The Treatise on the Theory of Screws by Sir Robert. S. Ball

The Treatise on the Theory of Screws was developed by in 1900 Sir Robert S. Ball. The original purpose of the theory was for use in kinematics and statics of mechanisms (rigid body mechanics). The Theory is a way to express velocities and forces in three dimensional space, combining both rotational and translational parts. As happens sometimes, theories developed long ago and for specific applications can find new use in modern times. Such is the case with The Theory of Screws as it has regained importance with modern-day scientists, mathematicians and is applied in many different but related forms including dual numbers, Plücker coordinates and Lie algebra. Screw theory has also become an important tool in robot mechanics, mechanical design, computational geometry and multi-body dynamics.

Robert S. Ball (1840-1913) was a man of great talents and was both an astronomer, mathematician, and writer of popular science books. His father, Robert Ball, was a naturalist. Born in Ireland, and one of seven children, he went on to attend first Tarvin Hall school and then later Trinity College in Dublin. After graduating from Trinity, he went on to be appointed to a post in the Royal College of Science, Dublin, a role that coincided with that of Royal Astronomer of Ireland. Later Ball would move on to become professor of astronomy at the University of Cambridge.