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The Periodic Table of Tools

periodictableoftools.com

81–90 of 141 posts

Re: The Periodic Table of Tools

#83
post #68
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the great things about having a German speaking kid is the number of books that show all the entries in a given category (e.g. a huge book with hundreds of earth moving apparatus and the specific name of each) In America I could only get close with farm animals and guns.

Could you recommend some titles? I not only enjoy German thoroughness, but I am also tickled by the schlamminvordstogezah style of German tool naming.

Sorry, kid has long grown up and moved out. I guess I’ll get a second wave when grandkids start appearing. But any bookshop kids’ section will have heaps of them. IIRC Gerstenberg Verlag was a good source, but that was a while ago.

Also the Was ist Was series had the best explanations of how real stuff (locomotives, printing press, sexual reproduction, etc) works. If you can’t find the books I’m sure some of the videos are on YouTube.

Re: The Periodic Table of Tools

#86
post #38
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure how this is a valid criticism? I gave actual categories of things-tools-do. You just made up nonsense tasks?

It's a reference to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestial_Emporium_of_Benevole...

Thanks, TIL!

Re: The Periodic Table of Tools

#87
post #70

As a former chemist and all-around maker, I love this and this bugs me all at once. I love the concept, but as others have pointed out, this is less a "periodic table" and more "grab bag of related things". You see these all over the place: foods, drinks, cars, etc. All table, no periodicity. Why are wrenches and drills strewn across three groups? Put the wrenches in one group, drills in the other. Impact drivers som…

Yes. Good thoughts but bottom line, it's trying to shoehorn something completely different into a form that makes it appear sophisticated. I think it just undercuts science. The periodic table is formed by important features of reality recognized in the elements, ultimately originating in quantum mechanics. Pretending that the structure applies to any capricious thing conveys an idea that the structure and reality is itself arbitrary.

Re: The Periodic Table of Tools

#88
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

but would it contain itself ?

Obviously. It'd be one of the tables known to Harvard. Just leave enough room for the ones to be discovered.

> one of the tables known to Harvard

This has the cadence of a reference, but Google didn't help me. Am I missing something?

Re: The Periodic Table of Tools

#89
post #88
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obviously. It'd be one of the tables known to Harvard. Just leave enough room for the ones to be discovered.

> one of the tables known to Harvard This has the cadence of a reference, but Google didn't help me. Am I missing something?

It's from The Elements, by Tom Lehrer (the final lyric of the song).

https://youtu.be/qyNkrlwKs7c

Re: The Periodic Table of Tools

#90

This is really cool. He sure owns a lot of tools! You could make a pretty neat display of them in a museum. Way more interesting than endless paintings and porcelain.

There is such a thing where I live. A guy collected random tools, including tools from a dentist. It's a lot of household things and farm implements from the 19th and 20th centuries. His collection is now a museum. I can't find a good website unfortunately.
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