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

Translator: Krystian Aparta Reviewer: Camille Martínez

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Chen Chi-An

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

我認為，在用鉛筆的體驗中， 聲音是很重要的一部分，

and it has this really audible scratchiness.

它的刮擦聲是能清楚聽見的。

(Scratching)

（刮擦聲）

[Small thing. Big idea.]

〔小東西。大點子。〕

[Caroline Weaver on the Pencil]

〔卡羅琳韋弗談鉛筆〕

The pencil is a very simple object.

鉛筆是樣很簡單的東西。

It's made of wood with some layers of paint

它是木製的，加上幾層的塗料、

an eraser and a core,

一個橡皮擦、和一條芯，

which is made out of graphite, clay and water.

芯是用石墨、黏土，及水做成的。

Yeah, it took hundreds of people over centuries

但，花了數百人數世紀的時間，

to come to this design.

才提出這個設計。

And it's that long history of collaboration

對我來說，正是這漫長的合作史

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

讓鉛筆成為非常完美的物品。

The story of the pencil starts with graphite.

鉛筆的故事始於石墨。

People started finding really useful applications

人們開始發現這種新物質

for this new substance.

有些很有用的應用。

They cut it into small sticks

他們把石墨切成小條狀，

and wrapped it in string or sheepskin or paper

用繩子、羊皮，或紙張包起來，

and sold it on the streets of London

在倫敦街頭販售，

to be used for writing or for drawing

用來寫字或是繪圖，

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

很多時候也會被農夫和牧人

who used it to mark their animals.

用來標記他們的動物。

Over in France,

在法國，

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

尼古拉斯雅克康特想出了 一種方式來磨石墨，

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

把它和粉狀黏土及水 混合，做成膏狀。

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

接著，這膏狀物會被 填入模具中做窯燒，

and the result was a really strong graphite core

結果會產出非常堅硬的石墨芯，

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

它不會斷，很滑順，很好用──

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

在那個時候，它比其他 所有既有的東西都好很多，

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

至今，鉛筆仍是用這個方式製造的。

Meanwhile, over in America, in Concord, Massachusetts,

在這期間，在美國 馬薩諸塞州的康科特，

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

亨利大衛梭羅想出了鉛筆的

for different hardnesses of pencil.

軟硬度要有分級標準。

It was graded one through four,

分級從一到四，

number two being the ideal hardness for general use.

第二級是最適合一般用途的軟硬度。

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

越軟的鉛筆裡面就有越多的石墨，

and the darker and smoother the line will be.

畫出來的線會更黑也更滑順。

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

越硬的鉛筆裡面有越多的泥土，

and the lighter and finer it will be.

線條會越淡且越精細。

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

最初，鉛筆是手工製的， 它們被做成圓形。

There was no easy way to make them,

沒有簡單的製造方式，

and it was the Americans who really mechanized the craft.

是美國人將這項工藝機械化的。

A lot of people credit Joseph Dixon

許多人認為約瑟迪克森是

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

最先開始發展機器製造的人之一，

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

機器可以切木板條、 在木頭上切出溝條、

apply glue to them ...

在它們上面上膠……

And they figured out it was easier and less wasteful

他們發現，做六角狀的鉛筆比較容易

to do a hexagonal pencil,

也比較不浪費，

and so that became the standard.

所以六角狀就成了標準。

Since the early days of pencils,

在鉛筆的早期，

people have loved that they can be erased.

人們很喜愛它可以被擦掉的特性。

Originally, it was bread crumbs

最早，是用麵包屑

that were used to scratch away pencil marks

來把鉛筆畫出的痕跡給刮掉，

and later, rubber and pumice.

後來，改用橡膠和輕石。

The attached eraser happened in 1858,

1858 年開始把橡皮擦附在鉛筆上，

when American stationer Hymen Lipman patented the first pencil

那年，美國的文具商海門利普曼

為第一枝附橡皮擦的鉛筆取得專利，

with an attached eraser,

which really changed the pencil game.

這真的改變了鉛筆的賽局。

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

世界上第一枝黃色鉛筆是 KOH-I-NOOR 1500。

KOH-I-NOOR did this crazy thing

KOH-I-NOOR 做了件瘋狂的事，

where they painted this pencil with 14 coats of yellow paint

他們把鉛筆塗上了十四層的黃顏料，

and dipped the end in 14-carat gold.

把末端浸在 14K 金中。

There is a pencil for everyone,

每個人都有一枝鉛筆，

and every pencil has a story.

每枝鉛筆都有一個故事。

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

Blackwing 602 因為 被很多作家使用而聞名，

especially John Steinbeck and Vladimir Nabokov.

特別是約翰史坦貝克 與弗拉基米爾納博科夫。

And then, you have the Dixon pencil company.

接著，還有鉛筆公司 Dixon。

They're responsible for the Dixon Ticonderoga.

Dixon Ticonderoga 是他們的產品。

It's an icon,

它很有代表性，

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

當人們想到鉛筆時就會想到它，

and what they think of when they think of school.

當他們想到學校時也會想到它。

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

我認為，其實鉛筆這個東西，

the average user has never thought twice about,

一般使用者不會去多想它的製造方式，

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

以及為何要把鉛筆做成這個樣子，

because it's just always been that way.

因為鉛筆一直就是這樣的。

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

在我看來，已經沒辦法能把

to make the pencil better than it is.

鉛筆做得比現在更好了。

It's perfect.

它很完美。