Perfectionists

“Lock, stock, and barrel.” You’ve probably heard this used many times. I know I have. But I never knew – actually I never even thought about – where it came from. That all changed when I read Simon Winchester’s book, “The Perfectionists – How Precision Engineers Changed the World.” This book, also published in the UK as “Exactly – How … ,“ is either history told against the backdrop of engineering progress or the story of the development of extreme precision and accuracy with historical anecdotes. Whatever...

The book highlights some watershed events in the development of effective and efficient manufacturing processes, the underpinning for virtually everything we use – and often take for granted. One example is the story of the flintlock rifle, the go-to weapon of its time. Perhaps its biggest weakness was revealed when one failed due to wear, manufacturing defects, or damage. The soldier with such a weapon had only one recourse – find a gunsmith to make new parts. There was such a lack of precision and accuracy in the manufacturing processes that each gun was made of tediously selected parts to fit with each other. There was almost no chance that a spare lock mechanism part or wooden gunstock would fit with parts in the damaged weapon.

The solution involved war, a US President, French technology, and a competition with a bit of subterfuge – but, no spoilers here. In the end, a wide range of manufacturing disciplines and processes were developed such that whether the lock mechanism, the gun stock, or its barrel were damaged, a replacement part could be taken from an inventory of spare parts. Lock, stock, and barrel.

This is an engaging book. Perhaps a bit more so if you are an engineer, but the writing and connection with the history of things with which we are all familiar make it, in my opinion, a good choice for anyone.