Spinning the Cosmos: Volvelles in the Early Modern Commentary Tradition of Johannes de Sacrobosco's De Sphaera

This open access book investigates the epistemological concept of and the knowledge transfer interwoven with the moveable paper wheels found in medieval and early modern books—the so-called “volvelles.” The earliest known volvelles emerged in the mid-thirteenth century and were cut out and installed by the reader, often appearing in books dealing with astronomical subjects. The brain processes and remembers images more easily than words—the so-called “picture superiority effect”—especially ...