text:
Talk:Epicyclic gearing

Discussion
The mathematical exegesis of this article is extremely poor. After introducing the concepts of Sun (s), Planet (p) and Annulus (a), the reader is then presented with two equations involving a 4th factor c (which I assume in the gear ratio, but this is never explained) and two quantities, N and w (omega). From the following text, it emerges that N refer s to the number of teeth, but it's not at all clear what w refers to. This is unfortunately typical of math articles on Wikipedia, in which the equations are pasted into an article may indeed be correct and canonical, but are not explained for the casual reader and often do not seem to be fully understood by the article editors.98.248.125.108 (talk) 22:48, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

Why does a planetary geartrain have multiple planets? Is this about power transfer or stability or something?
 * See below.

Isn't the sun gear in the picture gray? --snoyes 22:36, 19 Nov 2003 (UTC)
 * yes, only the drive shaft of the sun gear is in yellow. This drive shaft goes through the (green) planet gear carrier and extends on the oter side into the sun gear. Maybe the OP should also make the sun gear yellow. MH 213.236.117.2 08:21, 24 May 2004 (UTC)

 * Kinda depends on your monitor, I guess. On the computer I created them on, it looks slightly yellow, but I checked it on a different screen and it's much darker and muddier. The same problem occurred with the images on Differential. I'll be uploading brightened-up versions soon - thanks for pointing it out! -- Wapcaplet 23:42, 19 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * It seems that my version of galeon (or galeon in general) doesn't display pngs all that well. In both konqueror and mozilla the sun gear is clearly yellow, while in galeon the whole picture is significantly darker. (And the picture is viewed from a different angle - very strange). What browsers were you using? --snoyes 00:49, 20 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * Hey, another Linux user! :-) The angle is something I changed in the last revision. I thought it showed the red arrows a little better. It may have been a browser issue - in Firebird under Linux on a newer 19" monitor, the colors were brighter; in Mozilla on Windows on an older 15" monitor, they were much darker. Could just be differences in gamma correction between the two monitors. In your case, maybe Galeon is still using a cached version of the image? That'd explain why one of them still shows the other angle. I've noticed that different software often uses different gamma correction on images - especially with things like Gimp and Photoshop, which are tweaked to get images to look closer to print output.

 * Anyhow, let me know what you think of the newer colors. I've used the same materials and similar lighting for the illustrations for Differential and Pin tumbler lock; I hope to make similar illustrations in this vein, and would like to find good distinct colors. -- Wapcaplet 04:47, 20 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * Yip, you pretty much can't help avoiding linux users on wikipedia. Which is a good thing, since suggestions such as support for proprietary stuff like flash animations get struck down immediately. (A couple of days ago on the Village pump). Anyway, I cleared my cache and the pictures now look identical and the colours clear and distinct in galeon, konqueror, firebird, etc. --snoyes 05:35, 20 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Isn't the maximum gear ration always less than one? If so, it would be nice to note it in the descriptions.

 * Not necessarily. With the given scheme, sun gear as input and carrier as output, I think yes, but you could just as easily use the carrier as input and sun as output to get a ratio greater than 1. You could also hold the carrier fixed, and use the outer ring as output. But you're right in noting that a discussion of how the ratios work would be nice... -- Wapcaplet 16:50, 2 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Gear ratios given in this article conflict.

In the section under discussion, it is written that N(s)*omega(s)+N(r)*omega(r)=(N(s)+N(r))*omega(c). This is consistent with equations found at http://www.roymech.co.uk/Useful_Tables/Drive/Epi_cyclic_gears.html and www.md.kth.se/~fredrikr/AM2D/gearReport.pdf. The latter references "Vedmar Lars, Maskinelement, Lunds Tekniska Högskola, 2002" for the equation.

On the other hand, the equation given in the gear ratio section, with some simplification (notably substituting N(r) for 2N(p)+N(s)), may be written as Omega(r)*N(r)+Omega(s)*N(s)=(N(p)+N(c))*2*omega(c).

The equations need to be made consistent; based on references, I believe that the one in this section is more accurate, but I would prefer some kind of consensus before changing the other.

The derivation for the equation given in the section under discussion states that omega(r)/omega(s)=N(s)/N(r), when it ought to be -N(s)/N(r). With that negative sign, I can derive the equation as given with the method described. I would like to write that derivation more clearly in the article, but seem to be unable to edit a flagged section. Tomvreomfodj (talk) 18:56, 13 December 2010 (UTC)

Other uses for Epicyclic gearing than just gear ratios?
It seems that many combinations of power flow are available from the gearset. If power input is to the outer ring gear, wouldn't the "planetary" carrier rotate in the ring gear direction and the central "sun" gear in the opposite direction? Useful for driving grinding wheels in opposite directions?

 * Yes, if the carrier is fixed. One of the gear units (outer ring, planetary carrier, sun gear) must be held fixed for any useful output to result. But yeah, this is sometimes used in simple transmissions to give two forward gears plus a reverse gear. Rather nifty! -- Wapcaplet 22:10, 22 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Further, what about its use as a "differential"? The whole article is written on the assumption that it is a way of achieving a few fixed ratios by holding one part stationary. In the Hybrid Synergy Drive, which is referenced, it's used as a 3-way power-split device, and all parts are usually in motion. --KJBracey 08:37, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

Who makes a two speed planetary gearbox? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.201.136.122 (talk) 20:31, 5 October 2008 (UTC)

 * All due respect, but "must be held fixed for any useful output" is not correct. In the optics industry, double side polishers make use of epicyclic gears. Optical windows are placed within the planets, or "carriers". The Ring and Sun gears can be controlled independently, and the carriers rotate/revolve based upon both the ring and sun gear speeds. "Plates" sandwiching the carriers from the top and bottom provide the friction necessary for polishing to occur. I'm currently seeking a general solution on how to determine the carrier revolution velocity based upon the speed of the Ring and Sun gears. From the article,
 * (2+n)ωa+nωs-2(1+n)ωc = 0

 * appears to be the best relation I've found so far but no derivation or citation is provided.PHiZiX —Preceding undated comment added 01:14, 29 December 2009 (UTC).

 * Norton gives the general equation for epicyclic angular velocity to be: ±(product of number of teeth on driver gears)/(product of number of teeth of driven gears) = (ωL - ωarm)/(ωF - ωarm); where ωL is the angular velocity of the last gear and ωF is the angular velocity of the first gear. Note that this equation is limited because the first and last gear must be pivoted to the ground (i.e. not orbiting). Hope that helps. Wizard191 (talk) 13:40, 29 December 2009 (UTC)

My math is rusty
OK, it's about time we got some examples of how the gear ratios work in this thing. Preferably a version that is easy to understand for the non-mathematician (namely, me). I found this site that attempts an explanation, but it leaves me somewhat baffled. Ideally, a thorough exposition of how the ratios are calculated would be nice, but a simple formula would suffice for now. Three cases:

 * Annulus (outer ring) fixed
 * Planetary carrier fixed
 * Sun gear fixed

In each case, what is the ratio between the remaining gearsets, in simple terms of how many teeth each gear has? For the second case, it's fairly easy, since the sun and annulus simply turn in opposite directions, in the ratio sun/annulus = -teethannulus/teethsun (this is our reverse gear, as mentioned above). For the others, there's some angular velocity of the carrier involved, which taxes my brain. Assistance would be welcome. -- Wapcaplet 00:41, 23 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Nevermind. I found a much better explanation, which I will try to work into the article.

Sun and planet gear article
Hello, I just added a stub article on the above & got a message that it seems to be the same as Epicyclic gearing, looking at the page it seems to be the case that it is either the same thing or epicyclic gearing is a more advanced form of the original sun and planet gear. I am not an engineer & have some problems understanding technical articles (only created the s&pg as I'm working on the article of the engineer who invented it - William Murdoch) so I'm not too sure about the differences & the terminology. Does anyone know if the terminology 'sun and planet gear' is outdated or whether epicyclic gearing is the common modern (or American) phrasing for this? If so it might be better if I add a link from s&pg to epicyclic gearing as the s&pg article (while a stub) deals with the original invention. Otherwise it might be better to merge the articles & put in a re-direct. Can you please let me know what you think. AllanHainey 12:35, 6 September 2005 (UTC)

 * I'm a Mechanical Engineer. They arent the same thing at all. They do both contain sun and planet gears, as this just refers to one gear orbiting another. This article is about using them to make a gear train which converts shaft torques, the other is using them to convert piston force to torque.
 * On the Internet, everyone is a Mechanical Engineer —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.37.50.137 (talk) 07:01, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

Why planetary geartrains have multiple planets
Someone posted this question above: "Why does a planetary geartrain have multiple planets? Is this about power transfer or stability or something?"

