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(Page references in italics refer to illustrations.)
accuracy:
not of supreme importance in clocks, 104–5
precision vs., 13–16, 15
Rolls-Royce Camargue and, 134–35
Adams, John, 90, 95
Admiralty, British:
Harrison’s sea watch and, 35
naval artillery and, 42
pulley block supply and, 68, 70, 72–73
agriculture, 102, 273
Westinghouse threshing engine and, 156–58
Whitney’s cotton gin and, 94, 96
Airbus A380 double-decker superjumbo jet, 205, 207
see also Quantas Flight 32
aircraft, 173–214
access to GPS and, 269–70
passenger and freight, in Jet Age, 198–99
with propeller-driving piston engines, 178, 180, 181–82, 189, 198
shooting down of Korean Air Lines Flight 007, 269
see also jet engines; Quantas Flight 32
Air Force, British, see Royal Air Force (RAF)
Air Force, U.S., 85
GPS controlled by, 268, 269
Parkinson’s clock-based navigation system and, 267–68
Second Space Operations Squadron (2 SOPS), 271–72, 272
Air Ministry, British, Whittle’s design for jet engine and, 183, 185, 189–90
Albert, Prince, 109, 110–11, 112–13
almanacs, 350
American Journal of Science, 343
Amoco Petroleum, 256
Ångstrom, 344, 345
Antikythera mechanism, 24–27, 36
Antonioni, Michelangelo, 215
Apple Computer, 284n
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, 23
ASML (originally called Advanced Semiconductor Materials International), 291–97
cleanliness standards and, 293–94
extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation and, 296–97
founding of, 291–92
machines for making microprocessor chips made by, 275–76, 277, 277–78, 291–97, 304
mutual dependency of Intel and, 278
aspherical lenses, 220, 228
assembly line, 114
at Ford, 160–67
little skill needed by workers on, 165
pork butchery as inspiration for, 163–64
astrolabe, 37, 38
astronomy, 221
in ancient world, 26
Antikythera mechanism and, 24–27
Gascoigne’s measuring instrument for, 77
Herschel family’s achievements in, 229–30n
medieval clocks and, 28
see also Hubble Space Telescope
atomic bomb, 281
atomic clocks, 104, 266, 271–72, 313, 351–53
master clocks, 104, 352–53
Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), 264n
atoms, measurement system using wavelength of light and, 342–45
Augustine, Saint, 348
Autocar, 148, 150
“automated battlefield” idea, 267n
automation, necessitated by shrinkage of tolerances to none whatsoever, 206–7
automobiles, 129–71
crankshafts of, 6
made in France, 137–39
vehicle taxation and, 147–48
see also Ford Motor Company; Rolls-Royce Motors
axles, assembled on a line, 165
Babylonians, 26, 331
Bacquancourt, M. de, 70
Ball Aerospace, 250
Bally computer-augmented pinball machines, 289
bamboo, Japanese handcrafted objects made of, 325, 326, 328
banknotes, printing sequential numbers on, 58
Bardeen, John, 281–82, 282
Barnack, Oskar, 220, 221, 227
bearings, 33
for jet engines, 187
beaver pelts, trade in, 94n
beer engines, 58
Beidou, 270
Bélidor, Bernard Forest de, 87n
Bell Labs, 281–82, 283, 287
Bentham, Jeremy, 68n
Bentham, Sir Samuel, 68
Bersham foundry (Wales), Wilkinson’s cylinder-boring machine at, 41, 42–44, 49–51, 55
bicycles, 102, 161n
bifocal lenses, 222–23
bimetallic strips, 33–34
binoculars, 222
biplanes, 181
BIPM (International Bureau of Weights and Measures), 338
Bladensburg, Battle of (1814), 81–85
Blanc, Honoré, 87, 89–94, 97, 98
Jefferson’s advocacy of system of, 90, 92–94
