| One Good Turn: A Natural History of the Screwdriver and the Screw Contributor(s): Rybczynski, Witold (Author) |
|
 |
ISBN: 0684867303 ISBN-13: 9780684867304 Publisher: Scribner Book Company OUR PRICE: $13.30 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: September 2001 Annotation: 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 millennium." An award-winning author who once built a house using only hand tools, Rybczynski has intimate knowledge of the toolbox -- both its contents and its history -- which serves him beautifully on his quest. "One Good Turn" is a story starring Archimedes, who invented the water screw and introduced the helix, and Leonardo, who sketched a machine for carving wood screws. It is a story of mechanical discovery and genius that takes readers from ancient Greece to car design in the age of American industry. Rybczynski writes an ode to the screw, without which there would be no telescope, no microscope -- in short, no enlightenment science. One of our finest cultural and architectural historians, Rybczynski renders a graceful, original, and engaging portrait of the tool that changed the course of civilization.
|
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Science | History - House & Home | Hand Tools - House & Home | Power Tools |
| Dewey: 621.972 |
| LCCN: 000036988 |
| Physical Information: 0.51" H x 5.14" W x 7.5" (0.30 lbs) 176 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: 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 millennium. The award-winning author of Home, A Clearing in the Distance, and Now I Sit Me Down, Rybczynski once built a house using only hand tools. His intimate knowledge of the toolbox -- both its contents and its history -- serves him beautifully on his quest. One Good Turn is a story starring Archimedes, who invented the water screw and introduced the helix, and Leonardo, who sketched a machine for carving wood screws. It is a story of mechanical discovery and genius that takes readers from ancient Greece to car design in the age of American industry. Rybczynski writes an ode to the screw, without which there would be no telescope, no microscope -- in short, no enlightenment science. One of our finest cultural and architectural historians, Rybczynski renders a graceful, original, and engaging portrait of the tool that changed the course of civilization. |
Contributor Bio(s): Rybczynski, Witold: - Witold Rybczynski has written about architecture and urbanism for The New York Times, Time, The Atlantic, and The New Yorker. He is the author of the critically acclaimed book Home and the award-winning A Clearing in the Distance, as well as The Biography of a Building, The Mysteries of the Mall, and Now I Sit Me Down. The recipient of the National Building Museum's 2007 Vincent Scully Prize, he lives with his wife in Philadelphia, where he is emeritus professor of architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. |