The reason for having multiple planets is that you can connect more than one shaft to the planetary gear. That's part of the ingenuity of planetary gears: you can input power from multiple shafts and output power in one, or more, shafts, as necessary.

Take, for instance, the planetary gear connected to two pistons on the right. Here a drive shaft inputs power into the sun gear, which in turn rotates the two planets, timed so the pistons move up and down one right after the other. (Note that the pistons are not actually pictured, but are connected to the "moving crankshafts.")

Of coarse stability is the first and main reason.

 * Multiple planets also increase torque capacity; I believe that this is noted in the article.66.235.27.68 (talk) 16:09, 13 December 2010 (UTC)

 * As 66.235.27.68 (may I call you .68?) correctly puts it, it's usually about torque. The simple ability to increase torque capability by adding more planets is often useful. Gear trains are somewhat inefficient in terms of their torque / weight capacity, because they usually have a great many teeth (costing money and weight), but only use very few of them at a time. An epicyclic geartrain that can easily use three or four times as many saves here.
 * Another reason, probably even more important, is to reduce the radial loading on the bearings. As this load is largely balanced in the epicyclic gearbox, the bearings can be much lighter and simpler.
 * The claim above that epicyclic gearboxes can be used with multiple crankshafts is simply bogus. Unless the pistons driving those cranks are happy to rotate with the planet carrier, that multi-crank arrangement is no longer an epicyclic gearbox. If you look at Commons:Category:Bristol_Centaurus, all those many gears driving the sleeve valves are not epicyclic planet gears, as their "planet carrier" is fixed to the crankcase, not rotating. However the propeller reduction gearbox (the large bevels) is an epicyclic gear. Andy Dingley (talk) 17:40, 13 December 2010 (UTC)

Animated gifs
Animated gifs, showing each locking configuration would be very helpful - its very difficult to visualise this kind of thing.
 * would this be any good? just the pic in the article now put together --Astrokey 44 13:47, 26 May 2006 (UTC)
 * I like it. It would be even better with an intermediate frame; a little easier to follow. ike9898 22:45, 12 June 2006 (UTC)
 * Is it possible to do this with photoshop? When I try to do tweening the in between frame only changes the opacity of the two not the position --Astrokey 44 12:33, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

THE ARTICLE NEEDS AN ANIMATION!!!

This one is not smooth enough. You don't need to animate very much time, but you do you need to see the individual gear teeth move. Helvitica Bold 21:36, 11 May 2011 (UTC)

Question
What is method t calculate the maximum planet gears can involved in a Epicyclic gear system?

possible addition: advantages/disadvantages
To me, this article feels incomplete. I would expect to see a discussion of the advantages/disadvantages of planetary gears versus other gearing arrangements (i.e. when would you want to use planetary gears? when would you not?) For example, advantages include high power density, large reduction in a small volume, multiple kinematic combinations, pure torsional reactions, coaxial shafting. Disadvantages include high bearing loads, inaccessibility, design complexity. I have studied planetary gears in graduate school and could add such a section if others think it would add value... This would be my first attempt at contributing to wikipedia so I wanted to test the waters before jumping in... Kiracofe8 02:51, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

Missing
I'd say this article is lacking the history of the epicyclic gear and the application of the gear. GraemeLeggett (talk) 12:15, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

terminology
(First, I am harmless).

In the page on epicyclic gears, one section calls the annulus the ring gear. Either is correct but at least stick to one.

Malcolmcochran@hotmail.com —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.137.178.200 (talk) 11:58, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

 * I've converted them all to annulus. Thanks for the heads up. Wizard191 (talk) 15:48, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Image
Although not essential, the image seems a bit weird, ie the carrier design is not really standard, see the image at http://www.mvwautotechniek.nl/Motor/Transmissie/automatisch.htm M. van Wijk 14:01, 22 March 2016
 * There is no "standard design" for planet carriers. They're all correct. Do not be tempted to invent another of your "fixes". Andy Dingley (talk) 17:43, 13 December 2010 (UTC)

Switching gears by use of pinions
I think that Regular Planetary Gearsets use basic pinions for switching gears, and not oil, see http://mysite.du.edu/~jcalvert/tech/planet.htm

Is this correct ? I also wonder whether other setups than the double reduction, single overdrive can be used for regular planetary gearsets (that way, ie 3 overdrives or 3 reductions can be put in place which would be more useful for specific tasks such as for wind turbines) 91.182.226.145 (talk) 14:27, 13 December 2010 (UTC)

 * It's impossible to tell what you're babbling about, what a Regular Planetary Gearset (which must be important because It's All Capitalised) is, or what the perfectly innocent website has to do with hydraulics. It's just talking about lubricating the gearbox on assembly, not anything about switching ratios. If you're interested (and you can't afford the old Graupner epicyclic stack) take a look here http://www.active-robots.com/products/motorsandwheels/tamiya-gearbox-kits.shtml where they sell the whole range of cheapo and excellent Tamiya gearboxes, which are great components for home robotics. Andy Dingley (talk) 17:48, 13 December 2010 (UTC)

 * I agree with Wizard191's comment that this article is about the epicyclic gears, and not the gearbox in general, but epicyclic gearbox redirect to this page, so this article would normally also need to have this info. A solution could be to remove the redirect and place the new info from the old edit to the new article. At present, the 2 different systems are not yet mentioned anywhere. As for the capitals, these were used in the original articles, so that's not something I put in, rather I reverted some things such as Ring to Annulus, hence downplaying the popular text a bit.

 * I also assume that Watt sun-and-planet Gearset is the type of gearset which I refer to when stating "regular" (again based on the reference article). In addition, as I make up from http://mysite.du.edu/~jcalvert/tech/planet.htm, there are even more epicyclic trains/gearsets, including Tamiya, and Graupner (as you mentioned), Simpson Gearset and Ravigneaux Gearset (see http://www.mvwautotechniek.nl/Motor/Transmissie/automatisch.htm) All need to be mentioned at the new article.

91.182.79.197 (talk) 13:40, 14 December 2010 (UTC)

 * The use of band brakes in an epicyclic gearbox is commonplace enough that it belongs here, but not the use (other than a brief mention and link) for automatic transmissions in cars. That has its own article. If you care, you can go and read about them over there.
 * Like most "vanilla" terms, the "Regular Planetary Gearset" is not a term in any sort of common use. It was only created for that article, to give a distinguishing name from the compound sets.
 * You added a links page to wind turbine early today. One of the PDFs in that has a good explanation of the role of flexible pins to support planet gears, and that's worth adding too. Andy Dingley (talk) 13:41, 14 December 2010 (UTC)

 * I feel that epicyclic gearbox is correctly redirecting here, because epicyclic gearboxes are commonly used outside of transmissions. I use them all of the time at my workplace and they are found on all sorts of industrial machinery. Moreover, there is already a paragraph about how epicyclic gearing is used in auto transmissions, so I think that info should be placed over in the automatic transmission article, if anywhere. Wizard191 (talk) 17:51, 14 December 2010 (UTC)

Article should be called planetary gears, not epicyclic gears.
This article should be called planetary gearing because planetary gear-trains are just a specific instance of epicyclic gear-trains and there are many other configurations of epicyclic gear trains, for example a differential gear-train. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Cdhickam (talk • contribs) 23:46, 29 March 2011 (UTC)

Protection
Is it possible to have the section on formulas protected, som that edits like this/vandalism will be prevented? Keanu (talk) 08:43, 6 May 2011 (UTC)

Citation
The first two (seminal; general) gear ratio equations in the section https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Epicyclic_gearing&action=edit&section=3 do not appear to originate from the cited work [6]: L. Meirovitch: Elements of Vibration Analysis, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1986.(?) I would appreciate any assistance locating their origin(s) so it(they) may be correctly (and/or more specifically) cited - important not only for correctness here, but for readers wishing to trace the more complex / powerful methodologies / models by which they were obtained. 100kWhr (talk) 15:57, 9 October 2017 (UTC)