musket locks demonstrated by, 90–93, 96
standardized flintlock designed by, 89–90, 102
workshop of, sacked during French Revolution, 92
Blanchard, Thomas, 19n, 97, 98, 100–102
Block Mills (Portsmouth), 71–72, 73
blocks (maritime), see pulley blocks
Blow-Up, 215
Board of Longitude, British, 30, 31, 32, 34, 35–36, 64, 105
Boeing, 269
bokeh (“quality of blur”), 224
Boulton and Watt steam engines, 46, 48, 71
Bragg reflectors, 296, 297
Bramah, Joseph, 53–60, 54, 276
“challenge lock” displayed in window of, 54–55, 112n, 124, 125–27
fantastically complicated lock designed and patented by, 57, 58
Maudslay hired by, 59, 60
Maudslay’s departure from employ of, 65
Maudslay’s lock-making devices and, 60–65
slide rest invention and, 64–65
supposedly unpickable Marshall lock picked by, 56–57
various contraptions invented by, 57–58
water closets built by, 55
Brattain, Walter, 281–82, 282
Brecht, Bertolt, Life of Galileo, 1
British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), 196n
British Standards Institution, 353
British Thomson-Houston (BTH), 185, 186, 187, 188, 189
Broadwell chips, 291
Brunel, Isambard Kingdom, 68n
Brunel, Sir Marc, 68–71, 72
BSW (British Standard Whitworth), 123
Busicom, 288–89
cadmium, unit of length based on, 344, 345
calculators, Intel’s 4004 chip in, 288–89
camera obscura, Niépce’s first photographs taken with, 223–24, 225n
cameras, 215
invention of, 223–24
Japanese, 308–9
owned by author, 219–20
tolerances for, 227–28
see also lenses; photographs
Canberra bomber, 196n
candela, definition of, 346, 347
cannon making, 39, 41–44
easily amenable to standardization, 87–88
French système Gribeauval for, 87
hollow-cast method for, 41–42
steam power and, 44
Wilkinson’s boring method for, 42–44, 87
Canon, 227, 308
Carlyle, Jane, 118
cars, see automobiles; Ford Motor Company; Rolls-Royce Motors
Carter, George, 190, 191
Cassegrain reflector, in Hubble Space Telescope, 233
cesium clocks, 104, 352–53
Chaisson, Eric, 234, 251
Challenger, 231, 232, 234, 243n, 248n
Chandra X-ray Observatory, 232n
Charleville flintlock musket, 84, 95
China:
apple tree outside metrology research center in, 354–55
Beidou navigation system of, 270
metric system and, 340n
chromatic aberration, 224, 225
chronometer, 31, 37, 259n
circle of confusion, lens design and, 224
Civil War, U.S., Whitworth rifle used in, 123–24
cleanliness standards (ISO numbers), 293–94
Clinton, Bill, 270
clock-difference navigation system:
invention of, 265–68
naming of, 268
see also Global Positioning System (GPS)
clocks, 103–6, 348
Antikythera mechanism and, 27, 28
astronomical information displayed by, 28
atomic, 104, 266, 271–72, 313, 351–53
balance mechanisms in, 33, 35, 311
cesium master, 104, 352–53
friction problem in, 32–33, 35
gearwheels for, 5–6
GPS, 272
inaccuracy in, 104–5
Japanese timekeeping traditions and, 310–11
long-case, 33
maritime, 29–37, 105
mechanical, invention of, 27–28
quartz, 315
see also timekeepers; watches
coal, furnaces fired by, 40, 41
Cold War, 262
Cole, Henry “Old King,” 112–13n
Colt, 102
coma (comet trail–like aberration), 224, 233, 235
combine harvesters, 102
compressors, turbine engines and, 180, 185, 186
Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, 232n
computers, 276
analog, from Ancient Greece (Antikythera mechanism), 24–27, 36
personal, 287–88
see also integrated circuitry; microprocessor chips; transistors
