# Man's first use of the screw **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 5, 2003, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-first-use-of-the-screw/173266 "2003-05-05T20:48:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mikestu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/94ad74/32.png) [@mikestu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikestu)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-first-use-of-the-screw/173266/1 "2003-05-05T20:48:51Z")
Does anybody have a good guess at the approximate time that someone first invented and used the concept of a screw? Just curious… Mike ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-first-use-of-the-screw/173266/2 "2003-05-05T21:22:34Z")
I don’t have an answer, but around Y2K either the NY Times, LIFE or Time published a magazine that rated, I think, the hundred most important inventions/things/concepts of all time. The screw was right up there. If you track down the piece, it might mention the origin. (You do know, BTW, that the screw is a variation of the simple machine, the wedge?) ---
**Author:** ![whatmove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecc23a/32.png) [@whatmove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whatmove)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-first-use-of-the-screw/173266/3 "2003-05-05T21:29:16Z")
I refuse to pervert this thread…it’s just too easy. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-first-use-of-the-screw/173266/4 "2003-05-05T21:40:43Z")
Well… I think its obvious that it came before this, but I’m pretty sure the Aristotles’ screw (is that the right “A” Greek?) is named after its inventor. ---
**Author:** ![Sock\_Munkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Sock\_Munkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sock_Munkey)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-first-use-of-the-screw/173266/5 "2003-05-05T21:44:26Z")
Archimedes. ---
**Author:** ![Robb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Robb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robb)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-first-use-of-the-screw/173266/6 "2003-05-05T21:44:44Z")
[Archimedes screw](http://www.mcs.drexel.edu/~crorres/Archimedes/Screw/SourcesScrew.html)? ---
**Author:** ![mcbiggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7c8e57/32.png) [@mcbiggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcbiggins)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-first-use-of-the-screw/173266/7 "2003-05-05T23:42:11Z")
Archimedes invented the concept of the screw, but didn’t use it to drill a bit into a piece of wood. He used it to carry water uphill. Leonardo was one of the first to come up with the concept of the screw as a fastening device, but like many of his other “inventions” it existed only in his journals and we have no evidence he actually made one. Screws and screwdrivers first became readily available around 1800, and their standardization is one of the interesting stories of mid-19th century industrialization. You should read _One Good Turn : A Natural History of the Screwdriver and the Screw_ by Witold Rybczynski. It’s a great book if you’re into the history of technology. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-first-use-of-the-screw/173266/8 "2003-05-06T00:43:32Z")
After Eve ate the apple? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-first-use-of-the-screw/173266/9 "2003-05-06T02:34:19Z")
The book to read is _One Good Turn: The Natural History of the Screw_ by Witold Rybczynski. Rybczynski was intrigued by the question and spent a lot of time researching it. I can’t seem to find my copy right now, but he did eventually settle on a date. It’s fascinating reading. ---
**Author:** ![bbeaty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c0e974/32.png) [@bbeaty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbeaty)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-first-use-of-the-screw/173266/10 "2003-05-06T03:35:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > \*\*The book to read is _One Good Turn: The Natural History of the Screw_ by Witold Rybczynski. Rybczynski was intrigued by the question and spent a lot of time researching it. I can’t seem to find my copy right now, but he did eventually settle on a date. > > It’s fascinating reading. \*\* Hey, I just picked up that book for $.50 at a book sale! I think the earliest screw was from the middle ages. Screws would only be used in very special applications if you have to carve the damned things by hand one at a time. ---
**Author:** ![hammerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hammerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammerbach)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-first-use-of-the-screw/173266/11 "2003-05-06T05:47:04Z")
I second (third?) **mcbiggins & RealityChuck** on Rybczynski’s book. Fascinating read…