With this book, kids will learn how screws work, where they're found, and their uses throughout history. They will learn that screws are simple machines that convert rotational motion into linear motion. A simple wood screw is made up of a metal shaft with a thread spiraled around it and a head with a groove in which a screwdriver can fit. When rotational motion is applied to the head of the screw, the screw converts the force to linear motion, which in turn drives the screw into the wood. Wood screws are just one example of this versatile simple machine, which will fascinate your budding scientific thinkers.

What is a screw? How do we use screws in everyday life? Who invented the screw? Find out the answers to all these and more!

The Best Tool of the Millennium The seeds of Rybczynski's elegant and illuminating new book were sown by The New York Times, whose editors asked him to write an essay identifying "the best tool of the millennium." The award-winning author of Home, A Clearing in the Distance, and Now I Sit Me Down, Rybczynski once built a house using only hand tools. His intimate knowledge of the toolbox -- both its contents and its history -- serves him beautifully on his quest. One Good Turn is a story starring Archimedes, who invented the water screw and introduced the helix, and Leonardo, who sketched a machine for carving wood screws. It is a story of mechanical discovery and genius that takes readers from ancient Greece to car design in the age of American industry. Rybczynski writes an ode to the screw, without which there would be no telescope, no microscope -- in short, no enlightenment science. One of our finest cultural and architectural historians, Rybczynski renders a graceful, original, and engaging portrait of the tool that changed the course of civilization.

The screw is a simple machine that changed the world in remarkable ways. In the 1440s, the screw was central to the success of the printing press, which allowed scientists and great thinkers around the world to share ideas. Today, screws are necessary to hold a variety of objects together, from chairs to light bulbs. They also manifest in the forms of ceiling fans and airplane propellers. With approachable text and an image gallery of recognizable objects that use this simple machine, this book allows early readers to understand the forces and STEM concepts that make screws vital to the modern world.

Introduces the science of inclined planes, including ramps, wedges, and screws, describing different kinds, how they work, and jobs that they perform.