One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
How the nail, the spring, and other small inventions changed the world
The pump is one of seven small inventions crucial to modern innovation, according to engineer Roma Agrawal.
Listen
34:16
Take a look at this list of items: the nail, the wheel, the spring, the lens, the magnet, the string, and the pump. What do they have in common?
According to structural engineer Roma Agrawal, together those basic items are the building blocks of today’s modern world. She calls them the seven small inventions that changed the world in her new book, “Nuts & Bolts.”
I selected these seven objects during the first 2020 lockdown. Trapped at home, I let my mind roam free, looking around at my possessions and mentally (or sometimes physically) deconstructing them to see what lay inside. I revisited the ballpoint pen and saw a spring, a screw, and a revolving sphere. The blender I used to make my baby’s food relied on gears, which in turn couldn’t exist without the wheel. Before that, when I was breastfeeding, a breast pump allowed my husband to feed our daughter, too. The process of IVF I went through relied on a lens to see things on a cellular scale. The protective masks we wore during our short walks, and that kept medics safe, were formed of countless fibres twisted together to make fabric. The speaker on my phone through which I could hear the voices of family and friends relied on a magnet.
How were these seven small items invented and why are they so crucial to human progress? We talk to Roma Agrawal about her new book and her work as a structural engineer who helped create one of London’s most notable skyscrapers, the Shard.
Copyright 2023 WAMU 88.5. To see more, visit WAMU 88.5. 9(MDA1OTI3MjQ5MDEyODUwMTE2MzM1YzNmZA004))
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
