Tool
In 1981, Benjamin Beck published a widely used definition of tool use that has since been modified by researchers. A tool is an object that extends an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Proto-typically, these objects are solid hand-operated non-biological items with a single broad purpose. They lack multiple functions unlike machines or computers. While common-sense understanding exists, formal definitions distinguish tools from other artifacts. Anthropologists believe the use of tools was an important step in the evolution of humankind. Because tools are used extensively by both humans and wild chimpanzees, it is widely assumed that the first routine use took place prior to the divergence between the two ape species.
A 2010 study suggests the hominin species Australopithecus afarensis ate meat by carving animal carcasses with stone implements. This finding pushes back the earliest known use of stone tools among hominins to about 3.4 million years ago. Finds of actual tools date back at least 2.6 million years in Ethiopia. One of the earliest distinguishable stone tool forms is the hand axe. Stone artifacts date back to about 2.5 million years ago. Early human tools were made of such materials as stone, bone, and wood. These early tools were likely made of perishable materials such as sticks or consisted of unmodified stones that cannot be distinguished from other stones as tools. Archaeological evidence shows pre-humans were scavenging off of other predators' carcasses rather than killing their own food based on marks found on bones at sites.
The wheel and axle mechanism first appeared with the potter's wheel invented in what is now Iraq during the 5th millennium BC. The lever was used in the shadoof water-lifting device which appeared in Mesopotamia and then in ancient Egyptian technology. The screwdriver for driving fastening screws was not invented until the late 15th century. Several of the six classic simple machines were invented in Mesopotamia. The earliest evidence of pulleys dates back to Mesopotamia in the early 2nd millennium BC. Mechanical devices experienced a major expansion in their use in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome with the systematic employment of new energy sources especially waterwheels. Their use expanded through the Dark Ages with the addition of windmills.
Machine tools occasioned a surge in producing new tools in the Industrial Revolution. Before the advent of machine tools metal was worked manually using the basic hand tools of hammers, files, scrapers, saws, and chisels. Consequently the use of metal machine parts was kept to the minimum. Hand methods of production were very laborious and costly and precision was difficult to achieve. With their inherent precision machine tools enabled the economical production of interchangeable parts. Pre-industrial machinery was built by various crafters who made wooden framing or metal parts. Wooden components had the disadvantage of changing dimensions with temperature and humidity and the various joints tended to rack over time. As the Industrial Revolution progressed machines with metal parts and frames became more common.
Observation has confirmed that a number of species can use tools including monkeys apes elephants several birds and sea otters. Chimpanzees have often been the object of study in regard to their usage of tools most famously by Jane Goodall. Wild tool-use in other primates is considered relatively common though its full extent remains poorly documented. A group of dolphins in Shark Bay uses sea sponges to protect their beaks while foraging. Sea otters will use rocks or other hard objects to dislodge food such as abalone and break open shellfish. New Caledonian crows are among the only animals that create their own tools. They mainly manufacture probes out of twigs and wood to catch or impale larvae. Octopuses are known to use tools relatively frequently such as gathering coconut shells to create a shelter.
By extension concepts which support systematic or investigative thought are often referred to as tools. Vanessa Dye refers to tools of reflection and tools to help sharpen your professional practice for trainee teachers. John M. Culkin famously said We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us. One set of scholars expanded on this to say Humans create inspiring and empowering technologies but also are influenced augmented manipulated and even imprisoned by technology. The idea of a toolkit is used by the International Labour Organization to describe a set of processes applicable to improving global labour relations. A telephone is a communication tool that interfaces between two people engaged in conversation at one level. It also interfaces between each user and the communication network at another level.
Common questions
What is the definition of a tool according to Benjamin Beck?
Benjamin Beck published a widely used definition in 1981 stating that a tool is an object that extends an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Proto-typically, these objects are solid hand-operated non-biological items with a single broad purpose.
When did the earliest known use of stone tools among hominins occur?
A 2010 study suggests the hominin species Australopithecus afarensis ate meat by carving animal carcasses with stone implements about 3.4 million years ago. Finds of actual tools date back at least 2.6 million years in Ethiopia.
Where and when was the wheel and axle mechanism first invented?
The wheel and axle mechanism first appeared with the potter's wheel invented in what is now Iraq during the 5th millennium BC. The lever was used in the shadoof water-lifting device which appeared in Mesopotamia and then in ancient Egyptian technology.
Which animals are documented to use tools in the wild?
Observation has confirmed that a number of species can use tools including monkeys apes elephants several birds and sea otters. New Caledonian crows create their own tools from twigs and wood while octopuses gather coconut shells to create a shelter.
How did machine tools change production during the Industrial Revolution?
Machine tools occasioned a surge in producing new tools in the Industrial Revolution by enabling the economical production of interchangeable parts through inherent precision. Before this era metal was worked manually using basic hand tools like hammers files scrapers saws and chisels.