 * Thank you for spotting this. I have made the correction. Prof McCarthy (talk) 04:28, 10 October 2017 (UTC)

 * Thank you Prof McCarthy for your rapid response. I have scanned [1] J. J. Uicker, G. R. Pennock and J. E. Shigley, 2003, Theory of Machines and Mechanisms, Oxford University Press, New York, and alas, cannot find direct or (obviously) implicit reference(s) therein, to these equations (or the means by which they were derived). 100kWhr (talk) 10:52, 10 October 2017 (UTC)

 * Correction: delete/disregard "(or the means by which they were derived)", [the cited reference covers basic kinematics, sufficient familiarity with which allows the reader to derive the equations].100kWhr (talk) 14:01, 15 October 2017 (UTC)

 * Ref.: Willis R, Principles of Mechanism, Cambridge University Press, 1841, Art. 406 ("By Epicyclic Trains"), pp 361-393, contains derivations of the epicyclic gear train ratios from a simple two gear train basis, up. The equations in question are not given, however they almost immediately fall out of Willis' derivations. As such, may I propose this old text be co-cited?100kWhr (talk) 20:47, 15 October 2017 (UTC)

Formulas for calculating gear ratios
I've deleted the formulas section, because a lot of these formulas are incorrect (at least 7b and 8b are, and probably more). This should be checked upon! I don't have time to do this right now but I think no formulas is better than wrong formulas so I deleted them all. Here they are for future notice: (I will see if I can get back on this, but I'm leaving on a vacation in a few hours)

 * Specify which formulas are incorrect so they can be corrected. 7b and 8b, which ones are these? Dont delete something and then "leave for a vacation". I have reverted your deletion. Keanu (talk) 10:53, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

7b and 8b probably refer to the image the formula belongs to. move your mouse over it and you see the name an the bottom of your screen. Deleting wrong information would be better than showing it is my opinion. Better not no post anything which is not veryfied at all. I found mistakes in other formulas too. Formula for Gear 13 contains a blue Z. However the arm is blue and has no teeth at all. Formula 12a and 12b are wrong, If all gears have the same number of teeth it would still rotate, but the formula results in devide by 0 Formula 9 If the planets are equal and the rings are equal both rings will rotate at the same speed. Since one is locked, the other will not rotate. the formula does however not result in 0. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.194.118.254 (talk) 13:16, 5 February 2012 (UTC)

I've fixed formula 8a, 8b, 9, 10a, 10b, 13 although the graphics for 10a and 10b need to be properly tweaked (the blue gears should be removed). 7b, as the original deleter posited, is not wrong. If there are other wrong formulas, I haven't found them, and as far as I can tell, the whole section is now correct. 10a and 13, and 9 and 10b are the same gear formations, and are redundant, although both are correct.97.124.82.32 (talk) 17:57, 24 September 2012 (UTC)

 * Thanks. I think we will need some good references before we can use these formulas in the article. Keanu (talk) 15:45, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

 * If 10a and 10b are wrong, and 10a and 13 are the same, along with 10b and 9, why don't we delete 10a and 10b? --  :- ) Don 16:07, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

 * Do you have a reference to a trusted source that may confirm that the formulas are correct? I would like to check for myself before adding them to the article. Keanu (talk) 13:06, 1 October 2012 (UTC)

 * No, I don't. Not into ME much, but I might be, the math is much more interesting that EE. Forget my previous question, I now realize it was stupid.  But, are not 1, 2 and 3 identical?  I will put a reference book on my list, but finding all this in one reference is not likely. If I might make a suggestion to reduce some confusion to me and perhaps others, the drawings (which are very nice) are never going to do well in B&W, so maybe we could put the grey levels at the same point by darkening the green and eliminate two blues by changing the light blue to maybe orange?  The shading could be a light grey. Or at least make the coupling gear dark blue and light blue?  --  :- ) Don  14:46, 1 October 2012 (UTC)

 * Yes, I do have a good source, and being a backyard tinkerer I personally built each system, as well as several other configurations I hopefully will make a graphic for to replace this one. Here is the website I obtained the formulas from, http://www.roymech.co.uk/Useful_Tables/Drive/Epi_cyclic_gears.html  I agree that formulas 10a and 10b should be deleted, and posit that 3 and 12b should be deleted as well, since both are redundant as well.  3 being a special and easily solved case of 4a, and 12b being the same as 12a.  Before I mend the graphic for that, I'd like to be sure others agree with my justification.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 97.124.82.32 (talk) 06:00, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

Here's my updated table, I haven't arranged it, but I have deleted 4 redundant formulas and graphics. ADAzriel (talk) 02:04, 8 October 2012 (UTC)

Intuitive explanations?
It would be nice if it gave an intuitive explanation for the basic operation of increased rotation. With the sun gear held stationary, and carrier rotated, the annulus will spin faster. My intuitive explanation is that at any moment each planetary gear is like a tiny lever, with the fulcrum resting on a sun gear tooth, the effort at the center of the planetary gear, and the load at an annulus tooth. Clearly, this configuration increases motion of the load.

Also, the gear ratio section has an example with the carrier held stationary. It shows the ratio of the sun gear to a planetary gear, but this seems irrelevant; just the number of teeth on the sun and annulus matter. The planetary gears essentially "move" the sun gear closer to the annulus so it's as if its teeth were touching the annulus directly (except moving in the opposite direction). For every tooth of the sun gear that moves past a line from the center outward, one tooth of the planetary gear moves past the same point where this line intersects the annulus. I see that it eventually shows this with math. I'd like more "intuitive" explanations like this. 72.48.75.131 (talk) 19:55, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

The comments above on formulas 9, 12a, 12b is at best incomplete. Under the conditions stated the equations degenerate and kinematic relations are no more determined, i.e. one component becomes loose. The formula in 13, however is indeed misprinted, the blue z is to be red. Snoloven (talk) 20:32, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

History
Hold on, the wikipedia article on the Antikythera mechanism says that the device was definitively found not to contain any planetary gear mechanisms, and this was realized over a decade ago. Why does this page contradict the other wikipedia page? I think we ought to take down the reference to the Antikythera mechanism on this page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.131.61.86 (talk) 11:46, 19 September 2013 (UTC)

 * It doesn't contain any planetary gear systems (I suppose, I'm not 100% on the definition), but does contain an epicyclic set of gears. Picture two gears mounted face to face, but on different axes (that is, there is an offset between the axes).  As the gears aren't meshed, they're free of each other.  Now put a pin on one that engages in a slot on the other such that the slot is positioned radially and is large enough to contain the full travel of the pin (that length is equal to the distance between the gear axes) through an entire revolution. Now, when one gear is driven at and even angular velocity, the other will speed up and slow down relative to the even velocity because its point of being driven moves radially across the gear.  The speed of the variable gear averages the same as the driver.  The Antikythera Mechanism used such a pair of epicyclic gears to model the ellipticity of the moon's orbit, and it even mounted the two gear on a gear that rotated once every 9 years of simulated time to model the elliptical precession of the moon.  Of course, the Greeks didn't see it as ellipticity, that had to wait for Kepler.  But they weren't as much into why as they were into making the model track with reality.  It is possible, but not certain, that the mechanism may have used other pin/slot epicycles to model the retrograde orbits of the other planets. SkoreKeep (talk) 07:10, 17 June 2014 (UTC)

Intuitive explanation!
At the end of par. Gear Ratio, I've added an argument that I think is simple, intuitive and precise, establishing the general formula that relates the angular velocities of sun, carrier and annulus (plus two standard applications). This might cause other explanations superfluous, but I made no further changes.KeesDoe (talk) 21:57, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

 * Your intuitive explanation is correct but it duplicates the material provided in the following section. Your "imagine a you are riding on the carrier" is the exactly the principle of the "fixed carrier train ratio."  You proceed to obtain the same equation included in the relationship of speed averaging of a differential, all of which are shown in the following section. Prof McCarthy (talk) 02:21, 31 March 2015 (UTC)

 * Dear prof McCarthy, yes, I have been duplicating. The point is I find both arguments in the article incomprehensible and my aim was to add one that would be simple as well as precise. I hope most readers will find the existing exposition, like you, illuminating. (In view of this talk, I have doubts.) Anyway - thank you!KeesDoe (talk) 19:58, 1 April 2015 (UTC)

Animated gifs and schematics.
I've made some animated gifs and some schematics that might help in this article.

