Thomas Thwaites: How I built a toaster -- from scratch

譯者: Sherry Yang 審譯者: Joan Liu

If we look around us,

看看四周

much of what surrounds us

身邊周圍很多東西

started life as various rocks and sludge

原先只是各種石頭或爛泥

buried in the ground in various places in the world.

埋在世界的各個角落

But, of course, they don't look like rocks and sludge now.

當然現在看起來並不像石頭或爛泥

They look like TV cameras, monitors,

而是像電視攝影機啦、螢幕啦

annoying radio mics.

或惱人的無線麥克風

And so this magical transformation

這樣驚人的轉變

is what I was trying to get at with my project,

正是我所著手的計畫

which became known as the Toaster Project.

也就是--烤麵包機計畫

And it was also inspired by this quote

我也是受到亞當斯(Douglas Adams)的一句話

from Douglas Adams,

所啟發的

and the situation is from "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

場景是來自小說《銀河便車指南》

And the situation it describes

內容是在描述

is the hero of the book -- he's a 20th-century man --

書裡的英雄--一個20世紀的人--

finds himself alone on a strange planet

發現自己處在一個陌生的星球

populated only by a technologically primitive people.

上面只住有原始技術的人

And he kind of assumes that, yes,

他有點假想自己

he'll become -- these villagers --

會變成這些居民的...

he'll become their emperor

這些人的皇帝

and transform their society

並將其社會轉型

with his wonderful command of technology

用他豐富的科技知識

and science and the elements,

加上科學及其他元素

but, of course, realizes

但是，當然啦

that without the rest of human society,

他發現若沒有其餘人類社會的部分

he can barely make a sandwich,

他連三明治都做不大出來

let alone a toaster.

更別說是烤麵包機了

But he didn't have Wikipedia.

但他沒有維基百科

So I thought, okay,

所以我想說

I'll try and make an electric toaster from scratch.

那我就來從零開始做個烤麵包機

And, working on the idea

要實行這個想法

that the cheapest electric toaster

買台最便宜的烤麵包機

would also be the simplest to reverse-engineer,

就是最簡單的逆向操作

I went and bought the cheapest toaster I could find,

我盡力去買了最便宜的烤麵包機

took it home

帶回家後

and was kind of dismayed to discover

有點傻眼的發現

that, inside this object,

這個東西裡面

which I'd bought for just 3.49 pounds,

這個我才花3英鎊45便士(約170台幣)買的東西

there were 400 different bits

竟然有400種不同的小零件

made out of a hundred-plus different materials.

由100多種材料所製成

I didn't have the rest of my life to do this project.

我不是要花一輩子的時間去研究

I had maybe nine months.

只有大概9個月

So I thought, okay, I'll start with five.

所以我想說，那就先從5個開始吧

And these were steel, mica,

有鋼、雲母

plastic, copper and nickel.

塑膠、銅和鎳

So, starting with steel: how do you make steel?

那先從鋼開始，如何鍊鋼?

I went and knocked on the door

我登門拜訪了

of the Rio Tinto Chair

力拓礦業的主席

of Advanced Mineral Extraction at the Royal School of Mines

他在英國皇家礦業學校教「進階採礦學」

and said, "How do you make steel?"

我問他要如何煉鋼

And Professor Cilliers was very kind

西里斯(Cilliers)教授人很好

and talked me through it.

他詳細的向我說明

And my vague rememberings from GCSE science --

我依稀記得國中的自然課教過

well, steel comes from iron,

鋼來自於鐵

so I phoned up an iron mine.

所以我就打電話給一家鐵礦場

And said, "Hi, I'm trying to make a toaster.

我說：「哈囉，我想做一個烤麵包機(toaster)」

Can I come up and get some iron?"

「可以過去跟你要一些鐵嗎?」

Unfortunately, when I got there -- emerges Ray.

結果，我到那裡之後，雷(Ray)出現了

He had misheard me

他聽錯我的意思

and thought I was coming up because I was trying to make a poster,

以為我去是要做海報(poster)

and so wasn't prepared to take me into the mines.

所以沒準備要帶我進礦場

But after some nagging, I got him to do that.

我好說歹說之後終於說服了他

(Video) Ray: It was Crease Limestone,

(影片) 雷:這是褶曲石灰岩

and that was produced

由海底生物

by sea creatures

所產生的

350 million years ago

在3億5千萬年前

in a nice, warm,

有著舒適、溫暖

sunny atmosphere.

陽光的環境下

When you study geology,

等你讀地質學之後

you can see what's happened in the past,

就能看見過去發生的事

and there were terrific changes in the earth.

中間有很多大變動

Thomas Thwaites: As you can see, they had the Christmas decorations up.

