The Evolution of the Guillotine: How Did It Change Over The Time Of Its Use
And Why Is An Oblique Blade The Most Efficient?
The guillotine has an interesting, but gruesome, history. Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin was not inventor of the guillotine, but his name has been associated with the machine because, as Jorne Fabricius notes, he was the one to “propose that mechanical decapitation was used to replace older cruder forms of execution”. Dr. Guillotin wanted the death penalty to be equal for all since previously, the rich got the axe/sword to the neck while commoners faced crueller techniques such as drowning, hanging, and being burnt alive. The history of the guillotine started long before the French Revolution as guillotine-like machines seem to have functioned in Germany, Great Britain and Italy before 1300, but any evidence is unclear (Fabricius). “The earlier machines replaced the axe, but the guillotine replaced the sword” (Fabricius).
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Further advancements to the machine include a new release mechanism (Leon Berger) and a shield to hide the blade (Nicolas Roch). The last official execution using a guillotine was in France, during 1977, and the machine’s reign officially came to an end when France outlawed capital punishment for good in September 1981.
The Oblique Blade. People have questioned why the blade of the guillotine is angled at 45°. The answer has been speculated to have to do with air pressure, smaller surface area on first contact with neck, contact mechanics, or the draw of slicing as opposed to the crushing of chopping.
R. (2013) from reddit (a, regrettably, less-than-credible source), in answer to the question Why is a guillotine’s blade angled? says
And Why Is An Oblique Blade The Most Efficient?
The guillotine has an interesting, but gruesome, history. Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin was not inventor of the guillotine, but his name has been associated with the machine because, as Jorne Fabricius notes, he was the one to “propose that mechanical decapitation was used to replace older cruder forms of execution”. Dr. Guillotin wanted the death penalty to be equal for all since previously, the rich got the axe/sword to the neck while commoners faced crueller techniques such as drowning, hanging, and being burnt alive. The history of the guillotine started long before the French Revolution as guillotine-like machines seem to have functioned in Germany, Great Britain and Italy before 1300, but any evidence is unclear (Fabricius). “The earlier machines replaced the axe, but the guillotine replaced the sword” (Fabricius).
The Research …show more content…
Further advancements to the machine include a new release mechanism (Leon Berger) and a shield to hide the blade (Nicolas Roch). The last official execution using a guillotine was in France, during 1977, and the machine’s reign officially came to an end when France outlawed capital punishment for good in September 1981.
The Oblique Blade. People have questioned why the blade of the guillotine is angled at 45°. The answer has been speculated to have to do with air pressure, smaller surface area on first contact with neck, contact mechanics, or the draw of slicing as opposed to the crushing of chopping.
R. (2013) from reddit (a, regrettably, less-than-credible source), in answer to the question Why is a guillotine’s blade angled? says