The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World
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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