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142 reviews for:
EXACTLY: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World
Simon Winchester, Simon Winchester
4.04 AVERAGE
142 reviews for:
EXACTLY: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World
Simon Winchester, Simon Winchester
4.04 AVERAGE
Super fascinating book. Even the way the chapters are laid out (according to various degrees of tolerance) was brilliant. I listened to this as audiobook. There was so much information that it required a lot of pausing and rewinding. From clocks to weapons to steam engines to Rolls Royces and Model T’s to jet engines to microchips and transistors... GEEZ.
Ahoy there mateys! I listened to this one on audiobook read by the author. This is a nonfiction title about precision engineering and was a fascinating five star read. This book discusses things like locks, rigging, watches and how the way to measure changed too. All areas were full of fun facts and the author's enthusiasm for the subjects was delightful. I need to read more of his work for sure. Arrr!
A delightful read and I would recommend this book to any one who likes engineering and or physics.
Precision is a sleepy subject that is endlessly fascinating.
Precision is a sleepy subject that is endlessly fascinating.
The core story of precision was quite interesting. Got the sense the author really just wanted to write about Rolls-Royces and watches and tell personal stories. Which was fine, he's a good storyteller, but these diversions distracted.
The ongoing work of the discipline of Metrology shouldn't have been saved for the end, it was the best part.
The ongoing work of the discipline of Metrology shouldn't have been saved for the end, it was the best part.
I wanted more anecdote, a little more insight into possible rivalries among inventors, and more humor. Overall, though, this is a solid overview of the topic of precision with an interesting approach to organizing the material. I also particularly appreciated the conclusion.
I picked this book because I wanted something rather dry and "detached" from the modern world and emotions of the COVID pandemic. This book reminded me why I like Simon Winchester, which is that he writes nonfiction without that stereotypical smarmy pop-sci angle and over focus on the author and the author's feelings/life etc. Bless him for that. This book basically described a series of objects that were engineered at greater and greater precision, and how this impacted the world. I don't totally remember the full order, but it was something like guns, cars, airplanes, satellites, lenses/telescope, watches, computer chips. He would often start with a modern event, like the 2010 Qantas airplane debacle, and then go back and describe the development of the jet engine and the level of precision that was required (and went wrong!). I actually learned some things and rather enjoyed listening to the book. It also functioned perfectly as a distraction from COVID.
This is among Simon Winchester's best books. It is much like the others in the style of using vignettes from personal experience as prefaces to describing the matter at hand. What makes this book better than average is that the topics singled out for discussion are simply more intrinsically interesting than others. I don't think there was really a "dud" chapter in this book.
It is also nice that the contents are pretty much positive. There is some fair acknowledgement of the value of craftsmanship for which precision is not necessarily a satisfactory replacement, but this is much lighter than descriptions of large scale environmental damage or even human suffering such as you see in "Pacific" or "Krakatoa" by the same author.
It is also nice that the contents are pretty much positive. There is some fair acknowledgement of the value of craftsmanship for which precision is not necessarily a satisfactory replacement, but this is much lighter than descriptions of large scale environmental damage or even human suffering such as you see in "Pacific" or "Krakatoa" by the same author.
informative
inspiring
medium-paced