The Perfectionists

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The Perfectionists Page 37

by Simon Winchester


  Disraeli, Benjamin, Vivian Grey, 74n

  Doppler-based navigation systems, 259–65, 267

  principle behind, 261–62

  shortcomings of, 264–65

  Sputnik’s radio signals and, 259–61

  U.S. Navy Transit satellites and, 262–64, 263

  Doppler effect, description of, 260–61

  Doré, Gustave, 117

  doublets (lenses), 225–26

  Drive On! (Setright), 129

  drop-forges, 100, 102

  Dupin, Charles, 117

  Earth:

  shape of, 335

  unit of length based on meridian of, 334–36, 337, 341–42

  Easton, Roger, 260, 265–68

  Edison, Thomas A., 171

  Edison Illuminating Company, 158

  Edmunds, Henry, 140, 143

  Einstein, Albert, 20–21, 229, 300, 301–2, 348

  electrical discharge machining (EDM), 205

  electricity, generated by turbines, 186–87

  electronics:

  trend toward ultraprecision in, 276–77, 278–80

  see also integrated circuitry; microprocessor chips; transistors

  electrons, atomic timekeepers and, 351, 352

  Eliot, T. S., “Rhapsody on a Windy Night,” 13n

  Elizabeth, Queen, 195

  encaged roller bearings, 33

  Endeavour, Hubble repair mission of, 248–50

  Endo, Miki, 323–24

  ephemeris time, 350

  escapement mechanisms, 33

  Essen, Louis, 352

  Euclid, Optics, 221

  European Space Agency, 235, 245

  Evans, Chris, 65

  Evans, Oliver, 102

  Everest, Sir George, 273n

  Explorer I, 261

  extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation, 296–97

  eyes:

  lenses in, 221–22

  spectacles and, 221–23

  fabs, or fabrication plants, 278

  Intel’s Chandler fab (Fab 42), 275–76, 277–78

  Fairbairn, Sir William, 53

  Fairchild Semiconductor, 279, 284–88

  witnessing and signing of notebook pages at, 285–86n

  Falk, O. T., and Partners, 184–85

  Fallen Idol, The, 104

  Feynman, Richard, 213n

  Fitzgerald, F. Scott, The Crack-Up, 307

  fixtures (devices that hold workpiece absolutely secure), 100n, 102

  flatness:

  of surface plates, 75–76, 119–20

  of Whitworth’s billiard table, 124–25

  flintlocks, see muskets, flintlock

  flour-milling machinery, 102

  f number of lens, 219n

  Ford, Henry, 129, 131, 155–67, 157, 276

  altruistic motives of, 155–56

  early years of, 156–58

  first motor car experiments of, 158–59

  gauge blocks, or Jo blocks, utilized by, 169–71

  mass production assembly line created by, 160–67

  Royce compared to, 131, 155–56, 158–59, 165–66

  Westinghouse threshing engines in origin story of, 156–58

  Ford Foundation, 166

  Ford Model T (Tin Lizzie), 129, 155–56, 157, 160–67

  decreases in price of, 165, 167

  magneto assembly for, 164–65

  production line for, 160–67

  Ford Motor Company, 152, 155–67

  complaints about SKF bearings at, 170

  Edsel, 236

  gauge blocks, or Jo blocks, introduced at, 169–71

  incorporation of, 131, 159

  interchangeable parts essential at, 161n, 166, 170

  Model A, 159–60

  Model T, see Ford Model T (Tin Lizzie)

  precision’s role at Rolls-Royce vs., 131, 166–67

  production line at, 160–65

  “For want of a nail . . .” proverb, 244

  foundries, electronic, 278n

  fountain pens, 58

  France:

  Anglo-French rivalry over inventions and, 87n

  automobiles made in, 137–39

  British wars with, 39n, 66, 73

  decimal time in, 349n

  postrevolutionary Republican Calendar in, 333–34

  social implications of precision as concern in, 90, 92, 117

  standards for length and mass created by, 334–40; see also metric system

  system of interchangeable parts developed in, 87–94, 97, 98, 102

  Franklin, Benjamin, 90, 222–23

  French Academy of Sciences, 335

  French Revolution, 59, 66, 92

  frequency:

  Doppler effect and, 260–61

  units of measurement and, 347–48

  friction problem, in early clocks, 32–33, 35

  Gainsborough, Thomas, 38–39

  Galileo, 222, 332, 348

  Galileo global navigation system, 270

  Gascoigne, William, 77

  Gaudy Night, 105

  gauge blocks, or Jo blocks, 167–71, 169

  author’s introduction to, 2–4

  Ford Motor Company and, 169–71

  interchangeable parts and, 170

  Johansson’s invention of, 167–68

  gauges:

  go and no-go, for ensuring cannonball fit, 87

  in gun manufacture, 89, 98–99, 100

  gearwheels:

  from Ancient Greece (Antikythera mechanism), 24–27

  producing, 4–5

  uses for, 5–6

  wooden, in Harrison’s clocks, 32–33

  Gee, 259, 262

  George III, King, 36, 74n

  George VI, King, 194–95

  Germany, turbojet-powered aircraft developed by, 179, 184, 190–91, 195

  Gernsback, Hugo, 181

  glassblowers, scientific, 7

  Glass Menagerie, The (Williams), 255

  Global Positioning System (GPS), 37, 265–74

  Doppler-based navigation system as precursor of, 259–65, 267

  Easton’s invention of, 260, 265–68

  ever-more-precise calculations of, 272–73

  freed for civilian use, 269–70

  major achievements of nineteenth-century cartography checked against data from, 273n

  military uses of, 269

  other nations’ similar systems, 270

  Parkinson’s vision for, 267–68, 268

  run from tightly guarded Schriever Air Force Base, 270–72, 271, 272

  time data for, 352–53

  GLONASS, 270

  Gloster Aircraft Company:

  experimental aircraft powered by jet engine (Gloster E28/29, or Pioneer), 190, 191–94

  Gloster Meteor fighters, 192

  Goddard Space Flight Center (Maryland), 234, 250–51, 294

  Gould, Rupert, 34n

  graphene, 298

  grasshopper escapement, 33

  gravitational constant, 298

  gravitational waves, detection of, 20–21, 300–306

  see also LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory)

  gravity:

  Bramah’s lock design and, 57

  clock mechanisms and, 33, 354

  link between time and, 354–55

  pendulum swings and, 33, 333, 349

  Whitworth’s measuring machine and, 121, 122

  Great Britain:

  Anglo-French rivalry over inventions and, 87n

  divergent paths of industry in U.S. vs., 114–15

  trading fortunes and, 31

  War of 1812 and, 81–85

  wars fought by, in eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, 39, 66–71

  Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations (London, 1851), 111–27, 112

  arrangement of exhibits at, 115–16

  Bramah’s “challenge lock” picked at, 112n, 124, 125–27

  Crystal Palace built for, 112, 113–14

  extraordinary zeitgeis
t of the time and, 111–13

  financing of, 113

  great big iron machines displayed at, 114–16, 117–18

  Hunt’s concern about social implications of machines displayed at, 116–17

  origin of idea for, 112–13n

  Whitworth’s instruments and tools displayed at, 118–23

  Great Trigonometric Survey of India, 273n

  Greece, Ancient:

  astronomers from, 26n

  gearwheels from (Antikythera mechanism), 24–27, 36

  lost-wax method in, 204

  measurement of time in, 27

  Greenwich Royal Observatory, Harrison’s clocks at, 30–37

  restoration of, 34n

  winding of, 30–31

  Gribeauval, Jean-Baptiste Vaquette de, 87, 89, 92, 98

  Guier, William, 259–62

  Gulf War of 1991, 269

  guns:

  Blanchard’s lathe for stocks of, 101–2

  both precision and accuracy crucial in making of, 105

  breech-loaded single-shot rifles, 97–98

  French system of interchangeable parts applied to American precision-based manufacturing of, 97–100

  Johansson’s invention of gauge blocks, or Jo blocks, and, 167–68

  machines first used to make components of, 98, 99–100

  rudiments of mass production assembly lines in manufacture of, 161n

  Victoria’s opening shot in 1860 Grand Rifle Match, 107–10

  see also muskets, flintlock

  Hall, Bishop Joseph, Works, 331

  Hall, John, 97–98, 99–100, 102

  handcrafting:

  Antikythera mechanism and, 24–25, 27

  Blanc’s standardization system and, 89–90, 92, 98

  eliminated in Ford’s assembly line, 165, 166–67

  Japanese appreciation for, 308, 309–10, 314, 316, 319–29

  machine tools vs., 35, 38, 60, 72–73, 98–99

  at Rolls-Royce, 6, 131, 152–55, 165, 166

  social consequences of move away from, 72–75, 89–90, 116–17

  and survival of craftsmanship in France, 92

  in Whitney’s gun factory, 96–97

  Hanford, Wash., cleanup site, 19–20

  Harpers Ferry Armory (Va.), 98, 99, 102, 161n

  Harrison, John, 24, 30–37, 47, 67, 105, 267n

  balance mechanisms in clocks made by, 33, 35

  Board of Longitude prize and, 30, 31, 32, 34, 35–36

  large pendulum clocks made by (H1, H2, and H3), 30–31, 32–34, 35

  restoration of clocks made by, 34n

  sea watches made by (H4 and K1), 31–32, 34–36

  testing of clocks made by, 34, 35–36, 39

  winding of clocks made by, 30–31, 33, 35

  Harrison, William, 35–36

  Hattori, K., and Company, 311–13

  Hattori, Kintaro, 310–12

  Heinkel Company, 184, 195

  Heinkel He 178, 190–91

  Heisenberg, Werner, 212–13, 298

  Die Physik der Atomkerne, 275

  Herbert, George, 244n

  Herschel family (William, Caroline, John, and Alexander), 229–30n

  Hiroshima, atomic bomb dropped on, 281

  Hitler, Adolf, 187, 191

  Hobbs, Alfred C., 124, 125–27

  Hoerni, Jean Amédée, 284–85, 286n, 287

  Hooker, Sir Stanley, 139

  hour:

  defining, 28, 334, 349

  displayed by mechanical clocks, 28–29

  Hubble, Edwin, 2321

  Hubble Space Telescope, 229–53, 230

  cost of, 232

  delays in launch date of, 243n

  first images from (First Light), 234–35, 251

  flaw in main mirror of, 234, 234–43; see also Perkin-Elmer Corporation

  High Speed Photometer in, 247, 248, 250

  money matters and, 237n

  news of failure announced to press, 235–36

  placed into orbit, 230–32, 233

  public reverence for, 229–30

  repair of, 244–51

  second images from (Second Light), 251–52

  size and appearance of, 232–33

  teacup affair and, 238

  ultimate success of, 252–53

  Wide Field and Planetary Camera in (Wiffpic), 247–48, 249

  Hucknall Casings and Structures plant (Rolls-Royce), 209–10, 211, 229

  Hunt, Robert, 116–17

  hydraulic press, 57–58

  India, Great Trigonometric Survey of, 273n

  Individual and the Universe, The (Lovell), 215

  Industrial Revolution, 39, 41, 44, 51, 73, 74n, 111, 304

  integrated circuitry, 286–99

  devices made possible by, 287–88

  Noyce’s work in genesis of, 286, 287, 288n

  printing with photolithographic machines, 277, 277–78, 286–87, 294

  see also microprocessor chips; transisters

  Intel, 288–92

  ASML machines bought by, 275–76, 277, 277–78

  Chandler, Ariz., fabrication plant of (Fab 42), 275–76, 277–78, 291–92

  first-ever commercially available microprocessor made by (Intel 4004), 288–89, 290, 292

  founding of, 288

  mutual dependency of ASML and, 278

  interchangeable parts, 63, 71, 105, 114, 276, 312

  in Ford’s mass production assembly lines, 161n, 166, 170

  for guns, 84–85, 86, 87–100

  system of, developed in France, 87–94, 97, 98, 102

  interferometers:

  classic, 300

  laser, 242–43

  LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory), 20–21, 299–306, 303, 305

