The Perfectionists

Posted on by

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 Free Download [ The Perfectionists ] author [ Simon Winchester ] For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr Before the imprecision of the natural world, all will falter, none shall survive no matter how precise But we will certainly give it our best shot Where did we come from is not only a religious question It is also question of history Simon Winchester is always a most welcome Virgil escorting us through the circles of historical knowledge, illuminating the unknown, or only slightly suspected, with the light of his explorer s torch We have trailed him on some of his many prior journeys Before the imprecision of the natural world, all will falter, none shall survive no matter how precise But we will certainly give it our best shot Where did we come from is not only a religious question It is also question of history Simon Winchester is always a most welcome Virgil escorting us through the circles of historical knowledge, illuminating the unknown, or only slightly suspected, with the light of his explorer s torch We have trailed him on some of his many prior journeys In Pacific, Atlantic, and Krakatoa, he looked at geographic places, some of the important events that have occurred there and how those events have affected the world The Man Who Loved China may have focused on an individual, but its content had to do, again, with a place and how events that occurred there resonated forward The Map That Changed the World and The Professor and the Madman concern themselves with particular steps in the growth of human knowledge While having plac...Simon Winchester and I usually make a good pair I like his topics and his narrative style Truth be told, if I had real writer s talent, I would love to have the freedom to roam the world writing about the fascinating things that our world contains and that people do To that extent, I envy the author.Here, Winchester is discussing a matter dear to his heart, how precision engineers created the modern world This is so because Winchester s own father was one of this group.Words that are key t Simon Winchester and I usually make a good pair I like his topics and his narrative style Truth be told, if I had real writer s talent, I would love to have the freedom to roam the world writing about the fascinating things that our world contains and that people do To that extent, I envy the author.Here, Winchester is discussing a matter dear to his heart, how precision engineers created the modern world This is so because Winchester s own father was one of this group.Words that are key to this book include accuracy, precision, and tolerance In fact, a discussion of these terms precedes Winchester s panorama of devices, which he puts in order of tolerance.I found that his joy and fascination drove this book, much to my delight Each device and its significance was a teachable moment and I was an apt...Another polished performance by the old pro If you like stories of heroic engineers and some not so heroic , and how our technical civilization has developed since the early Days of Steam, you will have fun with this He has something fresh to say about even topics I know pretty well, and I learned a lot about the early days of satellite navigation, and how the Age of Silicon is likely to reach its limits soon It s a pretty quick and easy read he lost me only with a superfluous trip to Japan Another polished performance by the old pro If you like stories of heroic engineers and some not so heroic , and how our technical civilization has developed since the early Days of Steam, you will have fun with this He has something fresh to say about even topics ...If I had noticed that this is the 1 best selling book in the science measurement category I might not have bought it That is one oversight I am extremely grateful for, however This is a very good book that is sure to surprise you and you don t have to be an engineer or scientist to appreciate it.Winchester is a modern polymath with a high level of curiosity, both scientific and philosophical And that s why he may be the only person with the expertise to have written this book.The author cata If I had noticed that this is the 1 bes...The Perfectionists How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World by Simon Winchester is a very highly recommended examination of the history, science, and work of precision engineers along with biographical sketches of some of the influential engineers that helped develop technology to take us from the Industrial Age to the Digital Age.The early attention to precision, accuracy, and degrees of tolerance ushered in the the Industrial Revolution, Scientific Revolution, and the Technological Re The Perfectionists How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World by Simon Wincheste...This just wasn t for me I ve accepted the fact that I m not interested in everything.I should probably give this a rating of 3, but There is ample historical research that makes this book Winchester can weave a narrative and a story out of the various pieces of his story and kind of hold them together Specific stories are excellent However, the book could have been about 30% shorter Winchester becomes tedious with his over interest in too much detail Also, he is quite tedious in his person...I won a free advanced copy of this book through Goodreads giveaways As someone who knows basically nothing about engineering it comes as a bit of a surprise that I enjoyed this book as much as I did I never felt it got bogged down into too much detail of engineering itself, rather, the book shows the history of engineering, specifically, precision engineering From humble beginning...Truly outstanding Read by the author in his clear and authoritative English accented voice, Winchester explains in amazingly interesting detail the progress made, using better and better measuring devices, towar...This book started off great, but I oddly found it later to be rather rambling After the first few chapters, the author seem to be unable to decide whether he wanted the book to be a first hand account of his own exper...

The Perfectionists
  • 27 August 2017
  • ebook
  • 416 pages
  • 0062652575
  • Simon Winchester
  • The Perfectionists