Probably the steam engines as with it we had the start of the industrial revolution bringing on more discoveries including the tractor.

Previous to the tractor we had plowing engines.

Howver a good post Grey as we all have our own interpretation of what is the best invention, we will leave it up to Ady to re-invent the wheel and to Springbok to tell us they will all be on display at the next Bristol show

How about a lathe. A machine that can repair itself. Without it you could not make a tractor.

Internal combustion engine.

An excellent thread, Gray

I will sponsor Archimedes' Screw

Originally devised as a means for lifting water, it is now being used "in reverse" as the Turbine for small scale Electricity Generation.

MichaelG.

Hand tools as none of the above would have been possible without them.

Boiler

Hi Eric,

Hand tools may not be part of a machine, but they can be described as mechanical,

Quote – Dictionary.com:

"6. pertaining to the design, use, understanding, etc., of tools and machinery: the mechanical trades; mechanical ability."

There is a great little book about the importance and development of the screwdriver and screw – I forget it's title just now but will look it out. The screw in all it's forms is generally regarded as a mechanical device. Perhaps the most important mechanical device is the screw generating machine to generate the first accurate screw thread which led to easy assembly and disassambly of other mechanical devices and led to the concept of interchangeability and hence volume production methods.  The screw also allowed the development of accurate end delicate instruments and clocks (previously rather crude blacksmith made devices to regulate the religious day) which allowed finer and finer engineering to be undertaken.

Best regards

Terry

Found it! the book is called

One Good Turn: a Natural History of the Screwdriver and the Screw, by Witold Rybczynski

Edited By Terryd on 10/10/2012 11:07:58

I suppose it's all chicken and egg really, but my vote for a machine would be the lathe, in one form or other, that includes such things as the potters wheel, and the lathe type device used to turn round stone collums of ancient buildings. Ian S C

Hi all

Joseph Whitworth's inspired invention of the method of producing a true flat surface plate using three plates scraped to all fit together. Two plates could be flat or spherical, three plates could only be flat.

He achieved accuracies of a millionth of an inch in the1840's

This invention allowed the production of precision measuring instruments and machine tools from which all else in precision engineering stemmed.

Jim

"Hand tools may not be part of a machine, but they can be described as mechanical"

In the context of the question "mechanical" refers to machinery.

As for the suggestions of the lathe, try turning without a clock, ie rpm and ft/min plus the time you take.

It's definately the clock

Would go for the steam engine, but without the blast furnace there was no quality steel for the boiler, without the lathe the cylinders could not be bored. Without Iron ore and coal in the ground the blast furnace was pointless…..without power the the lathe would not turn…..

To me the industrial revolution may not be a machine in itself, but as a whole it happened because of all the above mentioned factors and the world changed for ever………for good or bad……

Waiting to be shot down……..

Trev

I would say the bearing. A simple but ingenious mechanical invention.

The invention of the rolling bearing, in the form of an object being moved on wooden rollers, is of great antiquity and may predate the invention of the wheel.

Interesting question Graham!

Giacomo

Edited By JamieG on 10/10/2012 13:42:03

Hi All

To me it would have to be the printing press in recent times or the wheel some time in the distant past.

Cheers

John