Research & Sources

Books

Books In Public Domain (may also be available for purchase)

507 Mechanical Movements: Mechanisms and Devices by Henry T. Brown (1868)
"This collection of illustrations and descriptions was originally published in the "American Artisan," a publication edited by Mr. Henry T. Brown, a prominent patent attorney, nationally known. Mr. Brown was the senior member of Brown & Seward, patent attorneys, at 270 Broadway, New York City." (from forward to book of Clark Collection)
1800 Mechanical Movements, Devices and Appliances by Gardner D. Hiscox (1899)
Mechanisms, Linkages and Mechanical Controls by Chironis, Nicholas P. ed (1965)
Mechanisms and Mechanical Devices Sourcebook, 5th Edition by Neil Sclater (1991)
Machine Devices and instrumentation by Nicholas P. Chironis (1966)
Mechanisms And Mechanical Movements: A Treatise On Different Types Of Mechanisms And Various Methods Of Transmitting, Controlling And Modifying Motion by Franklin Day Jones (1918)
Basic Machines and How They Work by Naval Education And Training Program (1965)
Mechanical engineering for Beginners by R. S. McLaren (1908)
Robotics: Designing the Mechanisms for Automated Machinery by Ben Zion Sandler
Dictionary of mechanical engineering by G.H.F. Nayler (1996) (multiple other versions)

Books In Print

The Way Things Work by David Macaulay and Neil Ardley
Theory of Machines by Sadhu Singh
The LEGO Power Functions Idea Book, Volume 1: Machines and Mechanisms by Yoshihito Isogawa
The LEGO Technic Idea Book: Simple Machines by Yoshihito Isogawa
The LEGO MINDSTORMS Robot Inventor Idea Book by Yoshihito Isogawa
Engineering in Plain Sight An Illustrated Field Guide to the Constructed Environment by Grady Hillhouse
Leonardo da Vinci: Extraordinary Machines by David Hawcock
Engines: The Inner Workings of Machines That Move the World by Theodore Gray
How Things Work: The Inner Life of Everyday Machines by Theodore Gray
Making Things Move DIY Mechanisms for Inventors, Hobbyists, and Artists
Make: Mechanical Engineering for Makers: A Hands-on Guide to Designing and Making Physical Things By Brian Bunnell and Samer Najia
The Beginner's Guide to Engineering: Mechanical Engineering by Mark Huber
A Dictionary of Mechanical Engineering by Tony Atkins and Marcel Escudier
Rubber Band Engineer by Lance Akiyama
Big Book of Gizmos & Gadgets: Expert Advice and 15 All-Time Favorite Projects and Patterns by Editors of Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts
Making Wooden Gear Clocks: 6 Cool Contraptions That Really Keep Time by Editors of Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts

Videos

Museums

Contains list of mechanical museum collections around the world.

The Clark Collection of Mechanical Movement (at Boston Museum of Science)

This exhibit is on display, but sadly, not very visible online.
The Exhibit, originally titled "Mechanical Wonderland," was made by W. M. Clark in the early 1900s. According to the New York Times, Sept. 30, 1928, the collection of 160 models were displayed at the Museums of the Peaceful Arts on West 40th St. From his early youth Mr. Clark has been interested in machines and has always had a great desire to visualize the science of mechanics. His work of twenty years or more in perfecting the exhibit was inspired by a wish to give inventors and to all who deal in machine technique a short cut to their various ends.
(from forward to book of Clark Collection written by W. M. Clark) Mr. Clark, through the help of the "Mechanical Movements" book by Henry T. Brown, acquired the foundation for a mechanical education, without schooling in the regular way.
This exhibit visualizes the art and science of mechanics, so that those, like himself, who had no opportunity to get this education in the schools, can now get a quick grasp of it.

The Exhibit, "Mechanical Wonderland," is a collection of over 200 mechanical movements, devices and combinations of movements, showing every movement used in this art, either separately or in combination.

Several of these exhibits have been built, the first one being in the Science Museum of New York City, the last one being purchased by Mr. Louis Bamberger of Newark, New Jersey, and presented to the Newark Museum for permanent installation, where it has been viewed and studied by thousands of craftsmen, scientists, inventors, teachers and educational bodies, schools and colleges, together with those prominent in industries in the metropolitan area.
Over 135,000 people saw it in the "Grand Central Palace" in New York City in one week's period, when exhibited there.
Hand Held video of Clark Collection of Mechanical Movement on YouTube
L. Eckstein's blog page on history of William M. Clark's series of mechanical models
1954 Catalog to the Clark Collection in Newark Museum

Cornell University Kinematics Models for Design Digital Library (KMODDL)

An open access, multimedia resource for learning and teaching about kinematics - the geometry of pure motion and the history and theory of machines. The core of KMODDL is the Reuleaux Collection of Mechanisms and Machines, an important collection of 19th-century machine elements held by Cornell University's Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.