The other two essays went well (and only totaled to 1 hour for each). Those I just had to talk about EWB though - so, cake, honestly.
I don't know, I kind of like it as the minutes drip on. Literally, time feels sluggish and I swear this couch is falling into the floor (or is that my mind?). Um, yes, below is the essay I wrote. Enjoy.
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The Versatility of Simplistic Engineering
Enter "Greatest Engineering Feats of all Time" into a search engine and one will be swamped with massive projects such as the Great Pyramids, the Great Pharos Lighthouse of Alexandria, and the Great White Fleet. The integral factor playing into the “Greatness” of these marvels was their foundation on and construction using simple machines. In the absence of cranes, the height of the Great Pyramids required mud-brick inclined planes1. The dumbwaiter utilized to hoist fire fuel in the Great Pharos Lighthouse necessitated pulleys2. Lastly, Theodore Roosevelt’s Great White Fleet employed the propulsion of propellers, whose origins resides in the Archimedean screw3. Throughout history, civilization’s “Great” achievements have been founded on these simple (yet profound) engineering innovations. Although the ISS floats in the heavens above and the LHC smashes particles below, I consider the greatest engineering accomplishment of civilization to be a simple machine: the screw. Through its ubiquitous applications in the ancient, medieval, and modern periods of human history, the screw has proven that simplistic engineering is timeless in its versatility.
The development of the screw is sometimes accredited to Archytas of Tarentum in 400 B.C. Archimedes (3rd century B.C.) applied the first use of screw principle to his namesake screw. Observing the necessity to irrigate farmland that eluded the floods of the Nile and to siphon these same floodwaters away from cities, Archimedes developed his namesake screw. Utilizing the simplicity of the screw, his design also drew water out of the holds sinking ships, and could be prominently viewed as it lifted water to hydrate the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Further in history, the screw revolutionized the wine and olive oil (staples of a Mediterranean diet) industry in 50 A.D., when the first direct-screw press (Figure 1) began crushing grapes and olives in Pompeii6. The
Figure 1: Direct-screw press
direct-screw press extracted a much higher yield than the basket press, the method employed at the time. Ancient medical professionals modified the screw to make bone drills (similar to today’s corkscrew) that removed diseased tissue and bone shards from patients.
In the Middle Ages, the screw again proved its versatility. In 1441, Gutenberg utilized the screw principle for one of civilization’s most impactful inventions: the movable type printing press. Gutenberg based his design on the wine presses of the Rhine Valley, and further embedded the screw press in humanity’s prominent engineering marvels. In Gutenberg’s version of letterpress printing, a screw transmits pressure through a metal plate to cause an impression on paper. In its finalized state, a single Gutenberg printing press could produce 3,600 pages per workday, as compared to 40 pages per workday by hand-printing. Just as Gutenberg proved the versatility of screws with the screw press, the Dutch proved the versatility of the Archimedean screw. In 1634, the Netherlands began using windmills to power Archimedean screw-pumps to reclaim land from under sea level. These land reclamations have resulted in over 3,000 unique tracts of land known as polders. Presently, these polders comprise about 27% of the Netherland’s land and contain over 60% of the country’s population, heavily in part due to utilization of Archimedes screw. Although methods of powering the screw-pumps have changed since 1634, the Archimedean screw remains the most effective way of pumping water out of the Netherland’s polders7. The medieval period also saw a prevalence of screws in warfare. Squires invented the screwdriver in the 1500s to assemble suits of armor onto knights. Screws attached the wheel-lock firearm, the first self-igniting firearm, onto the wooden stocks of early firearms. Mechanical screws wound up strings on crossbows and ballista’s, allowing powerful releasing of bolts at enemy lines.
With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, the screw became well established in prominent machine tools, again proving its versatility. This was heavily due in part to Joseph Whitson’s standardization for screw threads in 1841. Screws became easily replicable upon standardization, allowing mass production. The British railway system adopted the “British Standard Whitworth” to allow universal screw coupling (which attaches the vehicles of a train together). Standardized, mass produced screws were used in a multitude of “machine tools,” mechanically powered devices first commercial available during the Industrial Revolution. Between 1763 and 1775, James Watt produced a workable steam engine. The industrialist John Wilkinson developed a new boring machine to help Watt improve his steam engine. Boring machines use gradation screws to adjust the diameter of circles cut – thereby Wilkinson assisted Watt in boring the precise holes needed for his steam engine’s cylinders. Perhaps one of the most important applications of the screw was the screw propeller patented by Francis Smith. The first test of his screw propeller was appropriately on the steamship Christened the “S.S. Archimedes.”
Figure 2: The three screw propellers of the Titanic
The screw propeller quickly gained wide acceptance as the preferred means of propulsion on steamships (powering gigantic vessels, such as the Titanic in Figure 2) and later also became the preferred means of propulsion in the field of aviation. Other devices that employ the screw turbine include helicopters, fans, turbines, windmills, and submarines. The versatility of the screw has allowed its use in a multitude of engineering professions.
The screw has a considerable potential impact on the future of engineering. Already, screws are used to make delicate adjustments of micrometers and carburetors of gasoline engineers. Modern day boring machines can control the diameter of a drilled hole to within 10 micrometers. Innovative uses of Archimedes screw have provided breakthroughs in energy generation and sewage treatment. In Yorkshire, U.K., two Archimedes screws have been installed in series down the slope of a hill. A nearby river will be diverted over a white-water rafting course. When the river is high, water will flow over the course and into the turbines, generating enough electricity to save the Yorkshire Water sewage treatment facility 127,000 pounds per year. In addition, when the river level is low, the turbines can act as pumps to pump water uphill to increase the flow over the course. This project is unique as it is the only system in the world where the Archimedes screws act as pumps and generators. A particular prominent modified version of the screw is the ball screw, which converts screw rotation to linear movement along a shaft. Ball screws are heavily used in aviation and missiles in a new concept called “fly-by-wire,” which replaces manual flight control. As the prevalence of unmanned vehicle warfare increases (such as through drone missiles and robotic warfare), the necessity for extremely precise ball screws will increase.
The versatility of the screw has made this simple machine an integral part of many of mankind’s great engineering marvels. From crushing grapes in ancient Italy, to turbine propulsion for the Titanic, to the precise gradation of micrometers in microscopes, the screw has proved a highly adaptable engineering tool. For its ubiquitous applications in everyday life and in assisting the next batch of engineering breakthroughs, perhaps it is time the screw also earns the title, “Great.”
i googled your name and found Absurdity, dear Writer
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