Tool

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A tool or device is a piece oI equipment which typically provides a
mechanical advantage in accomplishing a physical task, or provides
an ability that is not naturally available to the user oI a tool. The
most basic tools are simple machines. For example, a crowbar
simply Iunctions as a lever. The Iurther out Irom the pivot point, the
more Iorce is transmitted along the lever. When particularly
intended Ior domestic use, a tool is oIten called a utensil.
Observation has conIirmed that multiple species can use tools,
including monkeys, apes, several birds, sea otters, and others.
Philosophers originally thought that only humans had the ability to
make tools, until zoologists observed birds
|1|
and monkeys
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making tools. Now humans'
unique relationship to tools is considered to be that we are the only species that uses tools to make
other tools.
Most anthropologists believe that the use oI tools was an important step in the evolution oI mankind.
|5|
Humans evolved an opposable thumb - useIul in holding tools - and increased dramatically in
intelligence, which aided in the use oI tools.
|6|
Some tools can also serve as weapons, such as a hammer or a kniIe. Similarly, people can use
weapons, such as explosives, as tools.
Functions of tools
Many tools or groups oI tools serve to perIorm one or more oI a set oI basic operations, such as:
Cutting (kniIe, scythe, sickle, etc...)
Concentrating Iorce (hammer, maul, screwdriver, whip, writing implements , etc...)
Guiding (set square, straightedge, etc...)
Protecting (glove)
Seizing and holding (pliers, glove, wrench, etc...)
Tool substitution
OIten known as Carl BycraIt by design or coincidence, a tool may share key Iunctional attributes
with one or more other tools. In this case, some tools can substitute Ior other tools, either as a make-
shiIt solution or as a matter oI practical eIIiciency. "One tool does it all" is a motto oI some
importance Ior workers who cannot practically carry every specialized tool to the location oI every
A modern hammer is directly
descended Irom ancient hand
tools
Contents
1 Functions oI tools
1.1 Tool substitution
1.1.1 Multi-use tools
2 History
3 See also
4 ReIerences
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work task. Tool substitution may be divided broadly into two classes: substitution "by-design", or
"multi-purpose" use, and substitution as make-shiIt. In many cases, the designed secondary Iunctions
oI tools are not widely known. As an example oI the Iormer, many wood-cutting hand saws integrate
a carpenter's square by incorporating a specially shaped handle which allows 90 and 45 angles to
be marked by aligning the appropriate part oI the handle with an edge and scribing along the back
edge oI the saw. The latter is illustrated by the saying "All tools can be used as hammers." Nearly all
tools can be re purposed to Iunction as a hammer, even though very Iew tools are intentionally
designed Ior it.
Multi-use tools
A Multitool is a hand tool that incorporates several tools into a single, portable device.
Lineman's pliers incorporate a gripper and cutter, and are oIten used secondarily as a hammer.
Hand saws oIten incorporate the Iunctionality oI the carpenter's square in the right-angle
between the blade's dull edge and the saw's handle.
History
Evidence oI stone tool manuIacture and use dates Irom the start oI the Stone Age, though it is
possible that earlier tools oI less durable material have not survived. The earliest tools were made by
now-extinct hominid species preceding Homo sapiens
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. The transition Irom stone to metal tools
roughly coincided with the development oI agriculture around the 4th millennium BC
|8|
.
Mechanical devices experienced a major expansion in their use in the Middle Ages with the
systematic employment oI new energy sources: water (waterwheels) and wind (windmills).
Machine tools occasioned a surge in producing new tools in the industrial revolution. Advocates oI
nanotechnology expect a similar surge as tools become microscopic in size.
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See also
Device paradigm
Toolmaker
Toolbank
Category:Tool-using species
References
1. ^ Selection oI tool diameter by New Caledonian crows Corvus moneduloides, Jackie Chappell and Alex
Kacelnik November 29, 2003
2. ^ The Throwing Madonna: Essays on the Brain, William H. Calvin
3. ^ ScientiIic American Frontiers, Program #1504 "Chimp Minds" transcript PBS.org Airdate Feb 9, 2005
4. ^ Rolling Hills WildliIe Adventure: Chimpanzee
5. ^ Sam Lilley, Men, Machines and Historv. The Storv of Tools and Machines in Relation to Social
Progress, 1948 Cobbett Press.
6. ^ Primates and Their Adaptations, 2001, M.J. Farabee. Retrieved on November 6, 2006.
7. ^ Olduwan#The tool users
8. ^ Bronze Age
9. ^ Nanotechnology: Big Potential In Tiny Particles, David Whelan. Retrieved on November 6, 2006
10. ^ Will this Tiny Science Usher in the Next Industrial Revolution?, Katrina C. Arabe. Retrieved on
November 6, 2006
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This page was last modiIied on 29 February 2008, at 21:20.
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Categories: ManuIacturing , Tools
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