The first person to describe the spiral was the Greek scientist Archimedes (c. 287 BC - 212 BC). An Archimedes screw is a huge spiral contained in a wooden cylinder that is used to irrigate fields by raising water from one level to another. The real inventor may not be Archimedes himself. Maybe he was just describing something that already existed. It may have been designed by the skilled craftsmen of ancient Egypt for irrigation on both sides of the Nile.

　　In the Middle Ages, carpenters used wooden or metal nails to attach furniture to wooden structures. In the 16th century, nail makers began producing nails with a helical thread, which were used to connect things more securely. That's a small step from these kinds of nails to screws.

　　Around 1550 AD, the metal nuts and bolts that first appeared in Europe as fasteners were all made by hand on a simple wooden lathe.

　　Screwdrivers (screw chisels) appeared in London around 1780. Carpenters have found that tightening a screw with a screwdriver holds things in place better than hitting with a hammer, especially with fine-grained screws.

　　In 1797, Maudsley invented the all-metal precision screw lathe in London. The following year, Wilkinson built a nut and bolt making machine in the United States. Both machines produce universal nuts and bolts. Screws were quite popular as fixings because an inexpensive method of production had been found at that time.

　　In 1836, Henry M. Philips applied for a patent for a screw with a cross recessed head, which marked a major advance in screw base technology. Unlike traditional slotted head screws, Phillips head screws have the edge of the head of the Phillips head screw. This design makes the screwdriver self-centered and not easy to slip out, so it is very popular. Universal nuts and bolts can connect metal parts together, so by the 19th century, the wood used to make machines to build houses could be replaced by metal bolts and nuts.