Agostino Ramelli was a 16th-century Italian military engineer of some note who designed many machines and other contributions used in the go-go Renaissance period, including cranes, grain mills, and water pumps. But his most compelling apparatus was a real mindbender-a revolving wooden wheel with angled shelves that allowed users to read multiple books at one time. Ramelli boasted, "This is a beautiful and ingenious machine, very useful and convenient for anyone who takes pleasure in study, especially those who are indisposed and tormented by gout." Huh? Ramelli wrote this for Le Diverse et Artificiose Machine, his "catalog of creations," one might say. And convenient, too! As Ramelli further explained, "Moreover, it has another fine convenience in that it occupies very little space in the place where it is set."
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