Episode description

Award-winning structural engineer Roma Agrawal visits Google to discuss her book “Nuts and Bolts: Seven Small Inventions That Changed the World in a Big Way.” The book takes readers on a deep dive into the seven most basic building blocks of engineering that have shaped the modern world.

From the physics behind both Roman nails and modern skyscrapers, to rudimentary springs that inspired lithium batteries, Agrawal shows us how even the most sophisticated items are built on the foundations of these ancient and fundamental breakthroughs in engineering. She deconstructs our most complex feats of engineering into seven fundamental inventions: the nail, spring, wheel, lens, magnet, string and pump. Each of these objects is itself a wonder of design, the result of many iterations and refinements. Together, they have enabled humanity to see the invisible, build the spectacular, communicate across vast distances, and even escape our planet.

She invites us to marvel at these small but perfectly formed inventions, sharing the stories of the remarkable, and often unknown, scientists and engineers who made them possible. The nuts and bolts that make up our world may be tiny, and are often hidden, but they've changed our lives in dramatic ways.

Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.