Why the pencil is perfect | Small Thing Big Idea, a TED series

Translator: Krystian Aparta Reviewer: Camille Martínez

翻译人员: Vervina Wang 校对人员: 潘 可儿

The sound is a really big part, I think, of the experience of using a pencil,

我认为 在铅笔的使用体验中 声音是非常重要的

and it has this really audible scratchiness.

它有着很明显的沙沙声

(Scratching)

（铅笔刮擦声）

[Small thing. Big idea.]

小东西 大创意

[Caroline Weaver on the Pencil]

（卡洛琳•韦弗与铅笔）

The pencil is a very simple object.

铅笔是一个很简单的物件

It's made of wood with some layers of paint

它是由涂着几层颜料的木头制成的

an eraser and a core,

包括一个橡皮和一个笔芯

which is made out of graphite, clay and water.

笔芯是由石墨 黏土和水制成的

Yeah, it took hundreds of people over centuries

没错 数以百计的人经历了几个世纪

to come to this design.

才完成了这个设计

And it's that long history of collaboration

对于我来说正是由于悠久的

that, to me, makes it a very perfect object.

合作历史 才使它 成为一个完美的物件

The story of the pencil starts with graphite.

铅笔的历史起源于石墨

People started finding really useful applications

人们在设法为这个新物质寻找

广泛的用途

for this new substance.

They cut it into small sticks

他们把它切成小长条

and wrapped it in string or sheepskin or paper

包在线 羊皮或纸里

and sold it on the streets of London

在伦敦街头出售

to be used for writing or for drawing

供人们在写字或画画的时候使用

or, a lot of times, by farmers and shepherds,

很多时候 它还被农民和牧人

who used it to mark their animals.

用来标记他们的动物

在法国

Over in France,

Nicolas-Jacques Conté figured out a method of grinding the graphite,

尼古拉斯·雅克·康迪 想出了研磨石墨的方法

mixing it with powdered clay and water to make a paste.

把它与黏土粉和水 混合起来制成糊状物

From there, this paste was filled into a mold and fired in a kiln,

再把这个糊状物塞到一个模具里 然后放到窑炉里烤

and the result was a really strong graphite core

拿出之后就成了非常坚硬的石墨芯

that wasn't breakable, that was smooth, usable --

它坚固耐用 质地平滑并且便于使用

it was so much better than anything else that existed at the time,

它比那个时候已有的 其他任何东西都要好

至今为止 铅笔的制作 仍然沿用这一方法

and to this day, that's the method that's still used in making pencils.

Meanwhile, over in America, in Concord, Massachusetts,

同时 在美国马萨诸塞州的康科德市

it was Henry David Thoreau who came up with the grading scale

亨利·大卫·梭罗针对不同的铅笔

for different hardnesses of pencil.

制定了硬度的等级表

It was graded one through four,

从 1 级到 4 级

number two being the ideal hardness for general use.

2 级是一般用途最理想的硬度

The softer the pencil, the more graphite it had in it,

铅笔越软 其中石墨的含量越多

and the darker and smoother the line will be.

画出的线也越黑 越平滑

The firmer the pencil, the more clay it had in it

铅笔越坚硬 泥土含量越多

and the lighter and finer it will be.

线条更明亮 更精细

Originally, when pencils were handmade, they were made round.

最初 在手工制造阶段 铅笔是被制成圆形的

There was no easy way to make them,

制作方法很复杂

and it was the Americans who really mechanized the craft.

是美国人真正实现了生产机械化

A lot of people credit Joseph Dixon

许多人将其归功于杰瑟夫·迪克森

for being one of the first people to start developing actual machines

因为他是最早研发 真正意义上的机器的人之一

to do things like cut wood slats, cut grooves into the wood,

使机器可以做类似于切木板 在木板上切凹槽

apply glue to them ...

涂胶水这样的事

And they figured out it was easier and less wasteful

并且他们发现制作六边形铅笔 更简单 浪费也更少

to do a hexagonal pencil,

因此就把六边形铅笔作为

and so that became the standard.

标准铅笔

Since the early days of pencils,

在铅笔诞生的初期

people have loved that they can be erased.

人们就喜欢 它们能够被橡皮擦除这一点

Originally, it was bread crumbs

最初 人们用面包屑来

that were used to scratch away pencil marks

擦除铅笔笔迹

and later, rubber and pumice.

后来改用橡皮和浮石

The attached eraser happened in 1858,

1858年开始 橡皮被加在铅笔上

when American stationer Hymen Lipman patented the first pencil

那时候美国的文具商海门·力普曼 为第一个附带橡皮的铅笔

with an attached eraser,

申请了专利

which really changed the pencil game.

这确实带来了铅笔的发展变革

The world's first yellow pencil was the KOH-I-NOOR 1500.

世界上第一个黄色的铅笔是 KOH-I-NOOR 1500

KOH-I-NOOR did this crazy thing

KOH-I-NOOR做了个疯狂的举动

where they painted this pencil with 14 coats of yellow paint

他们在铅笔表面 涂了14层的黄色颜料

and dipped the end in 14-carat gold.

并且把铅笔末端浸泡在14k金里

There is a pencil for everyone,

每个人都有一支铅笔

and every pencil has a story.

每支铅笔都有一段故事

The Blackwing 602 is famous for being used by a lot of writers,

Blackwing 602 因被很多作家使用而出名

especially John Steinbeck and Vladimir Nabokov.

尤其是约翰·斯坦贝克 和弗拉基米尔·纳博科夫

And then, you have the Dixon pencil company.

然后就是迪克逊铅笔公司

They're responsible for the Dixon Ticonderoga.

他们制作了迪克逊·泰康德儒格 这款经典的铅笔

它是一个标杆

It's an icon,

it's what people think of when they think of a pencil

当人们想到铅笔时就会想到它

and what they think of when they think of school.

当他们想到学校的时候也会想到它

And the pencil's really a thing that, I think,

我认为 事实上 铅笔是这么一种产品

the average user has never thought twice about,

普通用户都不会过多去思考

how it's made or why it's made the way it is,

它是如何被制造的 或者为什么用这种方法制造

because it's just always been that way.

因为它一直是以这种方式 呈现在大家的面前

In my opinion, there's nothing that can be done

在我看来 没有任何方式

to make the pencil better than it is.

可以让铅笔比现在更好

It's perfect.

它非常完美