Modern life, from the dishwasher to the International Space Station, depends on some combination of the nail, wheel, spring, magnet. lens, string and pump. With the invention of the nail, houses, boats, weapons, and other vital things could be built. The ingenious wheel enabled wheeled transportation which conquered much of the world nearly overnight about 6,000 years ago. Springs store and release energy in forms ranging from the bow to dampers. The magnet, although a natural phenomenon, is the basis for essentials from light bulbs to the internet. Curved glass (i.e. lenses) was known since the dawn of civilization, but hit the jackpot when the 17th century produced the microscope and the telescope. The pump... think of the heart. Roma Agrawal is an expert guide, who emphasizes the big picture. If you are looking for simple explanations of how things work, this SDG is not for you.
This SDG will be an entertaining riff on the building blocks of engineering. Remember there is a reason why the phrase 'nuts and bolts' has passed into our everyday language to signify what's really important about any situation.
SCHEDULING NOTES: We will not be starting the week before Labor Day with the rest of the SDGs to avoid absences for those taking a long week-end holiday or traveling. October 3 is the first day of Rosh Hashanah, a PLATO holiday, We will shift that day to Wednesday October 2 unless the group agrees to an alternative.
Week One Nail
History of Nail Making, Glasgow Steel Nail
Fasteners, History of the Nail, AFT Fasteners & Industries
Who Invented the Nail, Harry Sharer, The Enlightened Mindset, January 2022
Nail Chronology: The Use of Technologically Derived Features , Tom Wells,Historical Archaeology, Vol. 32, No. 2 (1998),
pp. 78-99
How the Simple Nail Changed History https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO7MyAMCciA
Week Two Wheel
Wheel Greatest Invention, The Science News-Letter, Vol. 10, No. 296 (Dec. 11, 1926), p. 169
Old Babylon, Scientific American, February 1856, pg 168
The Evolution of the Wheel: Velocipede to Motorcycle, Samuel Barton, The Sewanee Review January 1907, pp 48-62
5 Inventions that Changed the World – the Wheel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDBol49MPP8
Week Three Spring
Different types of springs & their uses https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Era7OOKyVEw
History of the Slinky https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRqz193a8gk
A Chronicle of Timekeeping, William Andrews, Scientific American, September 2022, pp 76-85
Week Four Magnet
History of magnetism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce1P3dJdjIg
The Invention of the Electric Light, Josephson Matthew, Scientific American, Vol. 201, No. 5 (November 1959), pp. 98-118
The Economic Meaning of the Invention of the Compass, Frederic C. Lane The American Historical Review, Vol. 68, No. 3
(Apr., 1963), pp. 605-617
Magnet Master, Everyday Art Quarterly, 1948 pp 1-4,
Week Five. Lens
The Invention of the Microscope, David Bardell, Bios, May 2004, pp 78-84
The Long Route to the Inventions of the Telescope, Rolf Williach, Transactions of the American Philosophical Society,
2008,
The Evolution of Eyeglasses, Henry Petroski, American Scientist, September - October 2013, pp 334 - 337
The Enigma of Early Lens Use, Jay M. Enoch Technology and Culture, Vol. 39, No. 2 (Apr., 1998), pp. 273-291
The invention that fixed lighthouses https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z0l0yjBFmo
Week Six. String
The ingenious origin of stringed instruments https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgfMEJ7Jk0Q
Why String is one of the Greatest Inventions, New Scientist, 2013
The Science of String Instruments, Journal of Acoustical Society of America, 2012
Week Seven Pump
The Origin of the Suction Pump, Sheldon Shapiro Technology and Culture, Vol. 5, No. 4 (Autumn, 1964), pp. 566-574
History of Pumps Through the Years, Pumps & Systems, 12.22.2011
Ships' Pumps, Journal of Maritime Archaeology, June 2020 pp 185 -207
The History of Pumps https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsyB0KgMWvk
The Origin of Musical Instruments and Sounds, Bo Lawergren, Anthropos , 1988, pp. 31-45
Roma Agrawal, Nuts and Bolts: Seven Small Inventions That Changed the World in a Big Way, W.W. Norton, 2023, 272 pages
Articles will be provided by coordinator in PDF format
One YouTube per invention is listed, but as you might imagine there are many more to choose from