Delambre, Jean-Baptiste, 335, 337
Deptford, HMS, 35
Dickens, Charles, 58
Discovery, 231–32, 233
dispersion, 225
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
arrangemen
t of exhibits at, 115–16
Bramah’s “challenge lock” picked at, 112n, 124, 125–27
Crystal Palace built for, 112, 113–14
extraordinary zeitgeist 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, 190, 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
The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World Page 37