Trebuchet and PBS
NOVA showcased a great show tonight dealing with the trebuchet - a giant medieval siege engine built by Wayne Neel, a professor of mechanical engineering at Virginia Military Institute and Frenchman Renaud Beffeyte and an international team of carpenters, masons, and black smiths. They built two different trebuchets - one on wheels and a fixed lead counter-weight and the other with a hinged bucket that is filled with rubble - and took turns launching them. This is what makes PBS great - they present history coming alive with a bit of Battlebots and Junk Yard Wars mixed in.
While we are on the topic of trebuchet, you can even send away for a kit to build your own trebuchet! Who needs water balloon launchers, when you can you can have your own Warwolf - the early 14th century machine that King Edward [yes the same one] attacked with at Stirling Castle in 1304. I'm sure we could find a nice spot for that on top of the Alms Building to ravenge all of the fraternities and sororities, unlike last years seniors who could only hit the ones across the street.
Update - 02 June 2005
Check out Trebuchet.com for all of your DIY Trebuchet info like plans, T Shirts, and the knowledgeable Message Boards.
Update 15 July 2005
Check out this Desktop Trebuchet Experiment and Karen's Trebuchet for ideas for making your own Trebuchet.
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This is the permanent home of Trebuchet and PBS. I wrote this post at 22:00 on July 16, 2002. This post is part of grubbykid.com, a weblog. If you liked this entry, why don't you read some other posts such as Kevin Smith blogs or Bastille Day and memories? Or you could go to the site archives or return home. All are good choices.
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Some descriptive tags for this entry are: cool tv television tech history diy.
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Some descriptive tags for this entry are: cool, diy, history, tech, television, tv.
Mommy... what's a tag?
