"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
True enough. And, Rybczynski discovered, the screwdriver is a relative newcomer in humankind's arsenal of gadgetry, an invention of the late European Middle Ages and the only major mechanical device that the Chinese did not independently invent. Leonardo da Vinci got to it early on, of course, as he did so many other things, designing a number of screw-cutting machines with interchangeable gears. Still, it took generations for the screw (and with it the screwdriver and lathe) to come into general use, and it was not until the modern era that such improvements as slotted and socket screws came into being.
Rybczynski's explorations into that lineage, here expanded to book length, are highly entertaining, and sure to engage readers interested in the origins of everyday things. --Gregory McNamee
"The Toronto Star"
"One Good Turn" is a good, short read in the classic Rybczynksi mode -- an ordinary thing, explained extraordinarily.
M. R. Montgomery
"The New York Times Book Review"
What Rybczynski sees is that everything that requires mechanical precision, and that includes the instrumentation of modern science, rises out of the perfection of the simple screw and the complex machinery required to manufacture these indispensable items.
Paul Challen "The Toronto Star""One Good Turn" is a good, short read in the classic Rybczynksi mode -- an ordinary thing, explained extraordinarily.
M. R. Montgomery "The New York Times Book Review" What Rybczynski sees is that everything that requires mechanical precision, and that includes the instrumentation of modern science, rises out of the perfection of the simple screw and the complex machinery required to manufacture these indispensable items.
Paul Challen "The Toronto Star" "One Good Turn" is a good, short read in the classic Rybczynksi mode -- an ordinary thing, explained extraordinarily.
M. R. Montgomery The New York Times Book Review What Rybczynski sees is that everything that requires mechanical precision, and that includes the instrumentation of modern science, rises out of the perfection of the simple screw and the complex machinery required to manufacture these indispensable items.
Paul Challen The Toronto Star One Good Turn is a good, short read in the classic Rybczynksi mode -- an ordinary thing, explained extraordinarily.
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