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

by Witold Rybczynski

Book Overview

The Best Tool of the Millennium The seeds of Rybczynski's elegant and illuminating new book were sown by The New York Times, whose editors asked him to write an essay identifying "the best tool of the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 068486729X
• ISBN13: 9780684867298
• Release Date: September 2000
• Publisher: Scribner Book Company
• Length: 172 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.6" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

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if Bob Vila and James Burke had a son

A New York Times editor asked Mr. Rybczynski to write an article about his choice for best tool of the millennium. One would think that this would involve deciding on a tool, researching its history and uses, and writing it up. But that would be too linear. Instead, the author takes us on a rambling walk through the toolbox. We learn not only about the development of many tools and machines (adze, augur, hammer, lathe, gears and presses), but about the scientists and inventors, even financiers, who contributed to the development of the screwdriver, and the applications (early firearms and clocks) that helped (literally) shape the device. We learn about the Phillips versus the Robertson screw, and the limitations of earlier lathes, which led to the first screws being handmade. Many interesting facts like this entertain and inform.As a librarian I appreciated the author's friendly discussion of the references he found useful for his research. There are many black-and-white line drawings to help you visualize the items being discussed, as well as a notes section, a good index, and illustration credits.Weaknesses: I would have liked to have read a brief discussion of the (seven?) Simple Machines, as I think many were discussed here, and it would have been an interesting reminder of things from physics class that I've forgotten. In addition, I looked up a quote by Plutarch in the Notes section, and the citation began "Quoted by E. J. Dijksterhuis .... " with no information about the actual source -- not much help!This was a fun read. If you are the kind of person who enjoys browsing through the dictionary or a bookstore, you will probably enjoy this little gem of a volume by this handyman-storyteller. Highly recommended.

Enjoyable essay, but not a lengthy industrial history

Not everybody appreciates essays, and that is fine. If you just want a very dry and clinical historical study of a ubiquitous pair of artifacts, then you'll be disappointed. This is a reader's book, written for literate people who enjoy reading for the sake of reading. From that point of view, it's an elegant little work. It is similar to "Catapult: Harry and I Build a Seige Weapon," which I also reviewed, in that the journey is as much a part of the story as the purported subject. Why did the author choose this subject, how did he research it, what were his stumbling blocks and triumphs, and what was he experiencing about the project. It is almost a meta-essay, in that it is an essay about writing an essay.Rest assured that it does cover the history of screws and drivers fairly comprehensively--it even explains the origin of those squareheads that you can get from McFeeley's. I was positive that those were the same things that the trailer manufacturers were using back in the 70s (just to 'broach' the subject). Now I know for certain. I had no idea that the Canadians had been using them throughout the 20th century. One of the interesting discoveries of the author is that very little scholarship has been performed in this area, so some of his findings probably represent original work. I'm always interested in where things came from, and even more so in WHY they came. Rybczynski gives some reasonable explanations for possible first uses of screws--both as fasteners and as transportation devices. He also discusses the most relevant technology--thread cutting, including pictures of some early thread cutters and he highlights the development of standardized threads and automated thread cutting lathes. (Just before receiving this book as a Christmas present, I had seen a working model of DaVinci's screw-cutting machine at an exhibit in the Zürich Landesmuseum--this device is depicted in Rybczynski 's book and looks just like the model.)It is a very short book, and it is an unusual approach to a technical history that is apparently a turn-off to some people. I enjoyed it. I think if you enjoyed the catapult book, Kurlansky's treatise on cod, or are a fan of John McPhee that you will find this book a worthwhile read. Witold Rybczynski uses a totally different style than the dry and thorough analysis of Petroski (see my review of "The Pencil : A History of Design and Circumstance").

One Good Turn Deserves to be read.

Let's get the main question out of the way: Can an entire book devoted to the history of the screw and screwdriver possibly be worth reading? The answer is an unqualified yes. This small book takes an unusual, almost reverential, look at the the nature of tools and the mind of the inventor and innovator. Rybczynski recounts his research into the origins of this ubiquitous tool, so it is also a tale of the research process. He tells the story in a casual, personal style, making it an easy read. The book is not tightly focused on its subject, filled with many digressions and asides which are as interesting as the main narrative. One of my favorites concerns the invention of the the shirt button. It seems like the epitome of simplicity, and could have been made thousands of years ago, yet it took until the 1300's for some unknown genius to make the "leap of imagination" and conceive of the device, which seems simple but is not at all intuitive. The author asks the reader to imagine trying to explain the the "twist and flip" motion to some one who has never used one. Its nuggets like this, which make the reader look at common items from an entirely different perspective, that makes the book shine. It turns out that one of the first uses of the screw dates back to the Middle Ages, as a method of fastening the the brutally abused armor of jousting knights, and later to secure the matchlock mechanisms of the earliest firearms. However, in exploring the concept of the helix, the basis of the screw, the author reaches much further back in time, to the ancient Greeks, Romans and Egyptians, who understood the shape and put it to use in irrigation and wine presses. My only peeve is that although the book is loaded with temporal dates, I still found them lacking in certain places where they were sorely needed to put events in perspective. Aside from that minor short-coming, this is a book about much more than just the screw and screwdriver, full of pleasant suprises and delightfull "twists". A must read.