湯瑪士斯韋茨: 如你所見，他們還有聖誕節的裝飾

And of course, it wasn't actually a working mine anymore,

當然，這個礦場已經沒有在運作了

because, though Ray was a miner there,

雖然雷曾是那裡的礦工

the mine had closed

但這間礦場已經關閉

and had been reopened as a kind of tourist attraction,

並以觀光為主重新開放

because, of course, it can't compete

因為他的確無法

on the scale of operations which are happening

跟現在的南美、澳洲等地方的

in South America, Australia, wherever.

經營規模相比

But anyway, I got my suitcase of iron ore

反正呢，我裝了整箱的鐵礦

and dragged it back to London on the train,

坐火車拖回倫敦

and then was faced with the problem:

然後問題來了:

Okay, how do you make this rock

要怎麼把這顆石頭

into components for a toaster?

變成烤麵包機的元件?

So I went back to Professor Cilliers,

所以我又回去找西里斯教授

and he said, "Go to the library."

他說: 「去圖書館找」

So I did

我就去了

and was looking through the undergraduate textbooks on metallurgy --

然後翻了一些關於冶金學的研究生教科書 --

completely useless for what I was trying to do.

跟我要做的完全不相干

Because, of course, they don't actually tell you how to do it

想也知道他們不可能真的教你怎麼做

if you want to do it yourself and you don't have a smelting plant.

如果是DIY，又沒有冶鍊廠

So I ended up going to the History of Science Library

所以最後我去了科學史博物館

and looking at this book.

看到了這本書

This is the first textbook on metallurgy

這是西方在寫冶金學的

written in the West, at least.

第一本教科書

And there you can see that woodcut

你看到的木刻畫呢

is basically what I ended up doing.

基本上就是我後來做的事

But instead of a bellows, I had a leaf blower.

只是我沒有風箱，但我有吹落葉機

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

And that was something that reoccurred throughout the project,

整個計畫在重現的就是

was, the smaller the scale you want to work on,

你想投入的規模越小

the further back in time you have to go.

就要用越原始的方法來做

And so this is after

所以這就是在

a day and about half a night

大概一天又半個晚上之後

smelting this iron.

我把鐵礦融化了

I dragged out this stuff,

然後我把它拉出來

and it wasn't iron.

結果不是鐵

But luckily,

幸好

I found a patent online

我在網路上找到一個專利

for industrial furnaces that use microwaves,

就是工業用的微波融爐

and at 30 minutes at full power,

火力全開30分鐘後

and I was able to finish off the process.

差不多就完成了

So, my next --

所以接下來...

(Applause)

(鼓掌)

The next thing I was trying to get was copper.

接下來我要找銅

Again, this mine

一樣，這個礦場

was once the largest copper mine in the world.

之前曾是全世界最大的銅礦場

It's not anymore,

現在不是了

but I found a retired geology professor

我找到一位退休的地質學教授

to take me down,

來帶我下去

and he said, "Okay, I'll let you have some water from the mine."

他說: 「好，我讓你在礦場裡取些水」

And the reason I was interested in getting water

我想要拿到水的理由是

is because water which goes through mines

因為流過整個礦場的水

becomes kind of acidic

會變得偏酸性

and will start picking up,

而且會帶走

dissolving the minerals from the mine.

和溶解礦物裡的礦物質

And a good example of this is the Rio Tinto,

力拓礦業有個不錯的例子

which is in Portugal.

這是在葡萄牙

As you can see, it's got lots and lots of minerals dissolved in it.

你可以看到，有很多的礦物溶解在裡面

So many such

多到呢

that it's now just a home for bacteria

現在變成細菌的滋生地

who really like acidic, toxic conditions.

因為細菌喜歡酸又有毒的環境

But anyway, the water I dragged back

總之，我從安格爾西島的礦場

from the Isle of Anglesey where the mine was --

帶回來的水裡

there was enough copper in it

含有足夠的銅

such that I could cast the pins

能讓我鑄造出

of my metal electric plug.

插頭的金屬腳

So my next thing: I was off to Scotland

所以再下來，我到蘇格蘭

to get mica.

去採雲母

And mica is a mineral

雲母是一種

which is a very good insulator

很好的絕緣體

and very good at insulating electricity.

隔絕電的效果很好

That's me getting mica.

這是我拿到雲母的樣子

And the last material I'm going to talk about today is plastic,

今天要講的最後一項材料是塑膠

and, of course,

當然啦

my toaster had to have a plastic case.

烤麵包機一定要有塑膠外殼

Plastic is the defining feature

塑膠是便宜電器的

of cheap electrical goods.

