As inventive as instructive, information wheels-or volvelles-have been used since the fourteenth century to measure, record, predict, and calculate everything form time and space to military history and recipes. In this fascinating book, designer and critic Jessica Helfand offers an in-depth look at these unique artifacts, which are not only clever and amusing-where else could you dial-in ingredients to concoct "Creamed Oysters and Celery"?-but, Helfand argues, relevant as a model for modern interactive design.

From circular mathematical slide rules to Captain Marvel phonetic decoders; from nuclear bomb blast calculators to gestational breeding planners; and from astronomical planispheres to presidential trivia plotters, Reinventing the Wheel demonstrates the astonishing range and remarkable utility of these ingenious "interactive" tools.

This book was designed at the Winterhouse Studio, Falls Village, Connecticut, by William Drenttel, Jessica Helfand, Rob Giampietro and Kevin Smith. The typeface used is Hightower, designed by Tobias Frere-Jones.

Published by Princeton Architectural Press & Winterhouse Editions. 9.5 x 7.5 inches - 160 pages - 180 illustrations