杏吧原创

Reinventing the Wheel by Jessica Helfand, Princeton Architectural Press, $24.95, ISBN 1568983387 Reviewed by Roy Herbert

THIS IS a fascinator of a book. Its attraction is perhaps not immediately obvious if the first thing you read in Reinventing the Wheel is the preface, where the phrase 鈥渁 paradigm shift鈥� in which the indigenous act of scavenging is supplemented by the interactive art of the keyword search鈥� lurks. (On the whole, it鈥檚 not a bad idea to refrain from reading any preface till you鈥檝e finished the book.)

Instead, look at the magnificent pictures that make up most of Jessica Helfand鈥檚 Reinventing the Wheel. You鈥檒l be hooked. The images here are of volvelles, an unfamiliar word that is the name of a familiar thing, the revolving disc or wheel that reveals information, shown by pointers or in small holes, as you turn it. The idea of the volvelle is ancient, but was rarely used until the 20th century brought a flood of them.

Here are circular slide rules, horoscopes, breeders鈥� guides, aircraft recognition and semaphore signalling discs; astronomy wheels, bird recognition wheels, spelling wheels and weather wheels. There are 32 categories of them in Reinventing the Wheel alone. Their ingenuity is remarkable, and the printing problems in reproducing them were undoubtedly prodigious. This marvellous display in full colour is the result of the author鈥檚 indefatigable collecting.

She supports the show with thoughts on the symbolism of the circle and on the development of the volvelle over centuries. It is well worth reading 鈥� even the preface, in the end.