One Good Turn: A Natural History of the Screwdriver and the Screw

by Rybczynski, Witold

  18. Quoted in A. G. Drachmann, “The Screw of Archimedes,” Actes de VIIIe Congrès International d’Histoire des Sciences, Florence-Milan, 3–9 septembre 1956, vol. 3 (Florence: Vinci, 1958), 940–41.

  19. John Peter Oleson, Greek and Roman Mechanical Water-Lifting Devices: The History of Technology (Toronto: University of Toronto, 1984), 297, 365.

  20. Humphrey et al., Greek and Roman Technology, 317.

  21. William Giles Nash, The Rio Tinto Mine: Its History and Romance (London: Simpkin Marshall Hamilton Kent & Co., 1904), 35.

  22. Diodorus Siculus, The Historical Library of Diodorus the Sicilian; in Fifteen Books, trans. G. Booth (London: W. M’Dowall for J. Davis, 1814).

  23. See Drachmann, Mechanical Technology, 154.

  24. Vitruvius, Ten Books, 297.

  25. Joseph Needham and Wang Ling, Science and Civilization in China, Introductory Orientations (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1954), 241.

  TEXT ILLUSTRATION SOURCES

  Page 22: A History of Technology: Vol. II, The Mediterranean Civilizations and the Middle Ages c. 700 B.C. to c. A.D. 1500, eds. Charles Joseph Singer et al. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1956), 152; 42: Kenneth D. Roberts, Some 19th Century English Woodworking Tools: Edge & Joiner Tools and Bit Braces (Fitzwilliam, N.H.: Ken Roberts Publishing Co., 1980), 234; 50: The Various and Ingenious Machines of Agostino Ramelli (1588), trans. Martha Teach Gnudi (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1976), plate 188; 52: The Various and Ingenious Machines of Agostino Ramelli (1588), trans. Martha Teach Gnudi (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1976), plate 129; 58: Wapenhandelinghe van Roers, Musquetten end Speissen, Achtervolgende de Ordre van Syn Excellente Maurits, Prince van Orangie . . . Figuirlyck vutgebeelt door Jacob de Gheyn (Musket drill devised by Maurice of Orange) (The Hague, 1607); facsimile edition, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1971; 60: Hugh B. C. Pollard, Pollard’s History of Firearms, ed. Claude Blair (New York: Macmillan, 1983), 35; 65: Charles John Ffoulkes, The Armourer and His Craft: From the XIth to the XVIth Century (New York: Benjamin Blom, 1967), 55. Redrawn by author; 66: Charles John Ffoulkes, The Armourer and His Craft: From the XIth to the XVIth Century (New York: Benjamin Blom, 1967), plate V. Redrawn by author; 80: Ken Lamb, P.L.: Inventor of the Robertson Screw (Milton, Ont.: Milton Historical Society, 1998), 152; 90: Christoph Graf zu Waldburg Wolfegg, Venus and Mars: The World of the Medieval Housebook (Munich: Prestel-Verlag, 1998), 88; 95: A History of Technology: Vol. II, The Mediterranean Civilizations and the Middle Ages c. 700 B.C. to c. A.D. 1500, eds. Charles Joseph Singer et al. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1956), 334; 98: Robert S. Woodbury, Studies in the History of Machine Tools (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1972), Fig. 30; 114: T. K. Derry and Trevor I. Williams, A Short History of Technology (New York: Oxford University Press, 1960), 236; 118: A. G. Drachmann, Ancient Oil Mills and Presses (Copenhagen: Levin & Munksgaard, 1932), 159. Redrawn by author; 130: Derek J. de Solla Price, “Gears from the Greeks: The Antikythera Mechanism—a Calendar Computer from ca. 80 B.C.,” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 64, pt. 7 (November 1974): 37; 141: M. H. Morgan, Vitruvius, The Ten Books on Architecture (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1946), 295. Pages 101, 115, 120, 122, 145–151 were drawn by the author.