There is a full list on my profile page => DaveRcWiki (talk) 21:38, 5 February 2024 (UTC)

First things
For some of us who have been studying planetary gear trains for over 5/8 of a century, this article has several problems. The first is that in the United States, the correct title should be Planetary Gear (Train). The USPTO classification is: Class 475 PLANETARY GEAR TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS OR COMPONENTS. "Epicyclic" seems to be the term that is preferred in England. However, unless there is a circular fixed sun gear, with circular planets in the same plane, (none of which are required), there are no points that trace out an epicycle.

The rest of the definition is not general. It only describes one of the most simple types. The main definition should say that "a planetary gear train has some gears whose axes are not fixed, but move in relation to the movements of the gears in the train".

The very first line says "is a gear reduction assembly". A planetary gear train can be used for increase as well as reduction. One of the most widely used planetary gears in the world, with millions of units in daily use, is the bicycle 3-speed hub. It can decrease the speed to 75%, or increase it to 133 1/3 %, or leave it unchanged, the three being selected by various ratchet pawls. agb 173.233.167.50 (talk) 18:38, 29 April 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Epicyclic gearing


text:
A Confederacy of Dunces

A Confederacy of Dunces is a picaresque novel by American novelist John Kennedy Toole which reached publication in 1980, eleven years after Toole's death. Published through the efforts of writer Walker Percy (who also contributed a foreword) and Toole's mother, Thelma, the book became first a cult classic, then a mainstream success; it earned Toole a posthumous Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981, and is now considered a canonical work of modern literature of the Southern United States.

The book's title refers to an epigram from Jonathan Swift's essay Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting: 'When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.'

Dunces is a picaresque novel featuring the misadventures of protagonist Ignatius J. Reilly, a lazy, overweight, misanthropic, self-styled scholar who lives at home with his mother. He is an educated but slothful 30-year-old man living with his mother in the Uptown neighborhood of early-1960s New Orleans who, in his quest for employment, has various adventures with colorful French Quarter characters. Toole wrote the novel in 1963 during his last few months in Puerto Rico. It is hailed for its accurate depictions of New Orleans dialects. Toole based Reilly in part on his college professor friend Bob Byrne. Byrne's slovenly, eccentric behavior was anything but professorial, and Reilly mirrored him in these respects. The character was also based on Toole himself, and several personal experiences served as inspiration for passages in the novel. While at Tulane, Toole filled in for a friend at a job as a hot tamale cart vendor, and worked at a family owned and operated clothing factory. Both of these experiences were later adopted into his fiction.

Synopsis
Ignatius J. Reilly is an overweight and unemployed thirty-year-old with a Masters degree in Medieval History who lives with his mother in New Orleans. He utterly loathes the modern world, which he feels has lost the medieval values of ‘geometry and theology’. One afternoon Ignatius is waiting on the street for his mother. He is dressed in a green hunting cap, voluminous tweed trousers, a red plaid flannel shirt and a muffler. Officer Angelo Mancuso approaches Ignatius because he reckons he looks like a suspicious character and demands that he produce identification. Affronted and outraged by Mancuso's unwarranted zeal and officious manner, Ignatius protests his innocence to the crowd while denouncing the city's vices and the graft of the local police. An elderly man, Claude Robichaux, takes Ignatius’s side, denouncing Officer Mancuso and the police as communists. Mrs Reilly arrives and demand that Mancuso arrest Robichaux as the cause of the disturbance. In the resulting uproar, Ignatius and his mother escape, taking refuge in the Night of Joy, a bar and strip club, in case Officer Mancuso is still in pursuit.

At the police station Robichaux meets Rufus Jones, a young black man who also been wrongly arrested, he claims, but seems resigned to his fate. The Sergeant tells Mancuso off for arresting Robichaux and punishes him for his uselessness by making him start to wear a different costume every day on the beat, beginning with a ballerina outfit.

At the Night of Joy the bar owner arrives and throws Ignatius and his mother out, saying they are bringing the tone of the place down. Mrs. Reilly has drunk too much. As a result, she crashes her car. The compensation she owes for the accident totals $1020, a sizable amount of money in early 1960s New Orleans. Ignatius is forced to work for the first time in many years in order to help his mother pay the debt.

At the police station Jones is told he must get a job or be arrested for vagrancy. He reluctantly starts work as a janitor at the Night of Joy. The owner can get away with paying him below the minimum wage and treating him badly because Jones knows if he loses the job, he will be in jail. The only way he can fight back, he decides, is to try to sabotage the business if opportunities occur.

Darlene, the bar hostess, has an ambition to perform there as a stripper, and has devised an act involving her pet cockatoo. She has trained the cockatoo to pull off rings that hold her costume together.

Ignatius answers an ad for a position in the office at the Levi Pants factory. Here he performs no useful work. He sends an insulting letter to a complaining customer on official stationery over the owner’s signature. He carries out a regular and aggressive correspondence with his college friend Myrna Minkoff in New York. She criticizes his self-centered lifestyle and urges him to join her in radical political agitation. To impress Myrna, Ignatius tries (unsuccessfully) to incite the black workforce at the pants factory into a violent demonstration for better pay.

Dismissed from this job, he chances into employment pushing a hot dog cart. He makes no sales and spends most of his time consuming the stock himself. His boss insists that he wear a pirate outfit to try to entice trade from tourists in the Latin Quarter.

Ignatius gets the idea that universal peace could be brought about by inciting gay men to encourage all the homosexuals in the armed forces to declare themselves, and substitute love making for warfare. To this end he attends a wild gay party in the Latin Quarter looking for recruits to his cause, but when he begins to harangue the guests he is thrown out.

He arrives at the Night of Joy to find Jones at the door dressed as a plantation slave and Darlene about to have her opening night stripping as a Southern Belle character. Jones urges him in, hoping that trouble will ensue. When Darlene takes to the stage her cockatoo spies the gold pirate earring dangling from Ignatius’s ear and flies at it, causing chaos.

Ignatius spills out into the street and is rescued by Jones from being hit by a passing bus. Ignatius faints.

When Ignatius gets home his mother has had enough and phones for an ambulance to take him away to the mental hospital. Just then Myrna arrives at the door, having come from New York to rescue Ignatius from his lifestyle. Ignatius urges her to drive him away right then, and on the road they pass the ambulance heading to Mrs Reilly’s house.

Ignatius J. Reilly
Ignatius Jacques Reilly is something of a modern Don Quixote—eccentric, idealistic, and creative, sometimes to the point of delusion. In his foreword to the book, Walker Percy describes Ignatius as a "slob extraordinary, a mad Oliver Hardy, a fat Don Quixote, a perverse Thomas Aquinas rolled into one". He disdains modernity, particularly pop culture. The disdain becomes his obsession: he goes to movies in order to mock their perversity and express his outrage with the contemporary world's lack of "theology and geometry". He prefers the scholastic philosophy of the Middle Ages, and the Early Medieval philosopher Boethius in particular. However, he also enjoys many modern comforts and conveniences and is given to claiming that the rednecks of rural Louisiana hate all modern technology, which they associate with unwanted change. The workings of his pyloric valve play an important role in his life, reacting strongly to incidents in a fashion that he likens to Cassandra in terms of prophetic significance.

Ignatius is of the mindset that he does not belong in the world and that his numerous failings are the work of some higher power. He continually refers to the goddess Fortuna as having spun him downwards on her wheel of fortune. Ignatius loves to eat, and his masturbatory fantasies lead in strange directions. His mockery of obscene images is portrayed as a defensive posture to hide their titillating effect on him. Although considering himself to have an expansive and learned worldview, Ignatius has an aversion to ever leaving the town of his birth, and frequently bores friends and strangers with the story of his sole, abortive journey out of New Orleans, a trip to Baton Rouge on a Greyhound Scenicruiser bus, which Ignatius recounts as a traumatic ordeal of extreme horror.

Myrna Minkoff
Myrna Minkoff, referred to by Ignatius as "that minx," is a Jewish beatnik from New York City, whom Ignatius met while she was in college in New Orleans. Though their political, social, religious, and personal orientations could hardly be more different, Myrna and Ignatius fascinate one another. The novel repeatedly refers to Myrna and Ignatius having engaged in tag-team attacks on the teachings of their college professors. For most of the novel, she is seen only in the regular correspondence which the two sustain since her return to New York, a correspondence heavily weighted with sexual analysis on the part of Myrna and contempt for her apparent sacrilegious activity by Ignatius. Officially, they both deplore everything the other stands for. Though neither of them will admit it, their correspondence indicates that, separated though they are by half a continent, many of their actions are meant to impress one another.

