现代科技的奇迹常常让现代生活变得轻松 —— 我们可以在线订购一个只需几美元的烤面包机，而15年前，人们花费数周才能用原材料打造一个。⠀
在伦敦皇家艺术学院学习时，托马斯·特韦茨决定迎接这个挑战。这位年轻设计师的目标是只使用自己采集的原材料，从零开始制作一台烤面包机。这意味着他必须进行矿石开采和精炼、金属锻造，以及从石油中制作塑料。特韦茨这样做是为了证明我们在社会中的位置，他受到道格拉斯·亚当斯1992年小说《绝地求生》中的一句话的启发，那句话是：“凭借自己的本领，他修不好一个烤面包机。他勉强可以做个三明治，这就是了。”⠀
这个挑战比特韦茨预期的要困难得多。他购买了一台3.49英镑的廉价烤面包机并拆开来看它是如何制作的。这台烤面包机有400个零件，由100多种材料制成，但他设法简化了它，只需要几种原料：铜、钢、镍、塑料和云母。而从零开始制作塑料被证明更加困难。⠀
这个滑稽而鼓舞人心的冒险被记录在书籍《烤面包机计划：或者说，一个从零开始制作简单电器的英雄式尝试》中。特韦茨还在TED演讲中发表了一段精彩的11分钟演讲，讲述了这个项目。你可以观看上面的视频，了解他的非凡之旅和发现。
The wonders of modern technology often make modern life seem easy -- we can order a toaster online for just a few dollars, while Delta 15 years ago, people spent weeks crafting one from raw materials.⠀
While studying at London's Royal College of Art, Thomas Thwaites decided to take on this challenge. The young designer aimed to craft a toaster from scratch using only raw materials he had sourced by himself. This meant he had to mine and refine ore, forge metal, and make plastic from oil. Thwaites did this to make a point about our place in society, inspired by a quote from Douglas Adams' 1992 novel Mostly Harmless, that says: "Left to his own devices, he couldn't build a toaster. He could just about make a sandwich, and that was it."⠀
The challenge was much tougher than Thwaites expected. He bought a cheap toaster for £3.49 and took it apart to see how it was made. This toaster had 400 components made from over 100 materials, but he managed to simplify it to just a few ingredients: copper, steel, nickel, plastic, and mica. making a plastic from scratch proved to be even more difficult.⠀
This hilarious and inspiring adventure was documented in the book "The Toaster Project: Or a Heroic Attempt to Build a Simple Electric Appliance from Scratch." Thwaites also delivered a brilliant 11-minute TED Talk about the project. You can watch the video above to learn more about his extraordinary journey and discovery.