Reinventing the Wheel

Abstract

As inventive as instructive, information wheels - or volvelles -have been used since the 14th century to measure, record, predict and calculate everything from time and space to military history and recipes. In this work, designer and critic Jessica Helfand offers an in-depth look at these artefacts, which are not only clever and amusing -where else could you dial-in ingredients to concoct "Creamed Oysters and Celery" - but, Helfand argues, relevant as a model for modern interactive design. From circular mathematical slide rules to Captain Marvel phonetic decoders; from nuclear bomb blast calculators to gestational breeding planners; and from astronomical planispheres to presidential trivia plotters, this volume demonstrates the range and utility of these ingenious interactive tools.