Late Great Engineers: László Bíró - mightier than the sword

When it comes to simple engineering solutions to everyday problems, there are few finer examples than the ballpoint pen. An early print advertisement for a ‘new writing instrument’ called the Biro seems to say it all, for the gadget could write ‘an average of 200,000 words’ (that’s about three times more than most novels) with ink that ‘dries as you write’.

Not only that, the Biro (always spelled with a capital ‘B’, for which reason the Guardian and Observer style book prefers ‘ballpoint pen’) ‘does not smudge while you write … does not leak at any altitude … makes at least six perfect carbon copies’ while presenting a ‘boon’ to left-handed writers, who up until this point would always end up producing smudged copy. All this from a pen that ‘writes on a ball bearing with a velvet touch and a smooth gliding action’. It cost a robust 55 shillings in old money (equivalent £2.75) which, when adjusted for inflation, means that on their launch, ballpoint pens cost a thousand times more than their basic counterparts do now. Despite which, Biros brought writing to the masses and is a technology that is still with us today. In fact 125 ballpoint pens are sold every second. “Everybody wants a Biro, and there’s a Biro for everybody” ran an early sales slogan for László Bíró’s eponymous pen.