  INDEX

  Académie Française, 36

  adzes, 19, 21, 26, 41, 46, 51

  cooper’s, 147

  Agricola, Georgius, 51–53, 54, 69, 125

  Alembert, Jean Le Rond d’, 33–35

  A-levels, 16–17, 149

  American Screw Company, 78, 84

  Ancient Carpenters’ Tools (Mercer), 37, 41

  Andreas, 121

  Antikythera Mechanism, 128–32, 133

  Apollonius of Perge, 139

  archaeology, 17–18, 38, 127–28

  Archimedes, 9, 47–48, 133–43

  Archytas of Terentum, 139

  armor, 57, 93

  chain mail, 62, 64

  Dresden, 61–65

  golden age of, 61

  helms of, 63, 64–66

  jousting vs. field, 62, 64

  screws used in, 63–64, 66–67, 72

  steel plates of, 62, 63, 64, 66–67

  weight of, 62

  armorer’s pincers, 67, 111

  arquebus, 56–57

  arquebusier’s screwdriver, 33, 60–61

  arquebusier’s spanner, 60, 61, 67, 111

  art de tourner, L’ (Plumier), 96

  astrology, 53

  astronomy, 14, 97, 98, 129, 133, 135

  Athenaeus, 138, 139

  augers, 22–23, 24, 46, 54, 122

  breast, 22–23, 146

  long-handled, 51

  spiral, 143, 147

  awls, 36–37

  ax-adzes, 21

  axes, 51

  double-headed, 21

  Babbage, Charles, 107

  backsaws, 18, 151

  Bataille, E. M., 110

  Bearing the Cross (Franke), 22

  bellows, 51, 53, 70, 124–25

  bench vises, 80

  Besson, Jacques, 95–96

  bevels, 16, 149

  blacksmiths, 30, 36, 70–71, 73, 100, 111

  bolts, 30, 37, 71, 72, 105

  bombards, 55

  bookstands, revolving, 49, 50

  bow drills, 21–22, 24, 31, 41

  braces, 80

  cranks in, 24–25, 33

  wooden, 23–24

  see also carpenter’s braces

  Bramah, Joseph, 100–101

  British Arts and Crafts movement, 39

  Britten’s Old Clocks and Watches and Their Makers, 72

  Bronze Age, 19–20

  Brunel, Isambard Kingdom, 103, 110

  Brunel, Marc Isambard, 102–3, 109

  bucket conveyor belts, 48, 141

  buttons, 45–46, 89

  cabinetmaker’s screwdriver, 33–35

  cabinet turnscrews, 43

  cabinetwork, 15, 18–20, 33–35, 76

  Campin, Robert, 23

  cannons, 54, 55

  steam, 137–38

  carpenter’s benches, 26, 27, 89

  carpenter’s braces, 22, 23–25, 27, 33, 41, 43, 45, 111, 146, 148

  catapults, 48, 137

  celestial globes, 132, 133, 135, 137

  ceramics, 38–39, 128–29

  China, ancient, 45, 129, 142–43

  chisels, 19–20, 23, 36–37, 51, 69

  Cicero, 132–33, 134, 135

  clamps, 48, 121

  Claudianus, 133

  Clement, Joseph, 107–8, 109–10

  clockmaking, 49, 71–72

  clocks:

  astronomical, 49, 71–72, 131–32

  turret, 71

  combination case openers, 20, 150

  Commander mauls, 20, 40–41

  computers, 107

  Consumer Reports, 85

  Cook, James, 99

  corks, 35–36

  corkscrews, 36, 80

  cotter pins, 62

  cranks, 24–25, 73

  crowbars, 20, 54

  cuirassier helmet, 48

  De’Dondi, Giovanni, 71–72, 131

  De Re Metallica (Agricola), 51–53

  Dictionary of Tools (Salaman), 31–32

  Dictionnaire Général de la Langue Française, 36, 44

  Diderot, Denis, 33–35, 61

  dies, 30, 64, 105

  Diodorus Siculus, 134, 140–41

  dioptra, 119

  Disston, Henry, 19

  diverse et artificiose machine, Le (Ramelli), 47, 48–51, 52

  dividers, 46, 48

  Drachmann, A. G., 123, 138–39

  draw rings, 31

  drills, 15, 33, 85, 86

  bow, 21–22, 24, 31, 41

  Dürer, Albrecht, 46–47, 55–56

  Egypt, ancient, 45, 140

  tools of, 16–18, 21, 41, 88–89

  electrician’s screwdriver, 32

  electricity, 15

  Encyclopaedia Britannica,
27, 31, 32

  Encyclopédie (Diderot and d’Alembert), 33–35, 36, 43, 54, 61, 73, 74, 93

  engines, 48

  difference, 107

  jet, 55

  steam, 24, 76, 103, 104, 107–9, 110

  Euclid, 133

  Eustathius, 139

  eyeglasses, 13–14, 16

  Ffoulkes, Charles, 65–67

  files, 36–37

  Fisher Body Company, 82

  Ford, Henry, 82–83

  foundries, 55–56

  Franke, Meister, 22

  Franklin, Benjamin, 14

  Frick Collection, 53–54, 90, 92

  Gallus, 132–33, 135

  Gardner, Isabella Stewart, 39

  Gardner Museum, 39

  gearwheels, 129–32

  General Motors, 84

  generators, 15

  gent’s fancy screwdriver, 145

  Gent’s Fancy Turnscrew, 43

  gimlets, 31

  girders, 73, 75, 88

  Goodman, William Louis, 26–27, 37

  Great Western, 103

  Greeks, ancient, 31, 45, 118–19, 121–22, 123–24, 127–40, 142–43

  Greenwich Armory, 63

  gunmaker’s screwdriver, 32

  guns, 55–61

  antitank, 56

  barrels of, 55, 56, 59

  loading and firing of, 56–57, 60

  ray, 137

  screws in, 59–61, 71, 72

  Gutenberg, Johannes, 113

  hacksaws, 18, 71, 73

  hammers, 14, 23, 24, 31, 46, 51, 67

  adze-eye, 21

  claw, 21, 47

  combination, 20, 150

  socketed, 111

  steam, 107

  see also mallets; mauls; sledgehammers

  handsaws, 14–19, 45

  ancient Egyptian, 17–18

  open, 19, 46

  origins of, 17–19

  skew-back, 19, 151

  see also backsaws; hacksaws; saws

  hand tools, 15–27

  artistic depictions and illustrations of, 22, 23–24, 33, 34, 35, 41–42, 46–47, 51, 53, 54, 59, 67, 115, 145–51

  carpenter’s, 15–27

  combination, 20–21, 80, 111, 150

  cutting and shaping, 16, 17–20

  drilling, 16, 21–25, 86

  as extension of body, 16

  four categories of, 16

  hammering, 16, 20–21

  measurement, 16–17

  origins and histories of, 16–25, 26–27, 29–37

  power, 15–16, 86

  helixes, 112, 119–21, 124, 125, 143

  Hero of Alexandria, 116–19, 121–22, 123, 127, 136

  Hieron, King of Syracuse, 135, 138, 140

  hinges, 74–75, 76, 78, 124

  Historia Naturalis (Pliny the Elder), 116–17

  History of Woodworking Tools (Goodman), 26–27, 37

  hodometers, 119

  houses, building of, 14–17, 20, 39

  instruments:

  mathematical, 30, 97, 134

  medical, 121, 125

  navigational, 31, 97, 99

  surveying, 17, 119, 125

  iron, 47, 60, 62, 129

  screws, 35, 51–53, 75

  smelting of, 51

  jacks, 48

  Japanese, 18n, 45

  Jefferson, Thomas, 71

  jeweler’s screwdrivers, 32

  Joseph, Saint, 23–24, 46

  Josephus, 123

  jousting, 62–63, 64

  Kern, Ken, 15

  Knights of the Round Table, 61, 62

  lathes, 41, 73, 77, 88–101

  bench, 98, 111

  guilloching, 96

  pole, 89–90

  precision, 103–6

  screw-cutting, 90–106

  turning-, 88–97

  Leonardo da Vinci, 47, 48, 94, 95, 100, 102, 103, 137–38

  levels:

