Rudder and jacquard loom: what they have in common
- Step 1. Rudder — is part of — Sailing ship. A steering wheel.
- Step 2. Sailing ship — uses — Mercator projection. Navigating along straight rhumb lines.
- Step 3. Mercator projection — uses — Gutenberg printing press. Maps were printed in large numbers.
- Step 4. Gutenberg printing press — works like — Jacquard loom. An analogy, not proven influence: both set type and a chain of punched cards are a replaceable pattern that a machine reproduces over and over.