Irene Reilly
Mrs. Irene Reilly is the mother of Ignatius. She has been widowed for 21 years. At first, she allows Ignatius his space and drives him where he needs to go, but over the course of the novel she learns to stand up for herself. She also has a drinking problem, most frequently indulging in muscatel, although Ignatius exaggerates that she is a raving, abusive drunk.

She falls for Claude Robichaux, a fairly well-off man with a railroad pension and rental properties. At the end of the novel, she decides she will marry Claude. But first, she agrees with Santa Battaglia (who has not only recently become Mrs. Reilly's new best friend, but also harbors an intense dislike for Ignatius) that Ignatius is insane and arranges to have him sent to a mental hospital.

Others

 * Santa Battaglia, a "grammaw" who is friends with Mrs. Reilly and has a marked disdain for Ignatius
 * Claude Robichaux, an old man constantly on the lookout for any "communiss" who might infiltrate the United States; he takes an interest in protecting Irene
 * Angelo Mancuso, an inept police officer, the nephew of Santa Battaglia, who, after an abortive attempt to arrest Ignatius as a "suspicious character," features prominently in the novel as Ignatius's self-perceived nemesis
 * Lana Lee, a pornographic model who runs the "Night of Joy", a downscale French Quarter strip club
 * George, Lana's distributor, who sells photographs of her to high-school children
 * Darlene, a goodhearted but none-too-bright girl, who aspires to be a "Night of Joy" stripper, with a pet cockatoo
 * Burma Jones, a black janitor for the "Night of Joy" who holds on to his below-minimum wage job only to avoid being arrested for vagrancy
 * Mr. Clyde, the frustrated owner of Paradise Vendors, a hot dog vendor business, who inadvisedly employs Ignatius as a vendor
 * Gus Levy, the reluctant, mostly absentee owner of Levy Pants, an inherited family business in the Bywater neighborhood where Ignatius briefly works
 * Mrs. Levy, Gus's wife, who attempts to psychoanalyze her husband and Miss Trixie despite being completely unqualified to do so
 * Miss Trixie, an aged clerk at Levy Pants who suffers from dementia and compulsive hoarding
 * Mr. Gonzalez, the meek office manager at Levy Pants
 * Dorian Greene, a flamboyant French Quarter homosexual who puts on elaborate parties
 * Frieda Club, Betty Bumper, and Liz Steele, a trio of aggressive lesbians who run afoul of Ignatius
 * Dr. Talc, a mediocre professor at Tulane who had the misfortune of teaching Myrna and Ignatius
 * Miss Annie, the disgruntled neighbor of the Reillys who professes an addiction to headache medicine

Ignatius at the movies
Toole provides comical descriptions of two of the films Ignatius watches without naming them; they can be recognized as Billy Rose's Jumbo and That Touch of Mink, both Doris Day features released in 1962. In another passage, Ignatius declines to see another film, a "widely praised Swedish drama about a man who was losing his soul". This is most likely Ingmar Bergman's Winter Light, released in early 1963. In another passage, Irene Reilly recalls the night Ignatius was conceived: after she and her husband viewed Red Dust, released in October 1932.

Confederacy and New Orleans
The book is famous for its rich depiction of New Orleans and the city's dialects, including Yat. Many locals and writers think that it is the best and most accurate depiction of the city in a work of fiction.

A bronze statue of Ignatius J. Reilly can be found under the clock on the down-river side of the 800 block of Canal Street, New Orleans, the former site of the D. H. Holmes Department Store, now the Hyatt French Quarter Hotel. The statue mimics the opening scene: Ignatius waits for his mother under the D.H. Holmes clock, clutching a Werlein's shopping bag, dressed in a hunting cap, flannel shirt, baggy pants and scarf, 'studying the crowd of people for signs of bad taste.' The statue is modeled on New Orleans actor John "Spud" McConnell, who portrayed Ignatius in a stage version of the novel.

Various local businesses are mentioned in addition to D. H. Holmes, including Werlein's Music Store and local cinemas such as the Prytania Theater. Some readers from elsewhere assume Ignatius's favorite soft drink, Dr. Nut, to be fictitious, but it was an actual local soft drink brand of the era. The "Paradise Hot Dogs" vending carts are an easily recognized satire of those actually branded "Lucky Dogs".

Structure
The structure of A Confederacy of Dunces reflects the structure of Ignatius's favorite book, Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy. Like Boethius' book, A Confederacy of Dunces is divided into chapters that are further divided into a varying number of subchapters. Key parts of some chapters are outside of the main narrative. In Consolation, sections of narrative prose alternate with metrical verse. In Confederacy, such narrative interludes vary more widely in form and include light verse, journal entries by Ignatius, and also letters between himself and Myrna. A copy of The Consolation of Philosophy within the narrative itself also becomes an explicit plot device in several ways.

The difficult path to publication
As outlined in the introduction to a later revised edition, the book would never have been published if Toole's mother had not found a smeared carbon copy of the manuscript left in the house following Toole's 1969 death at 31. She was persistent and tried several different publishers, to no avail.

Thelma repeatedly called Walker Percy, an author and college instructor at Loyola University New Orleans, to demand for him to read it. He initially resisted; however, as he recounts in the book's foreword: "...the lady was persistent, and it somehow came to pass that she stood in my office handing me the hefty manuscript. There was no getting out of it; only one hope remained—that I could read a few pages and that they would be bad enough for me, in good conscience, to read no farther. Usually I can do just that. Indeed the first paragraph often suffices. My only fear was that this one might not be bad enough, or might be just good enough, so that I would have to keep reading.

In this case I read on. And on. First with the sinking feeling that it was not bad enough to quit, then with a prickle of interest, then a growing excitement, and finally an incredulity: surely it was not possible that it was so good."

The book was published by LSU Press in 1980. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981. In 2005, Blackstone Audio released an unabridged audiobook of the novel, read by Barrett Whitener.

While Tulane University in New Orleans retains a collection of Toole's papers, and some early drafts have been found, the location of the original manuscript is unknown.

Adaptations
In March 1984, LSU staged a musical adaptation of the book, with book and lyrics by Frank Galati and music by Edward Zelnis; actor Scott Harlan played Ignatius.

Kerry Shale read the book for BBC Radio 4's Book at Bedtime in 1982, and later adapted the book into a one-man show which he performed at the Adelaide Festival in 1990, at the Gate Theatre in London, and for BBC Radio.

There have been repeated attempts to turn the book into a film. In 1982, Harold Ramis was to write and direct an adaptation, starring John Belushi as Ignatius and Richard Pryor as Burma Jones, but Belushi's death prevented this. Later, John Candy and Chris Farley were touted for the lead, but both of them, like Belushi, also died at an early age, leading many to ascribe a curse to the role of Ignatius.

Director John Waters was interested in directing an adaptation that would have starred Divine, who also died at an early age, as Ignatius.

British performer and writer Stephen Fry was at one point commissioned to adapt Toole's book for the screen. He was sent to New Orleans by Paramount Studios in 1997 to get background for a screenplay adaptation.

John Goodman, a longtime resident of New Orleans, was slated to play Ignatius at one point.

A version adapted by Steven Soderbergh and Scott Kramer, and slated to be directed by David Gordon Green, was scheduled for release in 2005. The film was to star Will Ferrell as Ignatius and Lily Tomlin as Irene. A staged reading of the script took place at the 8th Nantucket Film Festival, with Ferrell as Ignatius, Anne Meara as Irene, Paul Rudd as Officer Mancuso, Kristen Johnston as Lana Lee, Mos Def as Burma Jones, Rosie Perez as Darlene, Olympia Dukakis as Santa Battaglia and Miss Trixie, Natasha Lyonne as Myrna, Alan Cumming as Dorian Greene, John Shea as Gonzales, Jesse Eisenberg as George, John Conlon as Claude Robichaux, Jace Alexander as Bartender Ben, Celia Weston as Miss Annie, Miss Inez & Mrs. Levy, and Dan Hedaya as Mr. Levy.

