Article ID: CBB815396974

Mechanical Wits Used in the America Colonization: Engineering Assessment (2024)

unapi

The first European settlements in the new world faced technical issues with the help of the XVI century scientific advances. Besides briefly exposing the scientific and technological situation, this paper explores, with the help of reverse engineering, two singular mechanical wits representative of the technological advances introduced in America to overcome different problems. Firstly, a pump, based on an alternative movement system through crankshafts and pistons used against the continuous flooding suffered in the Ciudad de México valley. Although flooding remained a problem (it was solved in the XX century), hydraulic pumps were essential for continuous soil drainage. Secondly, a port crane for handling cannons, military devices, and construction materials during the Lima fortification in the XVII century. For both cases, reverse engineering, through engineering methods, Computer-Aided Design CAD programs, and additive manufacturing, provides virtual and/or tangible mockups that help to analyze and improve our knowledge about the dimensions, materials, and functions of used (and currently lost) mechanical systems during the American colonization.

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Article Marco Ceccarelli; Rafael López-García (2024) Introduction to the Special Issue: Findings of History of Mechanism Science. Foundations of Science (pp. 1-4). unapi

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Authors & Contributors
Anagnostou, Sabine
González Bueno, Antonio
Kelton, Paul
Morales Sarabia, Angélica
Pardo Tomás, José
Pimentel, Juan
Journals
Foundations of Science
Archives Internationales d'Histoire des Sciences
Circumscribere: International Journal for the History of Science
Eighteenth Century: Theory and Interpretation
History and Technology
Journal of American History
Publishers
Cambridge University Press
Institutum Historicum S.I.
Published for the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture by University of North Carolina Press
University Press of Florida
Yale University Press
Springer International Publishing
Concepts
Colonialism
Cross-cultural interaction; cultural influence
Historical reconstruction
Spain, colonies
Indigenous peoples; indigeneity
Mechanism
People
Acosta, José de
Bry, Theodor de
Crosby, Alfred W.
de l'Ecluse, Charles
Dobyns, Henry F.
Paré, Ambroise
Time Periods
16th century
17th century
18th century
19th century
15th century
Medieval
Places
Americas
Europe
Spain
Africa
Mexico
Vietnam
Institutions
Jesuits (Society of Jesus)
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