Concorde, 195
Connecticut Valley, 102–6
clock makers in, 103–6
gun makers in, 102
Cook, Captain James, 35, 248n, 250
Corning, glass disk for Hubble mirror made by, 237, 238
COSTAR (Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement), 247, 248, 250, 251
Crocker’s idea for, 245–47
cotton gin, 94, 96
cotton-spinning machines, 116
Crack-Up, The (Fitzgerald), 307
craftsmanship, see handcrafting
cranes, electrical, 136–37
crankshafts, 6
Cranwell (Royal Air Force College), Whittle as student at, 180–82
Crocker, Jim, 245, 245–47
Crystal Palace (Hyde Park, London), 112, 113–14
see also Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations (London, 1851)
cutting edge, both literal and figurative in mid-nineteenth century, 115–16
cylinders:
at heart of LIGO’s measuring instrument, 305, 305–6
Wilkinson’s technique for boring in iron, 42–44, 49–52, 304–6
Darby, Abraham, III, 41
“dark side,” 85–86
jet engine makers working for, 198
Perkin-Elmer as player on, 236–37
day, defining, 334, 349, 350
Day and Newell, 125, 127
Decauville, 137, 138–39, 142, 145–46, 158
Decca radio navigation system, 256–59, 262, 264
decimal time, 349n
De Dion quadricycle, 137, 158
Defense Department, U.S.:
GPS and, 270–71, 271
intelligence-gathering satellites of, 271
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
arrangement 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 also Rolls-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
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 Whitney 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
remontoir, in Harrison’s sea watch, 35
rifles:
breech-loaded single-shot, 97–98
Victoria’s opening shot in 1860 Grand Rifle Match, 107–10
Whitworth, 108, 109
Robbins and Lawrence Co., 94n
robots, 166
Rolls, Charles, 135, 140–41, 142
automotive mishap of, 144–45
on reasons for Rolls-Royce’s success, 154–55
Royce’s first meeting with, 143–44
Rolls-Royce jet engines, 196–213, 205
Advanced Blade Casting Facility for, 207
Avon, 196n, 199
Blade Cooling Research Group for, 199, 201
Comet, 196n, 198, 200
Quantas Flight 32 and, 174–78, 178, 196, 207–12, 208, 229
RB211, 203n
Trent 900-series, 174–78, 178, 205, 212
Trent XWB, 206
Rolls-Royce Motors, 6, 129–55
aircraft engine manufacture begun by, 196n
author’s own experiences with vehicles, 129–30, 131–35
Camargue, 134–35
clandestine repair procedures for, 132
Decauville as basis for early models, 138–39, 145–46, 158
demise of, 130, 134–35
English lexicon and, 155
founding of, 131, 143
name of company, 135, 143, 155
precision’s role at Ford vs., 131, 166–67
promoted as motoring world’s finest example of precision engineering, 130
Royce Ten, Twenty, and Thirty models, 138–43, 144–45
Silver Ghost, see Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost
Silver Seraph, 129–30
Silver Spirit, 133–34
see also Royce, Henry
Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, 146–55, 147
American factory and buyers of, 152
demonstration car’s tests and long-distance expedition, 148–52
indestructibly well made, 151–52
manufacturing process for, 152–54, 166
originally called Rolls-Royce 40/50, 147–48
penny and glassware stunts performed on, 150
produced at rate of two cars a day, 154–55
quiet engine of, 150
Royal Air Force (RAF), 196n
Whittle in employ of, 182, 183–84, 192
Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC), 8–11