  A-, 16–17, 149

  spirit, 16, 17, 149

  locksmiths, 63, 74

  London pattern screwdriver, 43, 145

  Louis XVI, King of France, 96

  machines, 48–51

  calculating, 107

  milling, 24, 48–51

  mining and smelting, 51, 53

  scale-dividing, 97–99

  scaling, 48

  screw-making, 75–78, 87–106

  specialized, 102–3, 107

  water-driven, 24, 48, 53, 76, 137–38, 139–43

  wind-driven, 24, 137, 138–39

  wooden, 51

  see also engines

  mallets, 20, 51

  manacles, 54, 55, 91

  Marcellus, 134–35

  matchlocks, 57–61, 70, 124

  mathematics, 133–35

  Maudslay, Henry, 99–107, 108–9, 136

  mauls, 20, 40–41, 150

  Mechanical Exercises (Nicholson), 29, 31

  Mechanick Exercises (Moxon), 30, 41, 64

  Medieval Housebook, 53–54, 60, 67, 90–93, 103, 112

  Melancolia I (Dürer), 46–47

  mensor aedificorum, 16, 17

  Mercer, Henry Chapman, 37–41

  Mercer Museum, 40–41

  Metropolitan Museum of Art, 23, 57–66, 67

  micrometers, 109

  microscopes, 14, 99

  Middle Ages, 14, 37, 89

  tools of, 17, 21, 22–23, 24–25, 27, 46–67, 112

  mills, 48–51

  flour, 52

  hand-cranked, 24, 48–51

  portable, 52

  millstones, 47, 49

  mining, 51, 87

  Minoans, 21

  mirrors, 137

  miter boxes, 18

  Moravian Pottery and Tile Works, 38–39

  Morris, William, 38, 39

  mousetraps, 23, 80

  Moxon, Joseph, 29–30, 36, 37, 41, 64, 74

  multum in parvo tools, 67

  nail gun, 16

  nails, 23, 51, 74

  arming, 66

  fabrication of, 70–71

  iron, 21, 47, 51, 69–71

  pulling of, 20, 21, 70

  screws vs., 69–70, 71, 73, 125

  Nasmyth, James, 107–9

  New England Screw Company, 77

  New York Times, 13, 44

  Nicholson, Peter, 29, 31

  nuts, 30, 63, 105, 117, 122, 124

  wing, 64, 65, 71

  wooden, 121

  On Sphere-Making (Archimedes), 133

  optics, 14

  Ovid, 133

  Owner-Built Home, The (Kern), 15

  Oxford English Dictionary (OED), 29, 31, 112

  Pappus of Alexandria, 123–24

  pegs, 21, 49, 121, 122

  petronels, 58–59

  Phillips, Henry F., 83–86

  physics, 15, 134

  pincers, 23, 47

  armorer’s, 67, 111

  pipes, wooden, 51

  pivot hooks, 62

  planes, 19, 27, 31, 41, 89, 112, 150

  Plato, 139

  Pliny the Elder, 116–17

  plumb bobs, 16, 17

  Plumier, Charles, 96, 103

  Plutarch, 133, 134–35, 136, 138

  poitrinal, 58

  Pollard’s History of Firearms, 59–60, 67

  portcullis twisters, 48, 54

  presses, 113–18

  beam, 116–17, 121–22

  linen, 113–14, 116

  olive and fruit, 113, 115, 117, 125

  paper, 113, 115

  printing, 113, 114

  screw, 115–18, 122

  Price, Derek J. de Solla, 127, 131–32

  production lines, 102

  pulleys:

  compound, 136–37

  ships’, 102, 138–39

  pumps, 24, 48, 51

  pyrites, iron, 60

  radar, 55

  Ramelli, Agostino, 47–51, 52, 53, 54, 74, 95, 137

  Ramsden, Jesse, 97–99, 103

  regula, 17

  Renaissance, 27, 55
<
br />   rennhut, 63

  renntartsche, 63, 64–66

  rivets, 62, 66, 80

  Roberts, Kenneth, 43

  Roberts, Richard, 107–8

  Robertson, Peter L., 80–83, 84, 85, 86

  Rogers, Charles D., 78

  rollers, 49

  Roman Empire, 37, 45, 113, 115, 127, 134–35, 136, 140–41

  tools of, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 27, 71, 89, 111, 122, 123, 124–25, 143

  Roubo, A. J., 32–33

  rules, 47

  folding, 17

  Sakas, Ioannis, 137–38

  Salaman, Raphael A., 31–32

  sanders, 15

  saws, 17–19, 23, 24

  circular, 15

  frame, 18, 19, 111, 151

  origins of, 17–19

  power, 15

  revolving, 75

  Roman frame, 111

  see also handsaws

  scharfrennen, 62–63

  Scotch pattern screwdriver, 43, 145

  screw bolts, 37

  screwdrivers, 26–27, 40, 47, 69

  as adaptations, 37, 111

  auger-handled, 37

  automated, 85–86

  blades of, 33, 43, 67, 78, 81

  definition of, 29

  handles of, 27, 31, 35, 37, 43

  magnetic, 79

  origins and history of, 27, 29–37, 41–44, 67

  Phillips, 83, 85

  Robertson, 81, 85–86

  specialized, 31–32, 43

  spring-loaded, 81

  see also specific screwdrivers

  screw-pins, 30

  screw-plates, 30, 64

  screws:

  accuracy of, 97–98, 101–2, 103–6, 110

  cam-out and slippage of, 78–79, 83, 86

  cost of, 70, 72, 76, 110

  countersunk, 78

  cruciform vs. square socket, 83, 85

  endless, 118–19, 138–39, 143

  fabrication of, 63–64, 71, 73, 75–86, 87–106, 112

  gimlet-pointed, 76, 77

  handmade, 73, 77

  iron, 35, 51–53, 75

  mechanical bonding of, 70

  metal-joining, 54–55

  modern, 76–86

  origins and history of, 32, 49–55, 63–64, 66–67, 69–86, 109–43

  ornamental, 96

  Phillips, 83–86

  regulating, 97–99, 101–2, 103–4, 109–10

  removal of, 70, 86

  Robertson, 80–83

  slotted-head, 35, 49, 53, 54–55, 59, 71, 72, 75, 78–79, 81, 83

  socket-head, 80–86

  steel, 35, 73

  tapered, threaded bodies of, 53, 59, 70, 73, 76–77, 111–12

  uniformity in, 105

  water, 139–43

  wooden, 112–13, 116–17, 123, 140–41

  screw taps, 122, 123–24

  sewing machine turnscrew, 43

  sextants, 31, 97, 99

  shipbuilding, 22, 76, 81–82, 84, 103

  Shipley, David, 13–14, 19, 25

  sledgehammers, 20

  slide rests, 100–101, 103

  Sloan, Thomas J., 78, 84

  spanners, 60, 61, 67