The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World
- ISBN-10
- 0062652559
- ISBN-13
- 9780062652553
- Series
- The Perfectionists
- Category
- History
- Pages
- 416
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2018-05-08
- Publisher
- Harper
- Author
- Simon Winchester
Description
The revered New York Times bestselling author traces the development of technology from the Industrial Age to the Digital Age to explore the single component crucial to advancement—precision—in a superb history that is both an homage and a warning for our future. The rise of manufacturing could not have happened without an attention to precision. At the dawn of the Industrial Revolution in eighteenth-century England, standards of measurement were established, giving way to the development of machine tools—machines that make machines. Eventually, the application of precision tools and methods resulted in the creation and mass production of items from guns and glass to mirrors, lenses, and cameras—and eventually gave way to further breakthroughs, including gene splicing, microchips, and the Hadron Collider. Simon Winchester takes us back to origins of the Industrial Age, to England where he introduces the scientific minds that helped usher in modern production: John Wilkinson, Henry Maudslay, Joseph Bramah, Jesse Ramsden, and Joseph Whitworth. It was Thomas Jefferson who later exported their discoveries to the fledgling United States, setting the nation on its course to become a manufacturing titan. Winchester moves forward through time, to today’s cutting-edge developments occurring around the world, from America to Western Europe to Asia. As he introduces the minds and methods that have changed the modern world, Winchester explores fundamental questions. Why is precision important? What are the different tools we use to measure it? Who has invented and perfected it? Has the pursuit of the ultra-precise in so many facets of human life blinded us to other things of equal value, such as an appreciation for the age-old traditions of craftsmanship, art, and high culture? Are we missing something that reflects the world as it is, rather than the world as we think we would wish it to be? And can the precise and the natural co-exist in society?
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2019-05-07
- 416 pages
- Paperback
- Harper Perennial
-
- 2018-05-08
- 416 pages
- Ebook
- HarperCollins
Similar books
-
The Perfectionists
By Sara ShepardHigh school senior Nolan Hotchkiss is one of those lucky kids - handsome, rich, living a charmed life - despite the fact that he's a self-centred bully who treats everyone around him like dirt.
-
The Good Girls
By Sara ShepardDon’t miss the Freeform TV series, Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists!
-
Pretty Little Liars TV Tie-in Edition
By Sara ShepardEveryone has something to hide—especially high school juniors Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna.
-
The Perfectionist's Handbook: Take Risks, Invite Criticism, and Make the Most of Your Mistakes
By Jeff SzymanskiIn The Perfectionist's Handbook, clinical psychologist Jeff Szymanski helps readers navigate their way out of the "perfectionism paradox": if your intentions are good (wanting to excel) and the outcomes you want are reasonable (to feel ...
-
The perfectionists. Pretty little liars
By Sara ShepardThe perfectionists. Pretty little liars
-
The Perfectionist: Growing as an Enneagram 1
By Elisabeth BennettThis book will help Perfectionists, and those who love them, better understand how God created them and how best to use their unique gifts to serve Him and love others.
-
Confessions of a Raging Perfectionist: Learning to Be Free
By Amanda JenkinsShe begins each day with a long list. “Keep the house picked up; limit myself to two Diet Cokes; spend special time with each of the kids; work out; pray; avoid sugar; read a chapter in a book about something very important; read my Bible ...
-
The Perfectionists TV Tie-In Edition
By Sara ShepardForging a friendship based on their mutual hatred of a philandering boy, five girls imagine a perfect way to kill him, and when he turns up dead in the exact way they'd envisioned, the girls suddenly find themselves the prime suspects in ...
-
The Perfectionist: Life and Death in Haute Cuisine
By Rudolph ChelminskiA portrait of the award-winning master chef who in spite of prestigious achievements took his own life in 2003 traces Bernard Loiseau's rise from an ambitious teenager who worked in the kitchen of the famed Troisgros brothers to the head of ...
-
The Care and Feeding of Perfectionists
By Cynthia CurnanThis book details how the voice can be utilized to bring peace of mind, fulfillment, and growth in our careers and personal lives.