Scan barcode
samferree's review
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Simon Winchester has a gift for writing books about my niche, weird obsessions, and this is one of them. The book explores the history of the concepts of precision and accuracy, ideals that did not really exist before the Industrial Revolution, mass production, capitalism, and ubiquitous technology, but they now define the world we live in and how most people understand it.
statman's review
3.0
I like Simon Winchester books and this one is another good one in his collection. Interesting take on how technology has advanced in our ability to measure ever more precisely. Wide range of examples from manufacturing, airplane engines and more.
7anooch's review against another edition
5.0
This is a wonderful book that gave me a newfound appreciation for engineering. I learned a lot. I will say that this book should be read and not listened to.
dmturner's review against another edition
5.0
An elegant, exuberant, well researched book about a topic I would never have thought I would find fascinating. The development of the topic from chapter to chapter is logical and always surprising, and the concluding chapter on the desirable persistence of imperfection was unusually good for such conclusions. The afterword on measurement, while certainly informative, struck me as unnecessary.
binstonbirchill's review
4.0
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 beginnings to the quite absurd present computing technology, this books shows the growth of precision and what it has meant for various industries and companies. I found the chapter on the Hubble telescope and computer chips particularly interesting. A good read no matter what your level of engineering know-how.
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 beginnings to the quite absurd present computing technology, this books shows the growth of precision and what it has meant for various industries and companies. I found the chapter on the Hubble telescope and computer chips particularly interesting. A good read no matter what your level of engineering know-how.
bu77trout's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
4.25
An interesting and novel take on history: The history of precision engineering. The author talks about all the expected developments cars, airplanes, computers, but throws in a few curveballs here and there. Occasionally he starts to get into the weeds and it becomes a bit tedious for the layman but usually pulls the reader right back out with a charming story or something unexpected. It ends reflectively, neatly tying the themes together with a thread through time, from the early industrial revolution, to the present day, and into the not so distant future.