  null connector as, 240–41

  internal combustion engine, 158

  aircraft powered by, 178–213; see also jet engines

  International Astronomical Union, 344

  International Committee on Weights and Measures (1960), 345–46

  International Metre Commission (1872), 338

  International Prototype Kilogram (IPK), 339

  International Prototype Meter (IPM), 339

  International System of Units (SI), 16–17n, 346

  iron, 38, 39

  cannon making and, 39, 41–44

  Japanese handcrafted objects made of, 309–10

  lathes made of, rather than wood, 61, 64

  machines to manufacture pulley blocks made of, 71

  smelting and forging, 40–41, 43, 49

  steam engines made of, 46, 48–52

  Wilkinson’s cylinder-boring technique for, 42–44, 49–52, 304–6

  Iron Bridge of Coalbrookdale, 41

  Ito, Tsutomi, 321–22

  Jacula Prudentum, 244n

  James Webb Space Telescope, 231n, 294, 295, 299

  Janety, Marc Étienne, 336, 337

  Japan, 308–29

  bamboo objects handcrafted in, 325, 326

  fondness for handcrafting in, 308, 309–10, 314, 316, 319–29

  Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami in (2011), 322, 323–25

  Living National Treasures of, 325–26

  rigorous appreciation of perfect in, 308–9, 314

  timekeeping traditions in, 310–11

  urushi (handmade lacquerware) of, 326–28, 327

  Westernization in, 310, 311 see also Seiko

  Japanese Railways, 313–14

  Jay, John, 92–93

  Jefferson, Thomas, 52

  Blanc’s flintlock system and, 90, 92–94, 96

  Whitney’s contract and demonstration and, 95, 96

  Jet Age, inauguration of, 193

  jet engines, 173–213

  alloys for blades in, 200, 201, 203

  Americans’ initial lack of interest in, 179

  bird strikes and, 203n

  British public told of, 194

  complexity within, 196–97

  experimental aircraft fitted with, 19
0, 191–94

  financial backing for development of, 184–85, 189

  first passenger and freight aircraft with, 198–99

  French forerunner of, 179

  German development of, 179, 184, 190–91, 195

  hot environment in, 187, 199–201

  invention of, 178–94, 179; see also Whittle, Frank

  keeping blades cool inside, 197–98, 198, 199–203, 204, 206

  manufacturing process for single-crystal blades in, 203–6

  no tolerance whatsoever in making of, 206–7

  power of piston engine vs., 182–83

  propulsive jet of air produced by, 182, 187

  Quantas Flight 32 and failure of, 174–78, 178, 196, 207–12, 208, 229

  revolutionary novelty of idea for, 186

  Rolls-Royce, 196–213, 205; see alsoRolls-Royce jet engines

  single moving part in, 180

  stress of takeoff and landing cycles on, 210

  testing of prototypes, 187–90

  turbine blade efficiency and, 198

  Whittle’s eureka moment and, 182–83

  Whittle’s patent and, 183–84

  Jet Propulsion Laboratory, or JPL (Pasadena), 247–48, 350

  Jo blocks, see gauge blocks, or Jo blocks

  Johansson, Carl Edvard, 3, 167–71

  bought out by Ford, 170–71

  gauge blocks, or Jo blocks, created by, 167–68

  Johns Hopkins University:

  Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) at, 259–62

  Space Telescope Science Institute at, 234, 251

  Johnson, Claude “CJ,” 148–50, 151

  Jones, Alexander, 27

  Kai Tak Airport (Hong Kong), 195–96

  kelvin, definition of, 346

  Kiev, author photographed with Rolls-Royce outside city gates of, 133–34

  Kilby, Jack, 288n

  kilogram, 336–40, 346–47

  cast in platinum as étalon (standard), 337, 339–40, 348

  now defined in terms of speed of light, 348

  relationship of meter to, 336–37

  see also metric system

  Kilogram of the Archives, 336

  Klein bottle, 7n

  Kodak, 237n

  Korean Air Lines Flight 007, shooting down of, 269

  krypton, standard unit of length based on, 344–45

  Kyoto, temples of, 308

  landscape photography, lenses for, 226

  lasers, 351

  in LIGO’s measuring instrument, 301, 305, 305–6

  in manufacture of microprocessor chips, 293–94, 296

  presumed to be precise, 242

  lathes, 61–65

  for gun stocks, designed by Blanchard, 101–2

  invention and evolution of, 61

  iron vs. wood, 61, 64

  Maudslay’s improvements to, 61–65

  screw-making, 63–64

  for shoe lasts, designed by Blanchard, 19n, 101

  slide rest and, 62–63, 64–65

  latitude, determining, 30n

  leadscrews:

  of bench micrometers, 77–78

 

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