Various reasons are cited as to why the Soderbergh version has yet to be filmed. They include disorganization and lack of interest at Paramount Pictures, Helen Hill the head of the Louisiana State Film Commission being murdered, and the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans. When asked why the film was never made, Will Ferrell has said it is a "mystery".

In 2012, there was a version in negotiation with director James Bobin and potentially starring Zach Galifianakis.

In a 2013 interview, Steven Soderbergh remarked "I think it's cursed. I'm not prone to superstition, but that project has got bad mojo on it."

In November 2015, Huntington Theatre Company introduced a stage version of A Confederacy of Dunces written by Jeffrey Hatcher in their Avenue of the Arts/BU Theatre location in Boston, starring Nick Offerman as Ignatius J. Reilly. It set a record as the company's highest-grossing production.

Critical reception
On November 5, 2019, the BBC News included A Confederacy of Dunces on its list of the 100 most inspiring novels. Confederacy of Dunces is included on a list of 'most funny' or 'best comedic novel'.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: A Confederacy of Dunces


text:
George Francis Robert Henderson

Colonel George Francis Robert Henderson, CB (2 June 1854 – 5 March 1903) was a British Army officer and author best known for writing Stonewall Jackson and the American Civil War (1898).

Early life
Henderson was born in Saint Helier, Jersey on 2 June 1854. His father was William George Henderson, later Dean of Carlisle, and Jane Melville Dalyell, Educated at Leeds Grammar School, of which his father was headmaster, he was early attracted to the study of history, and obtained a scholarship at St John's College, Oxford. But he soon left the university for Sandhurst, from where he was commissioned into the British Army's 84th Regiment of Foot in 1878.

Military service
After a few months service in India, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant and returned to England, and in 1882 he went on active service to Egypt, fighting in the battles of Kassassin and Tel el-Kebir. During this time, he received numerous citations for bravery in combat, being promoted to captain in 1886. In 1885 he was seconded to the Ordnance Store Department. In 1889 appeared (anonymously) his first work, The Campaign of Fredericksburg. In the same year he became Instructor in Tactics, Military Law and Administration at Sandhurst. From this post he proceeded as Professor of Military Art and History to the Staff College (1892–1899), and there exercised a profound influence on the younger generation of officers. His study on the Battle of Spicheren had been begun some years before. Then in 1898 appeared, as the result of eight years work, his masterpiece: Stonewall Jackson and the American Civil War.

Later life and death
In the Second Boer War, Henderson served with distinction on the staff of the Commander-in-Chief, Lord Roberts, as Director of Intelligence, and was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 23 December 1899. He received the local rank of colonel whilst in South Africa only weeks later, on 10 January 1900. In a despatch dated 31 March 1900, Lord Roberts wrote that Henderson gave him "valuable and reliable information regarding the physical features of the country and the disposition of the enemy".

But overwork and malaria broke his health, and he had to return home in January 1902, being eventually selected to write the official history of the war. Failing health obliged him to go to Egypt, where he died at Assuan on 5 March 1903. He had completed the portion of the history of the South African War dealing with the events up to the commencement of hostilities, amounting to about a volume, but the War Office decided to suppress this, and the work was restarted by Sir F. Maurice.

Legacy
Various lectures and papers by Henderson were collected and published in 1905 by Captain Malcolm, D.S.O., under the title The Science of War; to this collection a memoir was contributed by Lord Roberts.

title: George Francis Robert Henderson


text:
Australian pied cormorant

The Australian pied cormorant (Phalacrocorax varius), also known as the pied cormorant, pied shag, or great pied cormorant, is a medium-sized member of the cormorant family. It is found around the coasts of Australasia. In New Zealand, it is usually known either as the pied shag or by its Māori name of kāruhiruhi. Older sources may refer to it as the "yellow-faced cormorant".

Taxonomy
The Australian pied cormorant was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it in the genus Pelecanus and coined the binomial name Pelecanus varius. Gmelin based his description on the "pied shag" from Queen Charlotte Sound, New Zealand, that had been described in 1785 by English ornithologist John Latham in his book A General Synopsis of Birds. Latham had based his own description on a specimen in the Leverian Museum and on a watercolour by Georg Forster that belonged to Joseph Banks. Forster had accompanied James Cook on his second voyage to the Pacific Ocean. The Australian pied cormorant is now one of 12 species placed in the genus Phalacrocorax that was introduced in 1760 by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson.

Two subspecies are recognised:
 * P. v. hypoleucos (Brandt, JF, 1837) – coastal and inland Australia (except central-south) and Tasmania
 * P. v. varius (Gmelin, JF, 1789) – coastal North, South and Stewart Island (New Zealand)

Description
The pied cormorant is predominantly black on its back and upper surface of the wings and white on the underside with males weighing approximately 2.2 kg and females 1.7 kg. It stands between 65–85 cm tall, with a wingspan of 110–130 cm. A small yellow patch between the bill and the eye on each side of the head is likely to have been the reason for the historical common name. It has large webbed feet which it utilises to pursue fish underwater, steering with half opened wings. The bird has a large hooked bill, green eyes with a blue eye ring and black legs and feet. The eyes have a special nictitating membrane for underwater protection. The pied cormorant can often be seen spreading its wings after diving to help dry the feathers, as it has inadequate waterproofing. This lack of feather waterproofing may help the cormorant spend longer underwater due to decreased buoyancy effects.

The two subspecies have slight differences in physical characteristics. Similar species include the black-faced cormorant (slightly smaller) and the little pied cormorant (substantially smaller).

Distribution and habitat
The pied cormorant is listed of least concern in the IUCN red list of threatened species, reflecting its large range with a relatively stable population.

In New Zealand its range on the east coast extends as far south as Christchurch, though this is a recent extension—older books report it no further south than Kaikōura. The range extensions have accompanied population recovery from heavy persecution in the early 1900s and likely represents recolonization of the former range. The pied cormorant is listed as Nationally Vulnerable in New Zealand. The population has been growing from around 700 breeding pairs in the 1950s to an estimated 3,000 pairs post 2000 (Refer to population trend data).

In Australia it is only moderately common in the eastern states (both the coast and inland wetlands), but abundant in the south-west, particularly along the coast. Its federal conservation status is 'secure' and only changes to 'near threatened' in Victoria. It can be found in all states except Tasmania. The pied cormorant has been calculated to be at high-moderate risk from fishing – particularly from set and inshore drift nets. Birds in colonies can often be observed entangled in recreational fishing line with hooks embedded in the body. In the past, the pied cormorant was seen as competition for commercial fishing and sometimes shot.

Although typically found in marine habitat—sometimes solitary, sometimes in pairs, sometimes in vast flocks of hundreds or thousands—it is also attracted to inland waters, including lakes, deep and open wetlands, and rivers. In Australia, the birds can often be found at inland waterways while in New Zealand it prefers coastal areas close to its prey. Adult birds are sedentary and can often be seen roosting in trees, on rocks or logs in the water. The birds seem unaffected by variable salinity, turbidity and shoreline vegetation provided there are available perches.

Feeding
The pied cormorant appears to feed largely (90%) on benthic fish 6–15 cm in length from waters less than 10m deep. King George Whiting juveniles are known to be eaten. Other dietary components (10%) are made up of crustaceans such as prawns and shrimp with some molluscs and cephalopods. It will dive both in shallow, still water and in rapidly moving currents. Typical dive times are around 40 seconds, with a recovery period of 10–15 seconds between dives although this is dependent on depth. The birds feed in deep and shallow waters (although shallow habitats are more productive) with flock densities in proportion to the prey abundance.

Hunting is typically performed as individuals (potentially to avoid kleptoparasitism), although larger groups can be observed when schools of small fish are close to the surface. Risk of predation by sharks and the abundance of food comprise a trade-off where the pied cormorant may choose to hunt in deeper waters where prey is less abundant if the risk is too high during warmer months when sharks are present more often. The deeper waters however require longer dive times and corresponding longer times at rest between dives on the surface.

Breeding
The pied cormorant preferably breeds in small (<30 pairs) sheltered colonies (harbours, estuaries and lakes) with rarer occurrences on exposed coasts or islands, no more than 400 metres from the sea (or food source). Courtship behaviour is initiated by the male in close proximity to a future nest site. Wing waving by the male is conducted in silence while gargling can be a form of female recognition. The males can also hop up to 1 m in the air with both feet to attract female attention.

