 a lot of sources if you try to look for 0:11:54.000 --> 0:11:56.800 the origins of the gimbal system. I think this is 0:11:57.200 --> 0:12:00.320 one of the many mechanical designs that we don't know 0:12:00.400 --> 0:12:03.920 for sure the the actual origin of it. But uh 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:07.760 the one of the earliest mentions of a gimbal is 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:12.280 often cited to a third century b c. E. Greek 0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:18.199 engineer and author named Philo of Byzantium or Philon of Byzantium. 0:12:18.280 --> 0:12:21.479 I was reading about this in a book called Gears 0:12:21.800 --> 0:12:27.760 by Vincenzo Vulo published by Springer in and there's just 0:12:27.840 --> 0:12:31.560 a short paragraph about Philo here, uh A, Vulo writes quote. 0:12:32.120 --> 0:12:35.400 Filo was also the first to describe a gimbal. It 0:12:35.520 --> 0:12:39.080 was applied to an eight side ink pot that could 0:12:39.080 --> 0:12:43.440 be turned anyway, driven by gears without the ink being poured. 0:12:44.080 --> 0:12:46.520 This was done by suspending the ink well at a 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:50.400 central plate after assembling this on a series of concentric 0:12:50.480 --> 0:12:54.000 metal rings which were stationary regardless of how the pot 0:12:54.040 --> 0:12:58.199 could rotate. Now, like many things, like many inventions mentioned 0:12:58.240 --> 0:13:02.480 in ancient Greek reference texts, this doesn't necessarily mean that 0:13:02.640 --> 0:13:06.560 Filo was the inventor of the subject, or that Filo 0:13:06.720 --> 0:13:09.800 was the inventor of the gimbal or the gimbal system. 0:13:09.800 --> 0:13:12.680 But this does appear to be a very early, if 0:13:12.720 --> 0:13:15.560 not the earliest written reference to it. Yeah, in looking 0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:18.040 at and considering the history of the gimbal, i'm i'm 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:21.400 reminded of our discussions of the wheel. So you look 0:13:21.400 --> 0:13:23.200 at the history and go, certainly we have an invention 0:13:23.280 --> 0:13:26.199 episode on the wheel, at least one, I can't remember. 0:13:26.240 --> 0:13:28.400 It's a one part or two partner. But one of 0:13:28.440 --> 0:13:30.360 the things we touched on is that it's one thing 0:13:30.440 --> 0:13:33.840 to happen upon the concept, to invent the concept of 0:13:33.840 --> 0:13:36.599 the wheel. But then how practical is it if you 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:39.680 don't have roads? And so if we have various examples 0:13:39.679 --> 0:13:42.840 of cultures where there wasn't really a practical use of 0:13:42.880 --> 0:13:45.800 the wheel, but the wheel was still around as a novelty. 0:13:45.960 --> 0:13:47.400 We'd see that would the one would see it in 0:13:47.440 --> 0:13:50.079 the use of toys for children, And so one can 0:13:50.080 --> 0:13:52.520 easily imagine a situation where the gimbal is much the 0:13:52.600 --> 0:13:58.720 same where UH, craftsmen and curious minds would have happened 0:13:58.760 --> 0:14:01.720 upon this property, would have developed this. But if there's 0:14:01.760 --> 0:14:06.600 not something that you need to keep stable and then 0:14:06.640 --> 0:14:09.560 then then why roll it out? Why make any more 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:11.840 of a of an issue out of it? Because again 0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:14.120 I come back to that example of the kid inventors 0:14:14.520 --> 0:14:17.120 with the with the tray, Like that's cool and all, 0:14:17.160 --> 0:14:21.120 but if it's not actually better than just carefully carrying 0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:23.600 a tray, then it's not an invention that's going to 0:14:23.640 --> 0:14:26.440 actually have any legs. Right, And in the end, a 0:14:26.480 --> 0:14:29.560 lot of the real uses of gimbal systems seem to 0:14:29.560 --> 0:14:34.440 be highly specialized. They're not usually like everyday use kind 0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:38.920 