Although most of us have a corkscrew in the kitchen, we remain largely unaware of the many different types and designs of corkscrews that have been developed over the last three hundred years. Since the eighteenth century, inventors have devised increasingly ingenious methods of removing corks from bottles of wine, beer, champagne, perfume and medicine, using the laws of physics, the skills of mechanical engineering, the science of new materials and the artistic aspects of design.