Reprint from Fastener World Magazine, Vol. 163

In recent years a new addition to public school curriculum has taken the US by storm. This addition is known as STEM, which is an acronym for “Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics”. One of the foundational subjects of the STEM curriculum is education about the “Seven Simple Machines”. As a student of technology, each of these simple machines is an interesting subject, but perhaps none of the seven is more elegant than the screw thread.

Since its first inception and surely its first recorded uses, the screw thread has been faithfully serving mankind in many ways. One of the first recorded deployments of the screw thread was when Archimedes used it to move water from one level to another, and today it’s uses for holding things together are almost limitless and span from the very mundane to the very important and critical. In fact, today many in our society are thankful for screws that hold bones and other body parts together, enabling revolutionary remedies to common health and mobility problems.