of objects. They're often for special kinds of uh detectors 0:14:38.920 --> 0:14:44.400 and sensors in special contexts of course, in scientific experiments 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:47.000 and UH later we'll get to this in space travel 0:14:47.320 --> 0:14:51.120 after the invention of photography, but earlier than that, at 0:14:51.160 --> 0:14:54.440 least in the use of c navigation. Right, right, at 0:14:54.440 --> 0:14:56.760 what point do you have something where it makes sense 0:14:57.160 --> 0:15:04.320 to bust out this technology to keep it stationary. Thank 0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:08.840 and you just said the word sensor, you were, of 0:15:08.880 --> 0:15:11.840 course you're referring to a different spelling and usage of 0:15:11.840 --> 0:15:15.040 the word. But the in this we're coming back to 0:15:15.640 --> 0:15:19.960 our discussion of incense and incense sensors from the previous 0:15:20.200 --> 0:15:23.720 episodes of the show, because, as we teased towards the 0:15:23.840 --> 0:15:27.600 end of Incense Part two, this episode on gimbals is 0:15:27.680 --> 0:15:31.400 kind of a continuation of that journey. Um So, while 0:15:31.400 --> 0:15:34.000 a great deal of the history of incense usage has 0:15:34.040 --> 0:15:36.840 more to do with religion and pure aesthetics, there are 0:15:36.880 --> 0:15:40.760 still practical applications and we when we consider the technology 0:15:40.800 --> 0:15:46.000 of sensors again dedicated incense burning containers and devices, Uh yeah, 0:15:46.000 --> 0:15:49.040 things get a bit more complicated. And indeed, in this case, 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:53.720 we see links between sensors and gimbal technology that will 0:15:53.800 --> 0:15:56.240 ultimately play a big role in say, the future of 0:15:56.280 --> 0:16:00.440 things like photography and marine navigation and even rockets science. 0:16:01.800 --> 0:16:05.320 But but we can go back to very old traditions, 0:16:05.400 --> 0:16:09.000 very old technologies involving the use of incense, and I 0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:11.480 guess you might might wonder, well, why would you need 0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:13.920 to use a gimbal on an incense, at which point 0:16:14.200 --> 0:16:18.040 does it pass that kid inventor test of the practicality 0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:21.800 um overpowering the This is the pure novelty of the thing. 0:16:22.280 --> 0:16:24.840 So one of my main sources for this is a 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:28.440 two thousand twenty two article by art historian Bing Wong 0:16:28.920 --> 0:16:33.280 published in the journal Religions UH. He cites several sources here, 0:16:33.360 --> 0:16:37.560 including the work of noted sinologist Joseph Needham, whose writings 0:16:37.560 --> 0:16:41.520 we recently reference on the show as well. Um. This 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:44.640 is an individual who casts cast along shadow in the 0:16:44.680 --> 0:16:47.440 study of Chinese science and technology, especially in the West. 0:16:47.880 --> 0:16:50.360 His multi volume work on the History of Science and 0:16:50.400 --> 0:16:53.800 Civilization in China was very much a career defining work, 0:16:54.880 --> 0:16:59.240 so as Huang describes here, it would seem based on 0:16:59.320 --> 0:17:03.160 Needham's reas Urchin writings, the Chinese knowledge of the gimbal 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:07.320 dates back at least to the second century CE, but 0:17:07.440 --> 0:17:11.359 also possibly to the second century b C. We have 0:17:11.440 --> 0:17:15.200 a poet by the name of Sima scheng Ru who 0:17:15.200 --> 0:17:18.280 makes a reference to the jin Zoo and Chuang. These 0:17:18.320 --> 0:17:23.640 are the metal rings containing the burning perfume, and this 0:17:23.760 --> 0:17:27.320 is in the marin fu uh. This is owed on 0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:31.239 beautiful women a poem that contains a seduction scene and 0:17:31.280 --> 0:17:34.800 