Royal Automobile Club (RAC), 148n, 149, 150, 151, 152
Royal Navy, 59, 66–73
cannon making for, 39, 41–44
Harrison’s early sea clock trials and, 34, 35–36, 39
pulley blocks built for, 65–66, 67–71
sailing vessels of, 66–67
Royal Society of Arts (RSA), 55–56, 112, 113n, 195
Royce, Henry, 131, 135–55, 137, 276
as apprentice in Great Northern Railway workshop, 135–36
birth and early years of, 135
crane market and, 136–37
electrical devices manufactured and sold by, 136
Ford compared to, 131, 155–56, 158–59, 165–66
French cars as starting point for, 137–39, 145–46, 158
Rolls’s overtures to, 140–41, 142, 143
Royce Ten engineering and, 138–43
see also Rolls-Royce Motors
Royce Limited, 136–37
Russell, Bertrand, 343
samurai swords, 308
satellites, 293, 350
GPS and, 37, 267, 268–69, 270–72, 274
intelligence-gathering, 236–37, 271, 345n
“space fence” for detection of, 266
Sputnik, 259–61, 262, 285
U.S. Navy Transit navigation system and, 262–64, 263
see also Hubble Space Telescope
Sayer, Gerry, 191, 192–94
Sayers, Dorothy L., Gaudy Night, 255
Schriever Air Force Base (Colo.), GPS run from, 270–72, 271, 353
science fiction, 181
Science Museum (London), 60, 78
Scott, Walter, 58
screw making, 63–64
screws, standardized, 120, 121, 123
sea watches, made by Harrison (H4 and K1), 31–32, 34–36
second, defining, 334, 349–50, 352
Sedgwick, John, 124
Seiko, 308, 309, 310–22, 316, 351
all components also made by, 312, 319
building of, in Ginza district of Tokyo, 312, 313, 313
first quartz watch made by (Astron), 314, 315–16, 318
Grand Seiko mechanical watch, 318–19, 319
name of, 311–12, 313
principal factory of, in Morioka, 309, 310, 316–22, 319
reverence for watchmaker’s craft at, 316, 319–22
Selden (litigant in patent case against Ford), 159–60
semiconductors, 281, 282, 283, 288
see also integrated circuitry; microprocessor chips; transistors
Setright, L. J. K., Drive On!, 129
sewing machines, 102, 105, 161n
sextants, 37, 38, 259n
Shaw, Bernard, 58
Sheldon, John, 56n
shilling coin, 22, 51
shipping industry, timekeeping and, 29–37
ships:
powered by turbines, 186
see also navigation
Shockley, William, 281–82, 282, 283–84, 287
Shockley Transistors, 283–84
shoe, as thing of low tolerance, 18–19
shoe last lathe, Blanchard’s design for, 19n, 101
Shovell, Sir Cloudesley, 31
shrapnel, invention of, 87n
Shrapnel, Sir Henry, 87n
silica, LIGO test mass made of, 305, 305–6
Silicon Valley, 283
silicon wafers, for microprocessor chips, 283, 292–93, 298
Singapore Airlines, 211
Singer, Isaac, 102
SKF, 33, 170
Skylake chips, 291, 297–98
slide rest, invention of, 62–63, 64–65
smartphones, 228, 276
Smith, James, Panorama of Science and Art, 75
Smith and Wesson, 102
Soviet Union:
global navigation system of (GLONASS), 270
Korean Air Lines Flight 007 shot down by, 269
“space fence,” 266
spectacles, 221–23
bifocal lenses in, 222–23
speed of light, 298
GPS and, 265, 266, 267, 272
kilogram defined in terms of, 348
spherical aberration, 224, 235
in Hubble’s main mirror, 233, 235, 240–43, 241
reduced by aspherical lens, 220, 228
Spitzer Space Telescope, 232n
Spottsylvania, Battle of (1864), 124
Springfield, Mass., Rolls-Royce factory in, 152
Springfield Armory (Mass.), 84, 98, 98, 101, 102, 161n
Sputnik, 259–61, 262, 285
plotting location from radio signals of, 260–61
standardization, 86
French weaponry and, 86–93
