Biography, Autobiography, Memoir discussion

I am going to start reading this one very soon!
Fellow readers interested in engineering join in.

Ok I had some time today to start reading and got up to page 224.

It might seem a little daunting to those who aren't technically minded like me - what is the thing with every chapter starting with tolerance in decimal figures? I don't know but I hope it will be explained at some point.

In this book each chapter focuses on a few famous engineers, mostly British or American. And then a few inventions that required precision engineering.

So there's Jim Harrison - who calculated longitude
Henry Ford
Henry Royce (of Rolls-Royce fame)

Some of the machines featured include - the jet engine turbine, the motor car, the screw, the lens (for cameras), locks, clocks, guns etc. All made of metal or alloys and mass produced so that parts can easily be interchanged.

This book is very Anglo-centric, so don't expect anything ancient tech or outside of British-America to be looked on with as much favour. At one point the author clearly stated that British ruled the world and was the best nation ever, so uh, yea. Funnily enough the collapse of the motor industry in America was never mentioned nor that the Japanese took over with increasing innovation.

I used to work in an Engineering Library at university and remember filing Standards. In this book I think the author could have explained more about standards, or measurements and how, when they become standardised, mechanisation can proceed at a a much faster pace. I think a lay person needs to get this as a foundation first before going off into other tangents. For example, railways require a standard gauge otherwise any other type of gauge just won't fit on the tracks. Interestingly enough standards can be different in different countries. Not everyone uses imperial measurements, some use metric. This can be confusing especially say in cookbooks. Is this why Americans have a problem with obesity just because their portion sizes are bigger perhaps? Could be. I mean if their teaspoons are bigger than normal teaspoons everywhere else then they would be consuming twice as much sugar but still reckon they are 'normal' cos to them it's just one teaspoon.

More precision engineered objects - oil rigs, GPS, hubble space telescope.

I wonder if it will explain how my EFTPOS card works.

Well buddies, if you haven't got round to reading it..I've finished.
It goes on to mention the Japanese and standards right at the end.

Some of the questions it brings up - is precision a good or bad thing?
What about AI - artificial intelligence and nano techonology. Will eventually everything be made by machines and robots, and we'll have nothing left to do?!

I already think about how people get about on wheels now instead of using their legs i.e walking. Plus we no longer hand write as much just use our fingers to punch in letters on a keyboard.
Oh and since I wear glasses I am relying on precision engineering on lenses to get things in focus.

I think about how it could have talked about redundancy and how if thats engineered into objects then if something doesn't fit it could maybe stretch...? Or grow.

If everything is the same and mass produced we could be missing out on something vital that cannot be measured. But then how to explain the popularity of Minecraft or Lego. When I think of all the millions of pieces and object you could make I think wow, but that predisposes you can find all those pieces that fit together. What if you just don't have many pieces? Plus EVERYTHING would have to be squarish and lego-shaped.

Quartz watches are cool though. Amazing that a crystal can keep time for a second way better than a wind up watch can.

Simon Winchester has written A LOT of books. He's like Bill Bryson, finds a topic and then gets really into it and tries to fit everything he can about it because he's so curious about it.

I forgot I already had his latest Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World on my tbr list. I think there are several others he's written that would spark my interest although Exactly could have had a bit more structure to it. I think at first he throws the reader into the deep end a bit when he should have gone a bit more step by step.

Ok well this one wasn't really that buddy buddy :-(

I take it Karin you didn't finish?? Oh man.

Selina wrote: "Ok well this one wasn't really that buddy buddy :-(

I take it Karin you didn't finish?? Oh man."

Thanks for making the effort, Selina. It just wasn't a topic I was interested in.

Aw I meant Karin not you Koren, sorry your names are similar but I remember Karin said she'd start this buddy read.

Selina wrote: "Aw I meant Karin not you Koren, sorry your names are similar but I remember Karin said she'd start this buddy read."

Yes. I knew that. I still wanted to thank you for keeping the Buddy Reads topic going.