in doing so describes the various these a bed chambers 0:17:35.240 --> 0:17:39.359 and the items inside that bed chamber. And it's inferred 0:17:39.400 --> 0:17:43.879 then in Needham's writing that, based on other texts, the 0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:48.320 artifact described here might in fact be a gimbal suspension 0:17:48.560 --> 0:17:53.359 to keep the burning perfume stable. Okay, So much like 0:17:53.440 --> 0:17:56.439 you might have, say a cup holder on a boat 0:17:56.720 --> 0:17:59.960 that could use a gimbal system in order to keep 0:18:00.000 --> 0:18:02.640 the drink from spilling while the boat rocks in the waves, 0:18:03.160 --> 0:18:06.399 this could potentially be a container for burning incense that 0:18:06.440 --> 0:18:09.119 would use a gimbal system to keep it stable, to 0:18:09.160 --> 0:18:12.200 make sure it didn't it didn't spill. Right now that 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:15.080 you may be wondering about the again the kid inventor 0:18:15.760 --> 0:18:18.720 test here, like why is it really necessary? Well, there's 0:18:18.720 --> 0:18:20.639 a potential answer for that, and I'll get through that 0:18:20.680 --> 0:18:24.600 in a second. But um, if this is this is true, 0:18:24.760 --> 0:18:28.760 if this would seem to position the earliest Chinese references 0:18:28.800 --> 0:18:32.440 to gimbal um pretty early on. In some case, I 0:18:32.440 --> 0:18:35.359 don't know if this would necessarily be earlier than um 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:38.879 than than Philo, but but certainly this would be pretty 0:18:38.880 --> 0:18:44.000 early on. Um and Eastern traditions compared with Western traditions. 0:18:44.800 --> 0:18:46.960 I should note that when it comes to critics of 0:18:47.080 --> 0:18:51.200 need Him, a common one was that he tended towards 0:18:51.320 --> 0:18:55.760 Chinese superiority in his analysis. Apparently. Other critics, however, argued 0:18:55.880 --> 0:18:58.879 quite the opposite, that he struggled to shake free of 0:18:58.920 --> 0:19:04.119 the shackles of Europe in exceptionalism in his synology. So um, 0:19:04.160 --> 0:19:07.119 you know, ultimately, I'm not sure exactly where the truth 0:19:07.200 --> 0:19:10.080 falls on all of that, but uh, probably worth reminding 0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:14.399 everyone the need Him live and and and it was 0:19:14.480 --> 0:19:17.560 I think pretty active up and towards the toward towards 0:19:17.600 --> 0:19:19.399 the end of his life, as like an editor of 0:19:19.480 --> 0:19:23.600 these volumes. But Um long does not raise the spectr 0:19:23.680 --> 0:19:26.200 of either inclination, though he does look at new evidence, 0:19:26.280 --> 0:19:29.040 disagrees with a few Needham theories, but otherwise did not 0:19:29.119 --> 0:19:32.679 does not seem to oppose the second century BC date, Uh, 0:19:32.680 --> 0:19:36.760 though does firmly base it in the analysis of need Um. So, anyway, 0:19:36.800 --> 0:19:39.040 coming back to this question, Okay, why why would you 0:19:39.080 --> 0:19:41.440 need your burning perfume? Why would you need your incense 0:19:41.840 --> 0:19:44.440 to have some sort of a mechanical system to keep 0:19:44.440 --> 0:19:46.040 it level? I mean, if you're taking a gut on 0:19:46.080 --> 0:19:48.359 a ship. Are you running with it? Right? Like? What's 0:19:48.400 --> 0:19:51.600 the what's the purpose? Yeah? Well this brings us to 0:19:51.680 --> 0:19:56.440 consideration of the spherical incense burner that had been previously 0:19:56.840 --> 0:20:00.280 referred to by archaeologists as as a perfume ball, but 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:03.640 eventually written descriptions were discovered that referred to them as 0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:08.560 a hung nun, which Huong translates as sachet, in which 0:20:09.040 --> 0:20:13.280 Yabla Chinese, which is a website for translating Mandarin, translates 0:20:13.320 --> 0:20:18.000 as spiceball. Now, to be clear, these are metal uh 0:20:18.080 --> 0:20:22.080 spheres as opposed to silk or cloth bound bags of incense. 