Nests are typically large platforms formed of sticks and foliage cemented with droppings averaging 80 cm in diameter on the ground or in trees. Males collect most of the nest material, while both sexes share construction tasks. The nests are used twice a year in Autumn and Spring by different breeding pairs. Some breeding occurs in summer and winter by young and inexperienced pairs.

Monogamous breeding pairs (from 2 years of age) lay eggs once a year with an average breeding cycle of 6 months. Clutch size ranges from 2–5 with an incubation period of 25–33 days. Egg and fledgling caring duties are shared by the parents. Chick rearing can take from 47–60 days with independence gained just over 3 months of age. Both sexes share feeding duties through incomplete regurgitation.

Dispersal
Banding studies have shown that the pied cormorants do not travel far from their colonies (<20 km). Flight is generally low in altitude, as the pied cormorant has weaker flight capability than other species in the family, with 'v' formations present when in flocks.

Noongar culture
The Noongar Aboriginal people who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia believe that the pied cormorant (medi) is responsible for the transport of souls of the deceased across and beneath the Western sea to their final resting place (Kurannup). Medi can be translated as 'agent', or 'medium', possibly referring to the bird's role as an intermediary between the living world and the afterlife. Spirits of the deceased rest for an unspecified time on the moojar (WA Christmas tree) before being carried by easterly winds or flowing waters to the sea where the spirit joins with the medi for its journey to Kurranup.

title: Australian pied cormorant


text:
Wishkah River

The Wishkah River is a tributary of the Chehalis River in the U.S. state of Washington. Approximately 40 mi long, the river drains a remote rural area of approximately 102 sqmi in Grays Harbor County along the Washington coast north of Aberdeen. It flows south through the county and empties into the Chehalis at Aberdeen.

The name "Wishkah" is an adaptation of the Chehalis word hwish-kahl, meaning "stinking water".

Association with Nirvana
While living under a bridge on the river after dropping out of high school and being kicked out of the family home, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain wrote the song "Something in the Way" about the experience. According to biographer Charles R. Cross, however, this was largely a myth created by Cobain. One third of Cobain's ashes were scattered in the river after his death. From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah is a live album released by Nirvana on October 1, 1996, two and a half years after Cobain's death.

title: Wishkah River


text:
Relics (album)

Relics (subtitle: A Bizarre Collection of Antiques & Curios) is a 1971 compilation album by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd. The album was released in the UK on 14 May 1971 and in the United States on the following day. Initially released by Starline, the compilation was reissued by Music for Pleasure in the United Kingdom, while Harvest and Capitol distributed the album in the United States. A remastered CD was released in 1996 with a different album cover, picturing a three-dimensional model based on the sketch drawn by drummer Nick Mason for the album's initial release.

Release
The release of Relics occurred because the band's record company, EMI, were concerned that they had gone into the studio to record what would become Meddle without any songs or ideas, effectively starting from scratch. This, combined with their ever-increasing touring schedule, made EMI realise that no new product would be released for some time, possibly not until well over a year after completing their previous album, Atom Heart Mother. In order to issue some more "product" for fans, they decided to release a budget priced LP on their Starline label, combining early singles, B-sides, album tracks and one unreleased song, "Biding My Time". The compilation contains material from the first three albums: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, A Saucerful of Secrets and More.

Relics has been re-released on numerous occasions, and at times without the proper authority. One such incident involved EMI Australia releasing the album on CD in 1987 without the band's consent. This led to the LP being withdrawn and, as a result, the album became a rarity. Relics was made readily available again when it was officially issued on CD in 1996.

Relics was reissued again on CD on 17 June 2016, featuring the original sketch artwork cover and containing the same mastering as the 1996 edition.

Mixes
Relics was most noted for its inclusion of the band's first two Syd Barrett-era hit singles, "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play". Due to the lack of available stereo masters, both tracks were reprocessed into Duophonic stereo for the album's original release (the 1996 CD release reverts to the original mono mixes). Also included were the B-sides of the three follow-up singles, with the tracks "Paint Box", "Julia Dream" and "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" appearing in true stereo. Relics has the only CD release of "Paint Box" that has the same length (3:33) that the original single version had; on the albums The Early Singles (1992, part of Shine On), 1967: The First Three Singles (1997), and the 40th anniversary edition of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (2007), it fades out about 13 seconds later.

The album was not a definitive collection of non-album material, as several single A-sides were omitted ("Apples and Oranges," "It Would Be So Nice" and "Point Me at the Sky"), as well as one B-side ("Candy and a Currant Bun"). Until this was rectified with the release of The Early Singles (1992), it was left to the 1970 "The Best of Pink Floyd" / "Masters of Rock" compilations and bootlegs such as The Dark Side of the Moo to plug the gap on LP.

"Biding My Time"
The album also includes a previously unreleased studio recording of a Roger Waters song, "Biding My Time". The song, originally titled "Afternoon”, had been heard by live audiences as part of the Man and the Journey concert sequence. Following the sessions for Ummagumma, it was reworked as "Biding My Time", before being held over for two years until the release of Relics. Unusually, Wright plays trombone on this track.

Cover and machine
The album cover was designed by drummer Nick Mason, and was inspired by his time studying architecture at the Regent Street Polytechnic. In 2008, Mason sold a limited edition of 195 signed prints of this cover.

In addition to variations on the original design, the album was released in several countries with different artwork. The four-eyed face on the original US album cover was an antique bottle opener.

When the album was released on CD, former Hipgnosis partner Storm Thorgerson had a real-life version of the contraption on the cover made and presented it to Mason. It is still in Mason's office. Both Thorgerson and his assistant, Peter Curzon, came up with the idea after viewing the head sculpture which appeared on the album sleeve of The Division Bell, constructed by John Robertson.

While the 2016 CD reissue by Pink Floyd Records reverted to the original sketch cover, it also contains photographs of the three-dimensional object inside the booklet.

In May 2019, for the 48th anniversary of the album's release, Nick Mason's official Twitter account, as well as the official Pink Floyd Facebook page, posted a fan made animation of the original cover art. This animated tribute was made by Scandinavian artist Alex Teglbjærg, Artist on the border. The animation was used by Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets for the Echoes tour of 2022. It was used as the backdrop for the performance of the final song Bike.

Track listing
The Capitol reissue of the cassette (4N-16234) is in original order.

Personnel
Pink Floyd
 * Syd Barrett – lead and rhythm guitar (1–5, 11), lead vocals (1, 3, 11), backing vocals
 * David Gilmour – lead and rhythm guitar (6–10), lead vocals (6, 8, 9), vocalizations (7), backing vocals
 * Nick Mason – drums (1–3, 5–7, 9–11), percussion, original cover design
 * Roger Waters – bass guitar (all tracks), lead vocals (10), vocalizations (7), backing vocals
 * Rick Wright – Farfisa organ (1–4, 8), Hammond organ (6–8, 10), piano (3–5, 10, 11), lead vocals (4, 5), backing vocals; tack piano (3, 5, 11), electric harpsichord (3), Mellotron (6), vibraphone (7), trombone (10), harmonium (11), celesta (11), violin (11)

Additional personnel
 * James Guthrie – remastering supervision
 * Norman Smith – drums and backing vocals (4), drum roll (2)
 * Doug Sax – remastering

title: Relics (album)


text:
Edward Wightman

Edward Wightman (1566 – 11 April 1612) was an English radical Anabaptist minister, executed at Lichfield on charges of heresy; he was the last person to be burned at the stake in England for such a crime.

Life
Edward Wightman was born in 1566. He attended Burton Grammar School and entered the clothiers business of his mother's family. Eventually, he served an apprenticeship as a woollen draper in the town of Shrewsbury. He married Frances Darbye of Hinckley in 1593 and settled in Burton upon Trent. Apart from his mercer's business in Burton he also became a minister of the local Anabaptist church.

Case of Thomas Darling
Wightman became involved with the Puritans and in 1596 was chosen as one of the leaders assigned to the investigation of demonic possession of 13-year-old Thomas Darling. This suggests that by the mid-1590s Wightman was an important and well-respected public figure, taking part in the newly formed movement that began to hold sway over Burton's society and politics. His involvement in the Darling case proved a turning point in his life, making him entirely amenable to the possibility of unmediated spiritual intervention. Darling claimed not just to be possessed by the devil, but engaged in a series of 'spiritual wars' in which both demonic and angelic voices were said to emanate from him:

"As I know at this present for a certainty, that I have the spirit of God within me: so do I with the like certainty believe, that in my dialogues with Satan, when I [quoted] sundry places of scripture, to withstand the temptations he assaulted me with: I had the spirit of God in me, and by that spirit resisted Satan at those times, by [quoting] the scriptures to confound him."