一個特點

And so plastic comes from oil, so I phoned up BP

塑膠來自石油，我就打給英國石油公司

and spent a good half an hour

花了半個小時

trying to convince the PR office at BP

在說服公關

that it would be fantastic for them

我說如果他們可以

if they flew me to an oil rig

帶我飛到油井去

and let me have a jug of oil.

取一罐石油的話就太好了

BP obviously has a bit more on their mind now.

英國石油公司顯然地還有很多其他事要做。

But even then

但即使如此

they weren't convinced

他們還是無法接受

and said, "Okay, we'll phone you back" -- never did.

就說「好的，我們會再跟你聯絡」--根本沒有

So I looked at other ways of making plastic.

所以我就尋求其他方法

And you can actually make plastic

其實要製造塑膠

from obviously oils which come from plants, but also from starches.

可以從植物或是澱粉類食物中取得

So this is attempting to make

所以我就試著做個

potato starch plastic.

馬鈴薯澱粉塑膠

And for a while that was looking really good.

一開始看起來還不錯

I poured it into the mold, which you can see there,

我倒進模具裡，在那邊

which I've made from a tree trunk.

我用樹幹做的

And it was looking good for a while,

一開始看起來還不錯

but I left it outside, because you had to leave it outside to dry,

但是我放在外面之後，因為要風乾

and unfortunately I came back

過了一會兒再回來

and there were snails eating the unhydrolyzed bits of potato.

就出現好幾隻蝸牛在吃馬鈴薯未水解的部分

So kind of out of desperation,

在絕望之後呢

I decided that I could think laterally.

我決定做橫向思考

And geologists have actually christened --

地質學家有要命名--

well, they're debating whether to christen --

還在爭議當中啦--

the age that we're living in --

我們生活的這個世紀--

they're debating whether to make it a new geological epoch

到底要不要劃下一個新地質時代

called the Anthropocene, the age of Man.

稱之為「人類世」，即人類的時代

And that's because geologists of the future

因為未來的地質學家

would kind of see a sharp shift

會在下沉的地層岩石中

in the strata of rock that is being laid down now.

發現急劇的變動

So suddenly, it will become kind of radioactive from Chernobyl

突然間，車諾比的輻射事件啦、

and the 2,000 or so nuclear bombs

1945年後發射的

that have been set off since 1945.

2千顆核彈啦

And there'd also be an extinction event --

還有絕種的事件

like fossils would suddenly disappear.

像化石突然不見

And also, I thought

還有，我想

that there would be

還會有

synthetic polymers,

很多合成聚合物

plastics, embedded in the rock.

像是塑膠啦，嵌在石頭裡

So I looked up a plastic --

所以我到處找

so I decided that I could mine

決定採一些

some of this modern-day rock.

「現代」的石頭

And I went up to Manchester

我到曼徹斯特去

to visit a place called Axion Recycling.

找一個地方叫「Axion回收場」

And they're at the sharp end of what's called the WEEE,

他們處在所謂WEEE的第一線

which is this European electrical and electronic waste directive.

也就是「歐洲報廢電子電氣設備指令」

And that was brought into force

那是在實施

to try and deal with the mountain of stuff

去處理一大堆的東西

that is just being made

才剛被製造出來

and then living for a while in our homes

在我們家裡用了一陣子之後

and then going to landfill.

就進了掩埋場

But this is it.

大概是這樣

(Music)

(音樂)

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

So there's a picture

這就是我做的

of my toaster.

烤麵包機

(Applause)

(鼓掌)

That's it without the case on.

這是外殼拿掉的樣子

And there it is on the shelves.

還有放在架上的樣子

Thanks.

謝謝大家

(Applause)

(鼓掌)

Bruno Giussani: I'm told you did plug it in once.

布魯諾吉桑尼: 我說你也插上一次插頭吧

TT: Yeah, I did plug it in.

有阿，我有插

I don't know if you could see,

不知道你們有沒有發現

but I was never able to make insulation for the wires.

我沒有做電線的絕緣皮

Kew Gardens were insistent

皇家植物園的態度很硬

that I couldn't come and hack into their rubber tree.

說我不能擅自取用橡膠樹

So the wires were uninsulated.

所以電線是不絕緣的

So there was 240 volts

結果240伏特的電

going through these homemade copper wires,

流過整個手工的銅線

homemade plug.

手工的插頭

And for about five seconds,

大概有五秒鐘

the toaster toasted,

麵包機有在烤

but then, unfortunately,

可是之後

the element kind of melted itself.

那些原件感覺有點融化

But I considered it a partial success, to be honest.

可是我認為還是算成功啦，說真的

BG: Thomas Thwaites. TT: Thanks.

-湯瑪士斯韋茨 -謝謝