[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.20,0:00:03.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The sound is a really big part, I think,\Nof the experience of using a pencil,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:03.59,0:00:07.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it has this really\Naudible scratchiness.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:07.09,0:00:09.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Scratching)
Dialogue: 0,0:00:10.29,0:00:12.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Small thing. Big idea.]
Dialogue: 0,0:00:13.98,0:00:16.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[Caroline Weaver on\Nthe Pencil]
Dialogue: 0,0:00:16.56,0:00:18.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The pencil is a very simple object.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:18.95,0:00:21.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's made of wood\Nwith some layers of paint
Dialogue: 0,0:00:21.46,0:00:22.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,an eraser and a core,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.100,0:00:25.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is made out of graphite,\Nclay and water.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:25.42,0:00:27.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Yeah, it took hundreds\Nof people over centuries
Dialogue: 0,0:00:27.98,0:00:29.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to come to this design.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.68,0:00:32.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it's that long history\Nof collaboration
Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.98,0:00:35.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that, to me, makes it\Na very perfect object.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:36.08,0:00:38.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The story of the pencil\Nstarts with graphite.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:38.37,0:00:41.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,People started finding\Nreally useful applications
Dialogue: 0,0:00:41.31,0:00:42.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for this new substance.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.95,0:00:45.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They cut it into small sticks
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.13,0:00:47.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and wrapped it in string\Nor sheepskin or paper
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.62,0:00:49.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and sold it on the streets of London
Dialogue: 0,0:00:49.64,0:00:51.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to be used for writing or for drawing
Dialogue: 0,0:00:51.82,0:00:54.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or, a lot of times,\Nby farmers and shepherds,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.34,0:00:55.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who used it to mark their animals.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.02,0:00:57.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Over in France,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.29,0:01:01.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Nicolas-Jacques Conté figured out a method\Nof grinding the graphite,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.46,0:01:04.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,mixing it with powdered clay\Nand water to make a paste.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:04.61,0:01:07.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,From there, this paste was filled\Ninto a mold and fired in a kiln,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.80,0:01:10.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the result was\Na really strong graphite core
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.78,0:01:13.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that wasn't breakable,\Nthat was smooth, usable --
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.92,0:01:17.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it was so much better than anything else\Nthat existed at the time,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:17.04,0:01:20.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and to this day, that's the method\Nthat's still used in making pencils.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.46,0:01:24.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Meanwhile, over in America,\Nin Concord, Massachusetts,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:24.61,0:01:27.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it was Henry David Thoreau\Nwho came up with the grading scale
Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.68,0:01:29.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for different hardnesses of pencil.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.79,0:01:31.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was graded one through four,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:31.74,0:01:35.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,number two being the ideal\Nhardness for general use.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.42,0:01:37.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The softer the pencil,\Nthe more graphite it had in it,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.99,0:01:40.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the darker and smoother\Nthe line will be.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.50,0:01:43.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The firmer the pencil,\Nthe more clay it had in it
Dialogue: 0,0:01:43.81,0:01:45.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the lighter and finer it will be.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:46.61,0:01:49.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Originally, when pencils were handmade,\Nthey were made round.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:49.80,0:01:51.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There was no easy way to make them,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:51.50,0:01:54.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it was the Americans\Nwho really mechanized the craft.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:54.78,0:01:56.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A lot of people credit Joseph Dixon
Dialogue: 0,0:01:56.75,0:02:00.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for being one of the first people\Nto start developing actual machines
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.46,0:02:04.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to do things like cut wood slats,\Ncut grooves into the wood,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.40,0:02:05.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,apply glue to them ...
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.63,0:02:08.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And they figured out\Nit was easier and less wasteful
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.46,0:02:10.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to do a hexagonal pencil,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:10.12,0:02:11.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and so that became the standard.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:12.56,0:02:14.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Since the early days of pencils,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:14.14,0:02:16.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,people have loved that they can be erased.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.94,0:02:19.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Originally, it was bread crumbs
Dialogue: 0,0:02:19.53,0:02:21.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that were used\Nto scratch away pencil marks
Dialogue: 0,0:02:21.64,0:02:23.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and later, rubber and pumice.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:23.68,0:02:26.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The attached eraser happened in 1858,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:26.99,0:02:30.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when American stationer\NHymen Lipman patented the first pencil
Dialogue: 0,0:02:30.97,0:02:32.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with an attached eraser,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.38,0:02:34.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which really changed the pencil game.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:34.96,0:02:38.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The world's first yellow pencil\Nwas the KOH-I-NOOR 1500.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.38,0:02:39.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,KOH-I-NOOR did this crazy thing
Dialogue: 0,0:02:39.91,0:02:42.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where they painted this pencil\Nwith 14 coats of yellow paint
Dialogue: 0,0:02:42.85,0:02:44.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and dipped the end in 14-carat gold.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:45.44,0:02:47.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There is a pencil for everyone,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.04,0:02:49.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and every pencil has a story.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:50.05,0:02:54.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Blackwing 602 is famous\Nfor being used by a lot of writers,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:54.45,0:02:57.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,especially John Steinbeck\Nand Vladimir Nabokov.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.43,0:03:00.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then, you have\Nthe Dixon pencil company.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.06,0:03:02.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They're responsible\Nfor the Dixon Ticonderoga.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.02,0:03:04.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's an icon,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:04.20,0:03:06.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's what people think of\Nwhen they think of a pencil
Dialogue: 0,0:03:06.75,0:03:09.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and what they think of\Nwhen they think of school.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:09.20,0:03:11.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the pencil's really\Na thing that, I think,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.43,0:03:13.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the average user\Nhas never thought twice about,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:13.93,0:03:16.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,how it's made or why it's made\Nthe way it is,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:16.10,0:03:18.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because it's just always been that way.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:19.05,0:03:21.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In my opinion, there's nothing\Nthat can be done
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.31,0:03:23.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to make the pencil better than it is.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:24.27,0:03:25.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's perfect.