Introduction

Abstract

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The modern cam is a complex and sophisticated organ. Early cams, on the other hand, were quite rudimentary. At first they were widely used because they were the simplest means of converting a continuous rotary motion into an alternating motion. The oldest documented camshafts in Europe are those described by Heron in the Greco-Roman era. These devices were used for amusement or spectacle. It is possible to attribute the lack of evidence for industrial applications of cams to a lack of interest on the part of writers. However, it is more likely that such applications did not exist due to the cultural attitudes of the ancients. Indeed, it appears that the ancients were not interested in using machines to alleviate the fatigue of manual labor or to increase production. Machines were used only to perform operations that were otherwise impossible, such as lifting heavy loads. In fact, the only machines powered by external sources of energy and designed for production are the grain mills necessary to supply flour to the large populations of cities. China claims a temporal priority over other countries in the invention and use of cams. It would be interesting to delve deeper into the history of cams in China and follow their possible spread to neighboring countries. However, the scarcity of available documentation would make this analysis extremely difficult and beyond the scope of this book. In the following chapters, therefore, we will resume the history of cams, most of which are based on European technology.