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143 reviews for:
EXACTLY: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World
Simon Winchester, Simon Winchester
4.04 AVERAGE
143 reviews for:
EXACTLY: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World
Simon Winchester, Simon Winchester
4.04 AVERAGE
Winchester takes another fascinating turn investigating a little-addressed subject, this time the development of precision techniques from the late 1700's to today. He takes us from "precision" engineering meaning achieving tolerances of 1/10 inch to the near atomic-level distances being used in the most modern semiconductor fabrication lines, on to literally measuring gravitational waves. Along the way, he includes fascinating looks at jet engine technology, locks, watches, and other technologies pushing forward the science of measurement. You might think this isn't your cup of tea, but Winchester's lively style and infectious interest will keep you going.
informative
slow-paced
Very well done, but a bit long-winded. I heard Winchester talk about the book last year and he's a fantastic speaker who piqued my interest in the subject. The book is highly informative, but gets a bit dry at times.
Good history of things I didn't know about. Would have enjoyed more detail on the actual mechanisms of precision, though maybe video is a better medium for that.
Lots of interesting information about why precision is necessary and how it is achieved, at more and more precise levels. Many of the technologies were developed to support military applications, starting with cannons, pulley blocks for sailing ships, and moving on to guns with interchangeable parts and later GPS systems. Other topics include steam engines, locks, cars, jets, cameras, telescopes and clocks.
Discussion of the Hubble telescope and a 2010 jet crash were particularly interesting.
One point only barely touched on here is that while we have become very precise in making mechanical things by using other machines, our software systems are still made by humans. While they may do precisely what the humans told them to do, the humans might not be as precise as necessary in defining the task. So while that 2010 jet crashed due to a tiny mechanical defect from a human-crafted part, today's jets may be crashing due to imprecise software or human pilots.
Winchester has a distinct style of writing which I like only up to a point. (But not a point that I can precisely define.) Here he is describing the guy who created "gauge blocks" (which were new to me):
Discussion of the Hubble telescope and a 2010 jet crash were particularly interesting.
One point only barely touched on here is that while we have become very precise in making mechanical things by using other machines, our software systems are still made by humans. While they may do precisely what the humans told them to do, the humans might not be as precise as necessary in defining the task. So while that 2010 jet crashed due to a tiny mechanical defect from a human-crafted part, today's jets may be crashing due to imprecise software or human pilots.
Winchester has a distinct style of writing which I like only up to a point. (But not a point that I can precisely define.) Here he is describing the guy who created "gauge blocks" (which were new to me):
Johansson was, by all accounts, a modest, retiring, unassuming, private, pipe-smoking, mustachioed, patient, formal, stooped, eternally avuncular son of the croft....No, I don't think that all accounts say that; only Winchester would describe anyone in that way. I had to look up avuncular and croft. Technical terms are defined in an appendix, but still I'm sure there are rare words in here that would stump just about anyone.
Too discursive and prolix. Would have been quite helpful to have some engineering diagrams.
The topic - precision engineering - isn’t something that immediately draws me in. But having read Winchester’s books before, I know them to be well-written and thoroughly researched. And when I listened to the sample of the first pages, which he reads, I was drawn in to the story because he began with how his father used to work as an engineer in a factory and one day brought home some machined metal tiles called gauge blocks used for measuring things. And I liked how Winchester talked fondly about visiting his father in the factory and watching the machines and how Winchester started writing this book about precision. 🛠
And in the end, this book was full of fascinating insights into the world of precision - from cars to guns to airplane engines. It’s not easy to make notes while listening to an audiobook and part of me wishes I had had a printed copy alongside but I quite liked that Winchester, in his sore-throaty voice, read the book himself. 🛠
The Perfectionists is full of facts and insights that I had never thought to think about, all these big and small things that make our world go round, that enables me to type this sentence out on my phone, for eg. How our world has changed so much in what is just a few decades. You don’t have to love science or engineering to read or listen to this fascinating book. You just need a little bit of curiosity about how this world is as it is today
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And in the end, this book was full of fascinating insights into the world of precision - from cars to guns to airplane engines. It’s not easy to make notes while listening to an audiobook and part of me wishes I had had a printed copy alongside but I quite liked that Winchester, in his sore-throaty voice, read the book himself. 🛠
The Perfectionists is full of facts and insights that I had never thought to think about, all these big and small things that make our world go round, that enables me to type this sentence out on my phone, for eg. How our world has changed so much in what is just a few decades. You don’t have to love science or engineering to read or listen to this fascinating book. You just need a little bit of curiosity about how this world is as it is today
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The art and science of precision. My dad spent a number of years in the metrology business, so this sounded like a fun book when I found it on the library shelf. A word of caution, as I'm someone who loves popular science books that give a window into the technical world around us.
The author uses the concept of tolerance levels to create chapters. He does a great job to bring the characters of the precision world to life. And they are characters.
I didn't know that the engineering world could measure down to a millionth of an inch around the mid-1800's. With a set of screws and gears, measuring such tight tolerances was possible. This gave me a better appreciation of the ingenuity of the day.
What I also found interesting was the tying of all measurement to time. Even weight, which I hadn't known before. I was well aware of the reference weights and distance rods in France. I also know about the atomic clocks that anchor the time of the world. But to get away from the problems inherit of precise weight of an object, that is pretty cool. (There is the problem of the atoms of the weights shedding off over time, which isn't a good thing) By making everything about time, it is easier to have the references in many parts of the world and verifiable.
This isn't a dry tome about engineers driving towards smaller and smaller tolerances. It is a fun romp through the precision world, where the reader can gain an appreciation of how it impacts the world around them.
The author uses the concept of tolerance levels to create chapters. He does a great job to bring the characters of the precision world to life. And they are characters.
I didn't know that the engineering world could measure down to a millionth of an inch around the mid-1800's. With a set of screws and gears, measuring such tight tolerances was possible. This gave me a better appreciation of the ingenuity of the day.
What I also found interesting was the tying of all measurement to time. Even weight, which I hadn't known before. I was well aware of the reference weights and distance rods in France. I also know about the atomic clocks that anchor the time of the world. But to get away from the problems inherit of precise weight of an object, that is pretty cool. (There is the problem of the atoms of the weights shedding off over time, which isn't a good thing) By making everything about time, it is easier to have the references in many parts of the world and verifiable.
This isn't a dry tome about engineers driving towards smaller and smaller tolerances. It is a fun romp through the precision world, where the reader can gain an appreciation of how it impacts the world around them.
Another great book. Simon Winchester writes in an engaging and interesting way about the past. This one was no exception a great account of the rise of the concept and practice of precision engineering. Very entertaining and gripping. This was my secret santa gift for 2018, thank you Sophie!
I love learning about the history of science and the Industrial Revolution, and this book has many new and fascinating stories to tell. I am always astonished to contemplate the advances and the huge change that took place in the Industrial Revolution, and what was amazing in this book is how he traced the evolution of precision forward to the most minutely measured and crafted things of today. From that perspective we can see how short-lived was the age of mechanical objects. I grew up dialing phones and I listened to the audiobook on my iPad, something that was invented and released only 8 years ago. Human ingenuity is incredible.