Religious persecution
Wightman's adoption of "heresy" commenced with his understanding of the mortality of the soul, adopting the "soul sleep" view of Martin Luther. In one of his early public messages he preached that "the soul of man dies with the body and participates not either of the joys of Heaven or the pains of Hell, until the general Day of Judgment, but rested with the body until then".

Between 1603/4 and 1610/11, he became more active and vocal. According to court records, he was a prolific writer, although none of his writings have been found to date. He came to the attention of the local church authorities and a warrant for his arrest was issued. The order instructed the constables of Burton to immediately bring him before the Bishop of Lichfield Richard Neile (or Neale) for interrogation.

Condemned by King James I
Wightman set about putting together a compendium of his theology for his upcoming hearing and defence. Perhaps thinking that he would at least be allowed time to plead his case, he delivered copies of it to members of the clergy in an effort to shore up support but, perhaps as a last resort, he delivered a copy to King James I, a move that would ultimately seal his fate. No copy survives.

James I came to the English throne in 1603, "thinking himself a competent judge of religious questions and disposed to take seriously his title of 'Defender of the Faith'". Since 1607 he had been engaged in a battle of books with Roman Catholic apologists over the Oath of Allegiance, both personally and by encouraging others to write in his defence. "One of the central planks of the king's case was the preservation of his catholic orthodoxy through his adherence to the three great creeds of the church, the Apostles', the Nicene and the Athanasian".

Wightman was fully aware of the king's firmly orthodox stance, yet he set about to combat both his State and Church. Of the handful of fragments of his defence treatise that have survived, he refers to the doctrine and "heresies of the Nicolaitan;... most of all hated and abhorred of God himself ... the common received faith contained in those three inventions of man, commonly called the Three Creeds ... the [Apostles'], Nicene and Athanasius Creed, which faith within these 1600 years past hath prevailed in the world".

Wightman had by now isolated himself from all orthodox groups, calling into question many tenets of orthodox belief, arguing "that the baptizing of infants is an abominable custom ... the practice of the Sacraments as they are now used in the Church of England are according to Christ his Institution ... [and affirming that] only the sacrament of baptism [is] to be administered in water to converts of sufficient age of understanding converted from infidelity to the faith".

However what finally spelled his end was his public rejection of Trinitarianism. It was presumably on these points that he so vehemently rejected the formulae of the Nicene Creed of 325 and the Athanasian Creed of 381. He claimed that the doctrine of the Trinity was a total fabrication, stating that Christ was only a man "and a mere Creature and not both God and man in one person... [Although this did not mean that Christ was a man like all others but] only a perfect man without sin". King James was by now more set than ever in securing the execution of Wightman, since in the intervening years he had launched a dual campaign against heresy at home and abroad.

Summary of charges by the Commission
Edward Wightman's examination and hearing was addressed in 16 points:
 * 1) That there is no Trinity;
 * 2) That Jesus Christ is not God, perfect God and of the same substance, eternity and majesty with the Father in respect of his God-head;
 * 3) That Jesus Christ is only man and a mere creature and not both God and man in one person ;
 * 4) That Christ was never incarnate and did not fulfill the promise that the seed of the woman shall break the serpents head;
 * 5) The person of the Holy Ghost is not God, co-equal, co-eternal and co-essential with the Father and the Son;
 * 6) That the three creeds of the apostolic church are the heresies of the Nicolaitanes;
 * 7) That he, Edward Wightman, is the prophet spoken of in Deuteronomy 18 in the words "I will raise them up a prophet" and in Isaiah "I alone have trodden the wine press" and in that place "Whose fan is in his hand";
 * 8) That he was the Holy Spirit, the Comforter spoken of in John 16;
 * 9) That the words of Jesus on the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit refer to him;
 * 10) That the fourth of Malachi refers to his person (the prophecy of Elijah);
 * 11) That the soul and body does sleep and this sleep is the first death, and that the soul and body of Jesus did also sleep in the sleep of death;
 * 12) That the souls of the elect departed (that is dead) are not in heaven;
 * 13) That the baptizing of infants is an abominable custom;
 * 14) That the practice of the Church of England in reference to the Lords Supper and baptism are incorrect and baptism of water should be administered only to those with sufficient age and understanding;
 * 15) That God has ordained and sent him, Edward Wightman, to do his part in the work of the Salvation of the world, (to admonish the heresy of the Nicolaitanes);in comparison to Christ who was sent to save the world and by his death to deliver it from sin and to reconcile it to God;
 * 16) That Christianity is not wholly professed and preached in the Church of England, but only in part.

Trial and execution
Wightman's trial was played out against the backdrop of the so-called "Vorstius Affair", involving the intense opposition on the King's part to block the appointment of the German academic Conrad Vorstius to the University of Leiden. Vorstius was being accused of atheism, Arianism and heretical opinions about the Holy Spirit.

After months of being subjected to a series of conferences with "learned divines", Wightman was finally brought before Bishop Neile for the last time. According to Wightman, the Bishop told him "that unless I did recant my opinions he would burn me at a stake in Burton before Allholland day next". The final verdict and list of charges included "the wicked heresies of Ebion, Cerinthus, Valentinian, Arius, Macedonius, Simon Magus, Manichees, Photinus, and of the Anabaptists and other arch heretics, and moreover, of other cursed opinions belched by the instinct of Satan".

He was ordered to be placed "in some public and open place below the city aforesaid [and] before the people burned in the detestation of the said crime and for manifest example of other Christians that they may not fall into the same crime".

When he was finally brought to the stake his courage left him, and as the fires were lit he is said to have quickly cried out to recant and was pulled from the fire, although by then he had been "well scorched". Two or three weeks later he was again brought before the courts and, no longer fearing the searing flames, refused and "blasphemed more audaciously than before". The King quickly ordered his final execution, and on 11 April 1612, he was once more led to the stake.

[Wightman] was carried again to the stake where feeling the heat of the fire again would have recanted, but for all his crying the sheriff told him he should cost him no more and commanded faggots to be set to him whence roaring, he was burned to ashes.

Aftermath
In the months that followed Wightman's execution, a number of religious radicals nearly met the same fate, even though the downfall of the bishops and abolition of the High Commission in 1640–2 did not bring about any changes to the constitution:

The act of the Long Parliament which abolished the Court of High Commission used such very general words that, if it did not abolish the old ecclesiastical courts, it practically deprived them of their power. At the Restoration, however, by statute passed in 1661 (13 Car II, c. 12) it was "explained" that this was not the desired result; the Court of High Commission was not to be re-established, but the old ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts was to be exercised as of old.

On 2 May 1648, a new 'Ordinance for the Punishment of Blasphemies and Heresies' was created, "principally those of the triune God, the resurrection, the last judgment, and that the Bible is the Word of God...relapse is to be punished as felony with death without benefit of clergy". Opposition from Independents and sectaries, however, meant that the ordinance was never enforced. Only with the passage of the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Act 1677 ("forbidding the burning of heretics" ) was Wightman's position in history "as the last person in England to be burned at the stake for heresy" secured.

Mention of his case came almost 100 years later by a handful of writers in the wake of the Toleration Act 1688. The only immediate result was that of a minority opposition to his execution, a shift in public opinion which may have led to a relative decline in the practice.

James I seemed to have lost faith in this method of discouraging heresy (his actions owed more to a thaw in his private attitude to Roman Catholics than to any feelings about the impropriety or inadvisability of burning heretics ) and seeing that heresy still survived, "publicly preferred that heretics hereafter, though condemned, should silently and privately waste themselves away in the prison rather than to grace them, and amuse others, with the solemnity of a public execution".

Legacy
Edward Wightman was the last person in England to be burned at the stake for heresy. The anti-Trinitarian Bartholomew Legate had been burned in London three weeks earlier.

"If, then, dead books may be committed to flames, how much more live books, that is to say, men?"

Family
Little is known about the subsequent fate of Edward Wightman's wife and children. It is known, however, that one son, John, was born on 7 January 1599 in Burton. John's son, George (1632–1722) emigrated to North Kingston, Rhode Island, in 1660.

title: Edward Wightman