0:20:22.600 --> 0:20:25.720 So one points out that these metal spheres seem to 0:20:25.760 --> 0:20:29.560 have two primary uses. In Tang dynasty China, this would 0:20:29.600 --> 0:20:33.679 be uh, we're we're moving ahead several centuries here. This 0:20:33.720 --> 0:20:36.760 would be the period of six eighteen through nine oh 0:20:36.760 --> 0:20:40.160 seven CE, So they would have two purposes basically as 0:20:40.160 --> 0:20:43.560 an incense burner, but also as a hand warm warmer 0:20:43.840 --> 0:20:48.280 as well as quote a sensor amid the covers which 0:20:48.320 --> 0:20:51.800 allowed it to set or I guess even roll around 0:20:52.320 --> 0:20:57.160 on bedding without fear of tipping over. WHOA, yeah, so 0:20:57.240 --> 0:21:00.520 and I so this is something that based on some 0:21:00.560 --> 0:21:03.719 of the the the explanations I was reading. It kind 0:21:03.760 --> 0:21:05.520 of brings the mind this idea of like, here's this 0:21:05.760 --> 0:21:08.640 and you can look up images of this their ornate. Uh, 0:21:08.720 --> 0:21:11.280 it's a it's a metal sphere, and inside there's a 0:21:11.280 --> 0:21:14.760 gimbaled system to keep a tray of burning coals and 0:21:14.760 --> 0:21:17.439 and incense from tipping over. And then you would be 0:21:17.440 --> 0:21:21.719 able to place this amid some some some regal bedding, 0:21:22.359 --> 0:21:25.640 and the fumes from it would of course, uh make 0:21:25.680 --> 0:21:28.400 the bed smell nice. The heat from it would would 0:21:28.440 --> 0:21:31.720 potentially warm the bed, and I mean, I'm not sure 0:21:31.800 --> 0:21:33.680 from the descriptions I was reading if this is something 0:21:33.720 --> 0:21:35.760 that would actually stay there all night. Maybe it would. 0:21:35.760 --> 0:21:37.560 And maybe that's the idea that you could be in 0:21:37.600 --> 0:21:39.920 the bed and you wouldn't have to worry about kicking 0:21:40.000 --> 0:21:43.800 it over and you know, then burning your covers, even 0:21:43.840 --> 0:21:45.879 with the gimbals. I don't know that that would kind 0:21:45.880 --> 0:21:48.640 of freak me out, but I guess I'm not used 0:21:48.640 --> 0:21:51.680 to it. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, there's a 0:21:51.760 --> 0:21:53.440 there's a fun history. I don't know if we could 0:21:53.480 --> 0:21:55.960 get a full Invention episode out of this, But when 0:21:55.960 --> 0:21:58.760 you get into the history of bed warmers. It's pretty 0:21:58.760 --> 0:22:02.560 fascinating the use of everything from essentially just hot bricks too, 0:22:02.600 --> 0:22:05.560 of course, bottles of water, and and then of course 0:22:05.840 --> 0:22:08.320 various technological systems. I think we did touch on some 0:22:08.359 --> 0:22:10.600 of these in our History of the bed, you know, 0:22:10.640 --> 0:22:14.679 ideas where you have bed and heating apparatus in a 0:22:14.760 --> 0:22:18.399 home far more integrated than we're used to today in 0:22:18.640 --> 0:22:20.680 many parts of the world world I should I should 0:22:20.680 --> 0:22:22.120 mention there are parts of the world where you still 0:22:22.119 --> 0:22:26.239 find this integration. So this is this is insightful. Here 0:22:26.320 --> 0:22:29.800 Huong's Chairs a description of of this invention from a 0:22:29.840 --> 0:22:34.639 Western Hans source. The sources as the translated title of 0:22:34.680 --> 0:22:38.480 Miscellaneous Records of the Western Capital, and it even credits 0:22:38.680 --> 0:22:42.720 some key inventors and innovators. Here quote Ding Juan, a 0:22:42.840 --> 0:22:46.879 skilled craftsman from chang On, made an always full lamp. 0:22:47.240 --> 0:22:51.400 It had extraordinary decorations, sporting seven dragons and five phoenixes, 0:22:51.800 --> 0:22:55.880 which were supported by lotus shaped platforms resting on stalks. 0:22:56.800 --> 0:23:00.760 He also created an incense burner which lay on the bedcloths. 0:23:01.320 --> 0:23:04.879 It was also called the censor amid the covers. The 0:23:05.000 --> 0:23:08.679 technique is original from Feng Feng, a Han dynasty skilled 0:23:08.760 --> 0:23:13.199 artisan whose skills are unprecedented but now lost. It is 0:23:13.200 --> 0:23:16.399