Okay, so the screw and screwdriver aren’t exactly products of the industrial age. Quite the opposite, as we learn in Rybczynski’s slim history. We soon discover that tools such as saws and hammers have been around since the Roman Empire and earlier, while the screw appears to be a more modern invention. But for such a commonplace implement, the origins and uses of the screw are remarkably complex. We follow Witold as he traces its development through encyclopedias and illustrated histories, paintings by Albrecht Dürer, to medieval jousting armour and early guns, through Ancient Rome and Greek shipwrecks. The book is a charming, quick read as we see just how screws evolved and why they are such useful implements.
Ever the populist, Rybczynski has found many interesting devices and characters to illustrate his story. We learn about a 16th century military engineer’s designs for break-in devices, such as jacks for lifting heavy doors off hinges (“with great ease and little noise”). And it was a Canadian, 27 year old traveling salesman Peter L. Robertson, who developed screws with a square socket, rather than slotted. This revolutionary design allowed for much more secure engagement of the screwdriver to screw, and could be driven with one hand.
While screws have remarkable holding power, they were once an expensive luxury. No wonder: early screws were individually hand crafted, farmed out to cottage workers and their families who filed each screw’s thread by hand (!). Rybczynski ties the screw’s invention and development to individual geniuses and new mass manufacturing processes that reduced cost while improving quality.
This enjoyable, illustrated little book will appeal to anyone interested in the history of inventions, tools, handywork, or how small things fit into the big picture. Rybczynski has written numerous other popular books including one about urban history called City Life, which I am going to check out soon.
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