bookwheel

thumb|right|Bookwheel, from Agostino Ramelli's Le diverse et artificiose machine, 1588 The bookwheel (also written book wheel and sometimes called a reading wheel) is a type of rotating bookcase that allows one person to read multiple books in one location with ease. The books are rotated vertically similar to the motion of a water wheel, as opposed to rotating on a flat table surface. The design for the bookwheel originally appeared in a 16th-century illustration by Agostino Ramelli at a time when large books posed practical problems for readers. Ramelli's design influenced other engineers and, though now obsolete, inspires modern artists and historians.

==History and design== thumb|left|Agostino Ramelli, 1588The bookwheel, in its most commonly seen form, was invented in 1588 by Italian military engineer Agostino Ramelli, presented as one of the 195 designs in Le diverse et artificiose machine del Capitano Agostino Ramelli (The various and ingenious machines of Captain Agostino Ramelli).