Re: [AMC-list] I had to send it

[adh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Sandwich Maker)]

" From: tom jennings <tomj@xxxxxxx>
" 
" On Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 18:37, Sandwich Maker <adh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
" 
" 
" > also occurred to me to wonder how many folks these days have any idea
" > what the **** 'whitworth sockets' are...  though i'm sure any met
" > owners here do!
" 
" 
" Ugh.
" 
" But did you know that Whitworth was Charles Babbage's chief mechanical
" designer/engineer, and the complexity of the Difference Engine and the
" Analytical Engine design is what spurred his standardization of fastener
" sizes? It was the first fastener standard that caught on.

interesting!  but who was armstrong?  i've frequently seen the british
std referred to as 'armstrong-whitworth'.

" (Babbage was kind of an idiot when it came to actually building things (he
" couldn't stop making changes to designs underway...); he had a huge falling
" out with Whitworth (over $$$...) and ended up with a lot of parts and rights
" to mechanical design components.)

my uncle was like that.  he once actually called his publisher
international long distance in the middle of the night to stop press
on his book so a niggling little error could be corrected...

" Woe be to early adopters. Always choose standards late! :-)

as they said on the frontier, man who lead attack get to wear arrow
shirt...
________________________________________________________________________
Andrew Hay                                  the genius nature
internet rambler                            is to see what all have seen
adh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx                       and think what none thought
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