Nuts and Bolts: Seven Small Inventions That Changed the World in a Big Way

Shortlisted for the 2023 Royal Society Science Book Prize A structural engineer examines the seven most basic building blocks of engineering that have shaped the modern world. Some of humanitys mightiest engineering achievements are small in scaleand, without them, the complex machinery on which our modern world runs would not exist. In Nuts and Bolts, structural engineer Roma Agrawal examines seven of these extraordinary elements: the nail, the wheel, the spring, the magnet, the lens, the string, and the pump. Tracing the evolution from Egyptian nails to modern skyscrapers, and Neanderthal string to musical instruments, Agrawal shows us how even our most sophisticated items are built on the foundations of these ancient and fundamental breakthroughs. She explores an array of intricate technologiesdishwashers, spacesuits, microscopes, suspension bridges, breast pumpsmaking surprising connections, explaining how they work, and using her own hand-drawn illustrations to bring complex principles to life. Alongside deeply personal experiences, she recounts the stories of remarkableand often uncreditedscientists, engineers, and innovators from all over the world, and explores the indelible impact these creators and their creations had on society. In preindustrial Britain, nails were so precious that their export to the colonies was bannedand women were among the most industrious nail makers. The washing machine displayed at an industrial fair in Chicago in 1898 was the only machine featured that was designed by a woman. The history of the wheel, meanwhile, starts with pottery, and takes us to Indias independence movement, where making clothes using a spinning wheel was an act of civil disobedience. Eye-opening and engaging, Nuts and Bolts reveals the hidden building blocks of our modern world, and shows how engineering has fundamentally changed the way we live. 32 line drawings and 4 photographs