About the book
Precision is the key to the modern world. It is an integral, unchallenged and essential component of our social, mercantile, scientific, mechanical and intellectual landscapes. The items we value in our daily lives – whether a camera, smart phone, computer, bicycle, car, dishwasher – all sport components that fit together with precision and operate with near perfection. No precision, no space travel.
In Exactly, Simon Winchester takes us back to the origins of the Industrial Age, to Britain where he introduces the scientific minds that helped usher in modern production: John Wilkinson, Henry Maudslay, Joseph Bramah, Jesse Ramsden, and Joseph Whitworth. As he introduces the minds and methods that have changed the modern world, Winchester explores fundamental questions. Why is precision important? Who has invented and perfected it? And can the precise and the natural co-exist in society?
About the author
Simon Winchester grew up in South West England and studied geology at Oxford. He is the bestselling author of The Man Who Loved China, A Crack in the Edge of the World, Krakatoa, The Map That Changes the World, The Surgeon of Crowthorne, The Fracture Zone, Outposts and Korea, amongst many other titles. In 2006, he was awarded his OBE. He lives in Western Massachusetts and New York City.
