"Meet Mr. Thoreau"

The
Memorial Thoreau Pencil
"Invent Something Anything"
Project


Thoreau's interests and abilities ran in many different directions. While he tended to be a critic of technological change, he himself invented several methods for improving the production of pencils, which was the Thoreau family business. These improvements ranged from new machines to grind the lead, to new formulations for the lead paste, to new ways of baking the lead, to new ways of inserting the lead. The Thoreau company was the first to offer pencils of varying hardness and, for many years, they were among the finest in the country.

Your assignment is to explore the inventive mind by trying to create two inventions:

1] An improved pencil design (This you will actually fabricate in the   woodshop);

2] Anything else. (This you can either fabricate or draw a blueprint type   picture of).


¥ EXTRA CREDIT:

Extra credit will be given to who ever can reach into a bag and, without  looking, pick up exactly twenty-four pencils, something Thoreau was  reputed to be able to do time after time.

All written material © Bill Schechter, 2016
Contact Bill Schechter