What a beautiful article; the author weaves together the blacksmith's story with the science of the forge and red-hot metal inside in a way that put me there, as if I was watching Sam turn a deck of metal cards into a knife. The photos that accompany the text are stunning in their own right.<p>Author Laurence Gonzales writes, "In a sense, the knife marked the birth of civilization", which reminds me of the first knives that the survivors of Verne's "The Mysterious Island" make in their desperation and ingenuity:<p><pre><code> “Ah, if we only had a knife!” cried the sailor.
“Well?” asked Cyrus Harding.
“Well! I would soon make a bow and arrows, and then there could be plenty of game in the larder!”
“Yes, a knife, a sharp blade.” said the engineer, as if he was speaking to himself.
At this moment his eyes fell upon Top, who was running about on the shore. Suddenly Harding’s face became animated.
“Top, here,” said he.
The dog came at his master’s call. The latter took Top’s head between his hands, and unfastening the collar which the animal wore round his neck, he broke it in two, saying,—
“There are two knives, Pencroft!”
Two hurrahs from the sailor was the reply. Top’s collar was made of a thin piece of tempered steel. They had only to sharpen it on a piece of sandstone, then to raise the edge on a finer stone. Now sandstone was abundant on the beach, and two hours after the stock of tools in the colony consisted of two sharp blades, which were easily fixed in solid handles.
The production of these their first tools was hailed as a triumph. It was indeed a valuable result of their labor, and a very opportune one. They set out.</code></pre>