see also interchangeable parts
start-ups, invention of term, 284n
steam, figurative use of word, 74n
steam engines, 39, 44–52, 304
Boulton and Watt, 46, 48, 71
first factory run entirely from output of, 71–72
invention of precision and, 22, 51–52
leaking of steam from, 48–49
Newcomen’s “fire-engine,” 44–45, 46
principle of, 44
Watt’s improvements to design of, 45–47
Watt’s passion for exactitude and, 47–48
Watt’s patent for, 46, 47
Wilkinson’s cylinder-boring technique applied to, 39, 44, 45, 46, 47, 49–52, 304, 306
steam-powered machines, in Crystal Palace exhibition, 116, 117–18
steel, Whitworth, 124
Summilux lenses, 220, 224–25, 227, 228
supersonic passenger planes, 195
surveying:
GPS used in, 270
Great Trigonometric Survey of India, 273n
Switzerland, watch making in, 315, 316
Talleyrand, Prince of, 333–34, 348
target, shooting with precision vs. accuracy, 14–16, 15
taxation of vehicles, 147–48
telescopes, 222
James Webb Space Telescope, 231n, 294, 295, 299
see also Hubble Space Telescope
temperature:
bimetallic strips and changes in, 33–34
kelvin as unit of, 346
Tennyson, Alfred, Lord, 107
Terror, 92, 335, 336
Tesla, Nikola, 347n
tetsubin (hammered-iron teakettle), 309–10
Texas Instruments, 288
textile industry, mechanization of, 74
Thorne, Kip, 303–4
three surfaces, grinding and planing to flatness, 75–76
threshing engines, Westinghouse, 156–58
time, 28, 347–55
decimal, 349n
ephemeris, 350
human constructs for, 28, 348–50; see also specific units of time
length of pendulum and, 332–33, 349
link between gravity and, 354–55
local, determining from sun and stars, 30n
longitude meridians as markers of, 30n
postrevolutionary Republican Calendar and, 333–34
units of measurement defined in terms of, 347–48
timekeepers, 28–37
Ancient Greek predecessor of (Antikythera mechanism), 24–27, 36
in monasteries, 28–29
Nature’s offerings of dawn, midday, and dusk and, 28
navigation across oceans and, 29–37
railways and, 29, 313–14
see also clocks; watches
Times (London), 194
Timken, 33
Tizard, Henry, 185n, 189
tolerances, 16–19
automation necessitated by shrinkage of, to none whatsover, 206–7
of camera and lens makers, 227–28
first formal definition of, 18n
gauge blocks and, 171
of gun makers, 89, 100
and inherently imprecise nature of wood, 17
low, of shoes, 18–19
of manufactured metal, glass, or ceramic, 17–18
of Maudsley’s bench micrometer, 78
for microprocessor chips, 278, 280
quantum mechanics and, 212–13
of screws made with Maudsley and Bramah’s slide rest, 64
for smartphones, 228
to which Wilkinson ground out his first cylinder, 51–52
Whitworth’s measuring device and, 122
traceability, 104n
Trailblazer, oil rig location system used by, 255–59, 262
transistor radios, 282
transistors, 278, 279, 280
first working device, 281–82, 283
integrated circuitry and, 286–91
Lilienfeld’s concept for, 281
mesa, 285, 288n
miniaturization of, 282–83, 284–85, 287–91, 294–98
Moore’s law and, 279–80, 289, 290–91, 292, 295–96, 297
planar, invention of, 283, 284–85, 286n, 287, 288n
reliability issues and, 285
silicon oxide coating on, 285, 286
silicon wafer–based, introduction of, 283
term coined for, 282
see also microprocessor chips
Transit navigation system, 262–63, 263
Treaty of the Metre (1875), 338
Truman, Harry, 281
Tuillaume, Maxime, 179
turbine engines:
for aircraft, see jet engines
before jet propulsion, 186
typewriters, 161n
