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The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World

Page 38

by Simon Winchester


  slide rest and, 62–63, 64–65

  latitude, determining, 30n

  leadscrews:

  of bench micrometers, 77–78

  of lathes, 61, 62–63

  Leica, 221, 222, 227–28

  cameras owned by author, 219–20

  lenses made by, 220, 224–25, 227–28

  Leitz, Ernst, 222, 227

  Leland, Henry, 168

  length, standard unit of, 334–40

  cast in platinum as étalon (standard), 336, 337, 339–40

  mass in relation to, 336–37

  meridian of Earth and, 334–36, 337

  now defined in terms of time, 348

  pendulum swing and, 332–33

  redefined as wavelength of light, 342–45

  Wilkins’s proposal for, 332–33

  see also metric system

  Lenin, V. I., 134

  lenses, 223–28, 308

  aberrant imagery and design of, 224, 225–26

  angles of refraction and dispersion and, 225

  aspherical, 220, 228

  author’s childhood interest in, 217–18

  f number of, 219n

  in human eye, 221–22

  Leica, 220, 224–25, 227–28

  magnifying, 218

  multi-element, 225–26

  in Niépce’s camera obscura, 223–24, 225n

  precisional capabilities of, 224–25

  specialized, 226

  in spectacles, 221–23

  tolerances for, 227–28

  Voigtländer, 219n

  zoom, 226–27

  letterpress printers, 286–87

  Life of Galileo (Brecht), 1

  light:

  candela as unit of measurement for intensity of, 346, 347

  linking meter to wavelength of, 342–45

  theories of, 222

  light squeezing, 299

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

  fused-silica “test mass” of, 305, 305–6

  gravitational waves detected by, 21, 301–4, 305

  interferometer principles and, 300

  pair (soon to be trio) of enormous interferometers employed by, 301, 303

  purpose of experiments with, 20–21, 301

  Lilienfeld, Julius, 281, 287

  liter measure, 336–37

  Living National Treasures (Japan), 325–26

  Livio, Mario, 229

  Lockheed Martin, 269

  Hubble Space Telescope built by, 232, 243n

  locks:

  Bramah, manufacture of, 59–65

  Bramah’s “challenge lock,” 54–55, 112n, 124, 125–27

  Bramah’s complicated internal design and patent for, 57, 58

  British obsession with, 56–57

  Maudslay’s lock-making devices and, 60–65

  supposedly unpickable, picked by Bramah, 56–57

  locomotives, powered by turbines, 186

  Lonely Halls Meeting (Pentagon, 1973), 267n

  longitude of vessel, determining, 30

  Harrison’s timekeepers and, 30–37

  lunar distance method and, 36

  longitudinal meridians, time differences marked by, 30n

  LORAN, 259, 262, 264

  lost-wax method, 204

  Lovell, Sir Bernard, The Individual and the Universe, 215

  Ludd, Ned, 74

  Luddism:

  in France, 90

  in Great Britain, 74–75, 78

  Lufthansa, 211

  Luftwaffe, 190

  machines, hostility to, 78–79

  machine tools, 53, 275–76

  handcrafting vs., 35, 38, 60, 72–73, 98–99

  to manufacture ships’ pulley blocks, 65–66, 70–71, 72–73, 99

  Maudslay’s lock-making devices, 60–65

  for milling metal, 99–100

  perfectly flat surface needed for, 75–76

  Madison, James, 82, 83

  magneto, assembled on a line, 164–65

  mainspring, spiral, in Harrison’s sea watch, 35

  Maloof, Matt, 266–67

  Mantel, Hilary, 12

  Marshall lock, picked by Bramah, 56–57

  mass, standard unit of:

  kilogram as, 336–40, 346–47, 348; see also metric system

  now defined in terms of time, 348

  Wilkins’s proposal for, 333

  mass production, 114

  first truly mechanically produced production-line objects, 102

  Ford’s introduction of assembly line and, 160–67

  industrial, absolute degree of precision essential in, 166–67, 171

  Maudslay’s machines to make ships’ pulley blocks and, 65–66, 70–71, 72–73

  at Springfield and Harpers Ferry armories, 98, 98, 101–2, 161n

  see also interchangeable parts

  master clocks, 104, 352–53

  Maudslay, Henry, 54–55, 59, 60–66, 62, 276

  bench micrometer made by (Lord Chancellor), 76, 77–78

  Bramah’s employ left by, 65

  five-foot-long brass screw displayed by, 63, 66, 70, 78

  flatness of surface plates and, 75–76, 119–20

  hired by Bramah, 59, 60

  lock-making devices created by, 60–65

  machines to manufacture ships’ pulley blocks built by, 65–66, 70–71, 72–73, 99

  screw making and, 63–64

  slide rest invention and, 62–63, 64–65

  Whitworth apprenticed to, 119–20

  Maudslay, Sons and Field, 63, 117

  Mauser, 167–68

  Maxwell, James Clerk, 341–42, 343, 350, 351

  McClure, Frank, 261

  McCormick, Cyrus, 102

  measurement systems, 16–17n, 331–55

  of Ancien Régime, 89, 334

  in ancient world, 16n, 331

  atoms and wavelength of light as basis for, 342–45

  fundamental and derived units of, 347n

  human body as basis for, 332, 341

  meridian of Earth as basis for, 334–36, 337, 341–42

  naming of units and, 331–32

  Planck length and, 298–99

  see also metric system; time

  measuring devices:

  gauge blocks, or Jo blocks, 2–4, 167–71, 169

  inaccurate, as culprit leading to false shape of Hubble’s main mirror, 240–43, 241

  Maudslay’s bench micrometer, 76, 77–78

  most precise ever built, 19–22

  vernier scale and, 120–21

  Whitworth’s design for, 118–19, 120–22

  Méchain, Pierre, 335, 337

  meniscus lenses, 225n

  Mercedes, 144

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

  Messerschmitt, Willy, 191

  metal-milling machines, Hall’s design for, 99–100, 102

  meter, 334–40

  cast in platinum as étalon (standard), 336, 337, 339–40

  kilogram in relation to, 336–37

  now defined in terms of time, 348

  redefined as wavelength of light, 342–45

  survey of meridian of Earth and, 334–36, 337

  see also metric system

  Meter of the Archives, 336, 337

  metric system, 16–17n, 334–47

  certificates of authenticity for prototypes, 339

  error in meridian survey and, 337

  first set of prototypes created for, 334–37

  kilogram’s replacement and, 346–47

  lottery for distribution of prototypes, 339–40

  Maxwell’s challenge to scientific basis of, 341–42, 343

  meetings of international commission and treaty on, 338–39

  meter’s redefinition in terms of wavelength and, 342–45

  new set of prototypes created for, 337–39

  Wilkins’s proposal and, 332–33

  metrology, 120

  see
also measurement systems

  Metropolitan Museum of Art, 325, 328

  micrometers:

  bench, made by Maudslay (Lord Chancellor), 76, 77–78

  Whitworth’s design for, 122

  microprocessor chips, 288–99, 292

  alternatives to silicon in, 298

  cleanliness standards and, 293–94

  extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation in making of, 296–97

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

  limit on size and speed of, 294–99

  machines for manufacture of, 275–76, 277, 277–78, 291–97, 304

  measure of, by processor node, 290

  Moore’s law and, 279–80, 289, 290–91, 292, 295–96, 297

  smaller, cheaper to make, 290

  see also integrated circuitry; transistors

  microscopes, 218, 222

  Middleton, Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, 12

  military:

  “dark side” and, 85–86

  Mumford’s prescience on role of, 86

  see also weapons

  milling metal, Hall’s machine for, 99–100, 102

  Minamisanriku, Japan, 322–25, 328

  earthquake and tsunami of 2011 and, 322, 323–25

  minute:

  defining, 334, 348–49

  displayed by mechanical clocks, 28–29

  Model T Ford, 129

  monasteries, timekeepers employed by, 28–29

  month, defining, 333, 349

  Moore, Gordon, 278–81, 279, 283–84, 289, 290

  at Fairchild Semiconductor, 279, 284, 287

  hired by Shockley, 283–84

  Moore’s law, 279–80, 289, 290–91, 292, 295–96, 297

  Morioka, Japan:

  Seiko headquarters and wristwatch factory in, 309, 310, 316–22

  tetsubin (hammered-iron teakettle) of, 309–10

  Motion, Newton’s Third Law of, 182

  mowers, 102

  Mumford, Lewis, 86, 102

  “musket organ,” at Springfield Armory (Mass.), 98

  muskets, flintlock, 88

  French Charleville model, 84, 95

  gunsmiths’ craftsmanship and, 89–90, 96–97, 98–99

  interchangeable parts for, 84–85, 86, 87–97, 98–99

  Jefferson’s advocacy of Blanc’s system for, 90, 92–94

  master example for each component of, 89, 98–99

  New England gunsmiths and, 94

  number and names of parts in, 88

  unreliable, in U.S. Army’s defeat at Bladensburg, 81–85, 86–87

  Whitney’s manufacture of, 94–97, 98

  Myrmidon, HMS, 73

  Napier, 144

  Napoleon Bonaparte, 66, 73

  Nartov, Andrey, 65

  NASA:

  four in-space observatories of, 232n

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

  Pioneer 10 space probe, 289

  uncertain future for, after Challenger explosion and Hubble failure, 236

  see also Hubble Space Telescope

  Nasmyth, James, 78

  National Institute of Standards and Technology (U.S.), 353

  National Physical Laboratory (Great Britain), 352, 354–55

  National Rifle Association (Great Britain), 1860 Grand Rifle Match of, 107–10

  National Science Foundation (U.S.), 303

  natural world, impermanence and imprecision of, 328–29

  Nature, analysis of Antikythera mechanism in, 25–26

  Naval Observatory, U.S. (USNO), master clock at, 104, 352–53

  navigation:

  museum displays devoted to historic objects for, 37–38

  with sextant and chronometer, 259n

  timekeeping and, 29–37

  navigation systems:

  clock-difference, 265–74; see also Global Positioning System (GPS)

  Doppler-based, 259–65, 267

  radio-based, 256–59, 262, 264

  Navy, British, see Royal Navy

  Navy, U.S.:

  Easton’s invention of GPS and, 265–68

  Transit satellite navigation system and, 262–64, 263

  Nero, 222

  Newcomen, Thomas, 44–45, 46

  Newton, Isaac, 28, 222, 230n, 298, 335

  apple tree at China’s metrology research center and, 354–55

  Third Law of Thermodynamics, 182

  New York Times, 260

  Nicomachean Ethics (Aristotle), 23

  Niépce, Nicéphore, 223–24

  Nikon, 227, 308

  Nimonic, 200

  Nobel Prize in Physics, 281–82, 282, 283–84, 288n

  North, Simeon, 97, 98, 99, 102

  North Sea, positioning oil rig Orion in, 255–59, 273–74

  Northumberland, HMS, 73

  Noyce, Robert, 285–86n, 286, 287, 288n

  nuclear strategic arsenal, 262, 264, 269

  null corrector, as culprit leading to false shape of Hubble’s main mirror, 240–43, 241

  Ohain, Hans von, 179, 184, 190, 195

  Ohno, Mitsugi, 7n

  oil, clockwork movements and, 32–33, 35

  oil feed stub pipe, responsible for engine failure of Quantas Flight 32, 208, 208–9, 229

  oil rigs, location systems for, 255–59, 262, 273–74

  Oldsmobile assembly lines, 161n

  Olympic Games, 26, 315

  optical clocks, 353

  optical phenomena, first questioning of, 220–21

  Optics (Euclid), 221

  optics, high-precision, see lenses

  ordnance, distorted during transport, 8–10

  Orion (offshore oil rig), author’s positioning of, 255–59, 273–74

  O series, 227

  Oxford English Dictionary (OED), 13, 58, 75, 155

  pantographs, in Blanchard’s lathes, 101

  Parkinson, Bradford, 267–68, 268

  Parry, Jack, 352

  Paxton, Joseph, 113–14

  Peirce, Charles Sanders, 342–43

  pendulum swing:

  gravity and, 33, 333, 349

  length and rate of, 332–33

  second linked to, 349

  pens, Bramah’s inventions for, 58

  Perceval, Spencer, 74n

  Perkin-Elmer Corporation:

  fatal error made in testing room of, 240–43, 241

  Hubble’s flawed primary mirror made by, 232, 236–43, 239, 250

  lowball bid of, for Hubble contract, 237

  as major player on “dark side,” 236–37

  polishing and testing routines at, 238–39, 239

  trivial mistakes due to wrongly instructed machines at, 239–40

  perpetual motion machine, 6

  perspicillum, 221–22

  Peter the Great, Tsar, 65

  Philips, 292

  photographs, 215–17

  Antonioni’s Blow-Up and, 215

  of author’s renovated barn, 216–17

  first, taken by Niépce, 223–24, 225n

  see also cameras; lenses

  photolithographic machines, integrated circuitry printed with, 277, 277–78, 286–87, 294

  Physical Review Letters, 303

  Physik der Atomkerne, Die (Heisenberg), 275

  pi, describing with precision vs.

  accuracy, 14, 16

  pinball machines, Bally computer-augmented, 289

  Pioneer 10 space probe, 289

  pistols, horse, 98

  piston engines, 180, 181–82, 189, 198

  power of gas turbine vs., 182–83

  Planck constant, 348

  Planck length, 298–99

  plate tectonics, 342

  Polaris-armed nuclear submarines, 262, 264

  Pope, Albert, 102

  pork butchery, as inspiration for Ford’s assembly line, 163–64

  portrait lenses, 226

  Povey, Colin, 7–11

  Power Jets Limited, 185, 187, 195

  Pratt and Whi
tney JT9D, 203n

  precision:

  accuracy vs., 13–16, 15

  applicable to machining of hard substances, 17–18

  applied in two very different ways in automotive industry, 131, 166–67

  created for elite, rather than for many, 37–38

  first casualties of, 72, 73–74

  first expressed in form that was duplicable, 37, 38

  flatness central to, 75–76, 119

  holding both tool and workpiece tightly for, 42, 49, 100n

  invention of, 21–22, 51–52

  Japanese affection for both imprecision and, 308–29

  and limit below which things are unmeasurable, and therefore unmakeable, 299

  Maudslay’s ideal of, 78

  omnipresent in modern world, 11–13

  origin of word, 13

  paucity of human supervision and, 207

  perceived vs. actual benefits of, 273, 274

  as perjorative when applied to human beings, 12

  philosophical questions about pursuit of, 16–17, 307–8, 316

  preservation of life and limb and, 173–74

  social consequences of, 72–75, 89–90, 116–17, 207, 273

  trend toward ultraprecision and, 16, 20–21, 212, 276–77, 278–80

  upper limits to our ability to manage, 212–13

  Price, Derek, 25

  Ptolemy, 221

  pulley blocks (maritime), 65–66, 67–71

  basic parts and their features in, 69n

  Brunel’s machine designs for, 68–70

  functionality of, 67

  materials for, 67

  Maudsley’s precision-made machines for manufacture of, 65–66, 70–71, 72–73, 99

  quadricycles, 137, 158

  Quantas Flight 32, 174–78, 178

  failures within Rolls-Royce industrial culture and, 207, 209–10, 211

  fractured oil feed stub pipe and, 208, 208–9, 229

  official report on, 196, 207–12

  quantum computing, 298

  quantum logic locks, 353

  quantum mechanics, 212–13

  Planck length and, 298–99

  quartz clocks, 315

  quartz watches, 314–16, 316, 321, 322

  first made by Seiko (Astron), 314, 315–16, 318

  physical properties of quartz and, 314–15, 351

  radar, 185n

  radio-based navigation systems (Decca or LORAN), 256–59, 262, 264

  radios, transistor, 282

  radio signals, 37

  Doppler-based navigation systems and, 261–65, 267

  of Sputnik, location determined by changes in frequency of, 260–61

  railways:

  Great Northern Railway workshop, 135–36

  locomotives powered by turbines, 186

  timekeeping and, 29, 313–14

  Ramsden, Jesse, 64

  Reagan, Ronald, 269–70

  reapers, 102

  Reed, Carol, 104

  Reed, Henry, 81

  refraction, 225

  Reitze, David, 303–4, 305

  Remington, 102, 167

 

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