nent could have no bearing upon a
practical problem, and turned the page to the "practical kinks"
section.[117]

[Footnote 116: A. S. Hall and E. S. Ault, "How Acceleration Analysis Can
Be Improved," _Machine Design_, February 1943, vol. 15, pp. 100-102,
162, 164; and March 1943, vol. 15, pp. 90-92, 168, 170. See also A. S.
Hall, "Teaching Coriolis' Law," _Journal of Engineering Education_, June
1948, vol. 38, pp. 757-765.]

[Footnote 117: Henry N. Bonis, "The Law of Coriolis," _American
Machinist_, November 18, 1920, vol. 53, pp. 928-930. See also
"Acceleration Determinations," _American Machinist_, November 25 and
December 2, 1920, vol. 53, pp. 977-981 and 1027-1029.]

Less than 20 years ago one might have read in _Mechanical Engineering_
that "Practical machinery does not originate in mathematical formulas
nor in beautiful vector diagrams." While this remark was in a letter
evoked by an article, and was not a reflection of editorial policy, it
was nevertheless representative of an element in the American tradition
of engineering. The unconscious arrogance that is displayed in this
statement of the "practical" designer's creed is giving way to
recognition of the value of scholarly work. Lest the scholar develop
arrogance of another sort, however, it is well to hear the author of
the statement out. "A drafting machine is a useful tool," he wrote. "It
is not a substitute for a draftsman."[118]

[Footnote 118: _Mechanical Engineering_, October 1942, vol. 64, p. 746.]

The scholarly interest in a subject is fairly represented by the papers
that are published in the transactions of professional societies and,
more recently, by original papers that appear in specialized magazines.
From 1900 to 1930 there were few papers on mechanisms, and most of those
that did appear were concerned with descriptions of new "mechanical
motions." In the 1930's the number of papers reported in _Engineering
Index_ increased sharply, but only because the editors had begun to
include foreign-language listings.

There has been in Germany a thread of continuity in the kinematics of
mechanisms since the time of Reuleaux. While most of the work has had to
do with analysis, the teasing question of synthesis that Reuleaux raised
in his work has never been ignored. The developments in Germany and
elsewhere have been ably reviewed by others,[119] and it is only to be
noted here that two of the German papers, published in 1939 in
_Maschinenbau_, a