brainbox/young-engineers/machines/home.txt · Last modified: 14/11/2017/ 17:18 by 127.0.0.1
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They are frequently described as “the American Heath Robinson” and “the British Rube Goldberg” respectively.
Known as the 'Gadget King' Heath Robinson is best remembered for his drawings of farcically complicated machines which achieved very simple objectives. Born in 1872, he began by illustrating books such as Hans Christian Andersen's Danish Fairy Tales and Legends (1897) and Tales from Shakespeare (1902).
Heath Robinson (who was a professional illustrator) pre-dates Rube Goldberg by a couple of decades or so. In theory, Goldberg might have stolen the idea from - sorry, “been inspired by” - Robinson, but it's not at all apparent from the work. Goldberg trained as an engineer, and his illustrations contain many gizmos and devices, whereas Robinson was primarily an illustrator.