Steps from here, to there...inspired by Archimedes

Relevant Links (will display on a blank page)

1.-Antikytera
Ancient and very complex device. It is a great invention although difficult to research properly. Not sure how to project the real dimension of its importance nowadays. Pass.

1.a. Michael Lahanas' "Ancient Greece: Science and Technology"

1.b. Dead Media Project Working Notes

2.-Principles of Archimedes
Huge amount of material to read from. Many principles still applied -and largely enhanced-, some out. How many have been developed? What's a practical one? Which one can I relate with everyday life, with a massive usage? The Articulated Quadrilateral... and the use of the pedal.

2.a. A link from Beyond Compasses-The Geometry of Curves

2.b.The Garden of Archimedes, Articulated Quadrilateral

2.c.A link from The ancient World Web/Math,
2.d. about Archimedes

3.- The Pedal
Which of those things using pedal - at least at the beginning- do I know, or remember?

3.a. The Pedal

4.-The Sewing Machine
When did it appear?
Who invented it? More importantly, How did it work? What was the impact of this device? What did it change? How was everything before? Where?

4.a. Stitches - The History of Sewing Machines

4.b. The sewing machine: How it works and description (Spanish)

5.-The sewing machine between 1870's and 1900's, United States.
Before the common use of the sewing machine in the house hold, every piece or garment for everyone was made by hand, in long periods of time. It was a hard task, performed for the family. The second industrial revolution was about to appear, and I think the transition embraces this period of time, approximately. First machines functioned using a pedal, or turning a wheel by hand. Both models shortened the time invested in such tasks, from weeks to hours. These machines were very elaborated and expensive. Perhaps a second, collateral invention could have more presence and importance today than the sewing machine itself: the payment through installments, or credit. This was a clever way to sell for the manufacturer -Singer, in this case-, and for the buyer to acquire a tool not only wanted, but needed. The jump from home made clothes to those industrially made, -and now show cased in stores (another change)- was gradual and definitive.

5.a. The Engines of Our Ingenuity No. 167: SEWING MACHINES, by John H. H. Lienhard, Sewing Machine in American Life

5.b. Illinois State Museum
Furniture 1800-1850

household objects 1850-1890

6.- The image: The Sewing Machine
So now, What about the furniture? What was the common household decor? Not necessarily that of very luxurious homes, but those average, day to day homes, where people lived, sewing every day . The style had to be something between the Victorian trend -old- and new trends. What happens is that in those years there were only newspapers as massive media, so I deducted the change of styles was slow, many Victorian things, and many not at all. Besides, the incipient industrial city didn't have the color palette we all now know, and on top of that, cities are very singular and particular including their environment. The predominant palette in the image is one of ochres, terracotas and red, cadmios and white. A sewingstand, a cupboard, little curvy table, the fabrics in the window, are inspired in the late and mixed Victorian-like house.
What did night-time illumination look like back then? Another transition between oil lamps and kerosene. Light Color brought out by kerosene lamps was reddish, with a specific temperature -Kelvin(K)-.

6.a. The Library of Congress Learning Page/ Rise of Industrial America, 1876-1900 City Life in the Late 19th Century

6.b. A Brief History of Lighting in the U.S. Woodwork treatments and Lighting

6.c. DESIGN STYLES: ARCHITECTURE, INTERIORS & FURNISHINGS "...Design elements of architecture, interiors and furniture styles through history ...".

6.d. Victorian Station

6.e. Museums in the USA/ Virtual Library

6.f. About Physichs of Color