Jinn of Quality and Risk

How many of the 20th century's greatest engineering achievements will you use today? Note: the relatively low ranking of refrigeration is erroneous. It is a most important achievement in human history, improving every aspect of our lives.

Without refrigeration, vaccines and the blood supply would be impossible to make and maintain. Without safe storage and distribution of food, our economy could never have grown to the scale of current urbanisation, and food poisoning would still be a common cause of death. Refrigeration is a significant advance in mankind's control over our environment, on a par with the taming of fire. 

Gene Kranz was the flight director for Nasa's mission control from Mercury to Apollo 13. "Impossible" things were done on a daily basis in the space program of that era, using incredibly crude equipment by today's standards. Repeatedly getting three men to the Moon and back safely has been one of the greatest and most astounding engineering feats of history. I will always remember watching the first steps on the moon on a black and white TV screen, surrounded by dozens of adults dancing and screaming in a café. I was 3 years old. Three decades later, man hasn't gone any further into space. But we will. 

What do a 17th-century Swedish warship, an opulent Chicago theater and a Kansas City hotel "skyway" have in common? All met catastrophic ends—and they have important lessons to teach today's innovators. Unfortunately long on sensationalism and short on the lessons; also, the author is mistaken if he really believes that only innovators are chiefly concerned by such failures; design, risk, and failure are part of all engineering activities. Each failure summarised in this article is worthy of an essay at least, perhaps following the style of Petroski's books. More to appear here in the near future, on Petroski and learning from failure. 

Why did the gorgeous Vasa ship sink? I visited this Stockholm museum with my mother when I was 8 years old; it was an amazing experience. 

Dave Winer offers excellent advice for standards work:

• Yield to others
• Let the specification speak for itself
• Think like a jury
• Respect prior art
• Have clearly understood goals

 

Creative Commons is a non-profit organization founded on the notion that some people would prefer to share their creative works (and the power to copy, modify, and distribute their works) instead of exercising all of the restrictions of copyright law. A good idea.

We also need to abolish the current copyright regime which has absurdly extended barriers to public use far beyond the legitimate needs of authors. If you wonder why this has happened, think about corporations that might prefer everlasting monopolies...