theodoregray

8 ms·

1.
by theodoregray 3y ago
The entire row of actinides is "grabbing and squeezing" tools, except at the end where I have "unsqueezing" tools (spreaders and jacks, which are spreaders to separate things from the earth). Similarly the lanthanides ar
2.
by theodoregray 3y ago
> But on the other hand, like, why not solder at 82 (Lead)? Two reasons: (1) solder largely doesn't contain lead anymore. It's been completely banned from plumbing solder in most countries, and its use in electrical solder is r
3.
by theodoregray 3y ago
No, no, it's one of the most essential of all tools! If I had to recreate civilization, I would start with antibiotics and vise-grip pliers. I mean, what are you going to use if you can't find your wrench, pliers, screwdriver, ham
4.
by theodoregray 3y ago
Unfortunately fixed gauges (feeler gauges, spark gap tools, profile gauges, wire gauge tools, bolt sizers, etc) didn't make it into any of the top-level categories, so they are lumped in with the mess of "Other Tools": https
5.
by theodoregray 3y ago
Allow me to introduce you to uterine tenaculum forceps: https://periodictableoftools.com/Items/T0472.html
6.
by theodoregray 3y ago
Judging from this thread it sounds like most people think I'm an idiot, and/or didn't even try to organize the tools.... Perhaps my organizational principles are just too subtle. What really surprised me, and speaks to the la
7.
by theodoregray 3y ago
The beautiful thing about art vs. science is that you get to be arbitrary if you like... The main reason there is a separate category for fancy hammers is that I needed a page in the book to rant about how stupid it is to put a titanium hea
8.
by theodoregray 3y ago
There's a slide hammer in the book and on the website, just not in the poster. I wanted to include a bit of humor, sorry.
9.
by theodoregray 3y ago
I wanted to include them. Believe me, I wanted to! My publisher felt strongly that I should not stretch the definition of tools into metaphor. Beds are tools: they help you sleep better. There's just too many narrow-definition tools I
10.
by theodoregray 3y ago
I put screwdrivers bits at the top of the drivers column specifically because I think that photo is hilarious and I want to make it as prominent as possible. This is why 3D printers were invented.
11.
by theodoregray 3y ago
See my long comment in this thread: I categorically reject the notion that there isn't any order to my arrangement of tools. It's actually quite detailed in how it follows the chemical structure, because your pet peeve is also my
12.
by theodoregray 3y ago
For what it's worth, I had absolutely nothing to do with the post: I didn't make it or encourage anyone to make it. I just noticed a sharp uptick in sales earlier today. Which I love since I spent a lot of time and money designing
13.
by theodoregray 3y ago
OK, you've made the first criticism I actually agree with! Bung hole augers do belong with reamers, not with augers. In my defense, they are called bung hole augers, and all the ones I have are antique, so they naturally gravitated t
14.
by theodoregray 3y ago
(a) screwdriver bits come above screwdrivers for one simple reason: the mouth bit holder is hilarious and I wanted to put it at the top of the column. (b) column 2 is things you can hit with a hammer: that's why it has stamps, rivets,
15.
by theodoregray 3y ago
I do actually have a small museum in my studio... but it's rather small and informal. You can see some of it in this interview: https://kk.org/cooltools/theodore-gray-co-founder-of-wolfram...
16.
by theodoregray 3y ago
Please see my long rant on this subject. There is quite a lot of periodic table structure....
17.
by theodoregray 3y ago
So you can in fact hang it in your shop, I'd like to mention this link for buying my periodic table of tools poster: https://home.theodoregray.com/printed-products
18.
by theodoregray 3y ago
Amazingly this is an actual product you can buy.
19.
by theodoregray 3y ago
https://www.meta-synthesis.com/webbook/35_pt/pt_database.php
20.
by theodoregray 3y ago
Oh, yes, you found another place where I had to make an arbitrary placement. Air pressure tools just did not fit anywhere else, so I slapped them there in transition metals, which is unforgivable. See my longer comment for more whining abou
21.
by theodoregray 3y ago
You complain that wrenches and drills are spread over several columns? Look at a periodic table please! The diagonal line splitting wrenches from drills is precisely the diagonal line splitting ordinary metals from non-metals. That’s one of
22.
by theodoregray 3y ago
Hoo boy that's a long and complicated question. I think there might actually be an option you can set on cell groups, or perhaps at the notebook level, to force re-evaluation of everything above every time you evaluate a cell (which wo
23.
by theodoregray 3y ago
See my long comment on another comment in this thread. I both thought of some of the key ideas, and implemented them.
24.
by theodoregray 3y ago
It's a fair claim if you make it for Wolfram Research rather than Stephen Wolfram personally (which is all he ever does). Jupyter notebooks were inspired by Mathematica notebooks: that's widely known and has been explicitly said i
25.
by theodoregray 4y ago
I was the founder and creative director of TouchPress, so I had a hand in all those apps. For Disney Animated I wrote the text and directed the production. Sadly the business model of $10 interactive eBooks did not work out (unlike $10 stat
26.
by theodoregray 4y ago
Hey, that's my app, and it's definitely still there! https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-elements-by-theodore-gray/... Fun fact: when we made the app the song was of course not yet in the public domai