United Technologies, 237n
universe, expansion of, 231
Ur-Leica, 220, 221, 227
urushi (Japanese handmade lacquerware), 326–28, 327
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (Washington, D.C.), 260
Vaucanson, Jacques de, 65
Verne, Jules, 181
Vernier, Pierre, 120–21
Vickers Viscount, 198, 200
Victoria, Queen, 107–11
opening shot in 1860 Grand Rifle Match fired by, 107–10, 118
Vivian Grey (Disraeli), 74n
Voigtländer, 219
Volkswagen, 130, 135
volume, standard unit of, 333, 336–37
wabi-sabi, 314
Wagner, Herbert, 184
War of 1812, shortcomings of U.S. Army’s muskets in, 81–85, 86–87
washing machines, 105
watches:
quartz, 314–16, 316, 351
railways and, 29, 313–14
sea, made by Harrison (H4 and K1), 31–32, 34–36
Seiko and, 311–13
wristwatches, 290, 308
Watt, James, 45–52, 111, 117
Newcomen’s engine design improved by, 45–47, 46
patent awarded to, 46, 47
personality and demeanor of, 47–48
Wilkinson’s cylinder-boring technique applied to steam engine of, 39, 44, 45, 46, 47, 49–52, 304, 306
weaponry:
handmade, physical shortcomings of, 84
with inbuilt GPS systems, 269
nuclear strategic arsenal, 262, 264, 269
Whitworth’s designs for, 123–24
see also cannon making; guns; muskets, flintlock
week, defining, 333–34, 349
Weiffenbach, George, 259–62
Weiler, Edward, 234–35, 251
Wellington, Duke, 58
Wells, H. G., 181
Westinghouse threshing engines, 156–58
Whitney, Eli:
cotton gin introduced by, 94, 96
muskets made for U.S. government by, 94–97, 98
Whittle, Frank, 173, 178, 179, 180–96
financial backing for, 184–85, 189
first flight of experimental aircraft fitted with his jet engine, 190, 191–94
future aircraft envisioned by, 181–82
honors bestowed on, 194–95
jet engine designed by, 180, 182–87, 191, 200
jet engine tested by, 187–90
patent granted to, 183–84
in postwar years, 194–96
as student at Cranwell (Royal Air Force academy), 180–82
Whittle, Ian, 195–96
Whitworth, Joseph, 108, 109, 110–11, 112, 118–25
on American engineering and labor market, 122–23
apprenticed to Maudslay, 119–20
armaments produced by, 123–24
billiard table designed by, 124–25
flatness of surface plates and, 119–20
measuring machine created by, 118–19, 120–23
physical appearance and demeanor of, 118
rifle made by, used in American Civil War, 123–24
screw-measuring notation and (BSW), 123
standardized screws invented by, 120, 121, 123
steel alloy produced by, 124
Victoria’s firing of rifle made by, 107–10, 118, 123
Whitworth Scholarship, Cambridge University, 185n
Whyte, Lancelot Law, 173, 184–85
wide-angle lenses, 220, 226, 228
Wilkins, John, 332–33, 348
Wilkinson, Isaac, 40
Wilkinson, John, 23, 38–44, 40, 45, 55, 122, 304–6
cannon making improved by, 41–44, 87
cylinder-boring technique of, applied to steam engines, 39, 44, 45, 46, 47, 49–52, 304, 306
Gainsborough’s portraits of, 38–39
iron smelting and forging and, 40–41, 43, 49
obsessed with iron, 23, 47
patent awarded to, 43, 47, 87
personality and demeanor of, 47
Williams, Tennessee, The Glass Menagerie, 255
Wimperis, Harry, 185n
Winchester, 102
Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 345
W1X engine, 190
wood, as inherently imprecise material, 17
Woolwich Royal Arsenal (East London), 59
Works (Hall), 331
World War II, 184, 190
wringing apart metal tiles, 3
wristwatches, 290, 308
WU (Whittle Unit), 185
Yale, Linus, 127
year, defining, 349, 350
ytterbium clock, 353