No 6207 A Study in Steel
An evening pause: A fascinating and well-filmed documentary from 1935 describing how a British company then built locomotives. Note the lack of construction helmets, gloves, or safety glasses. Note also the number of workers involved. Today most of this work is automated, making it more precise and efficient. Then, however, they did not yet have such technology, and instead found ways to build very sophisticated machines using the skills of ordinary humans.
Hat tip Edward Thelen.
Now available in hardback and paperback as well as ebook!
From the press release: In this ground-breaking new history of early America, historian Robert Zimmerman not only exposes the lie behind The New York Times 1619 Project that falsely claims slavery is central to the history of the United States, he also provides profound lessons about the nature of human societies, lessons important for Americans today as well as for all future settlers on Mars and elsewhere in space.
Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space, is a riveting page-turning story that documents how slavery slowly became pervasive in the southern British colonies of North America, colonies founded by a people and culture that not only did not allow slavery but in every way were hostile to the practice.
Conscious Choice does more however. In telling the tragic history of the Virginia colony and the rise of slavery there, Zimmerman lays out the proper path for creating healthy societies in places like the Moon and Mars.
“Zimmerman’s ground-breaking history provides every future generation the basic framework for establishing new societies on other worlds. We would be wise to heed what he says.” —Robert Zubrin, founder of founder of the Mars Society.
All editions available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all book vendors. The ebook can be purchased direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit, in which case you don't support the big tech companies and I get a bigger cut much sooner. Note that the price for the ebook, $3.99, goes up to $5.99 on September 1, 2022.
Autographed printed copies are also available at discount directly from me (hardback $24.95; paperback $14.95). Just email me at zimmerman @ nasw dot org.
Oh come on, they had “strangely looking hats to keep the sweat from their eyes!” Very good film.
Amazing, collard button-down white shirts, vests, and hats….mostly made of wool and cotton tweed. regular shoes not boots!
“Who is now to say that the day of the craftsman is no more?”
Great movie clip! Please dig further where you found this.
War of the Worlds begins with the idea of an alien civilization watching us. Which is an interesting thought experiment. Like we watch ants. How clumsily, but still productive like all survivable random biology, they would think, I think, the items of our industry are manufactured. And we were the first to leave the planet. Omnius Terra venerandum. All life on the Earth bow to our herding and gardening, because we have proven to be so superior to reach out into the infinity. All life wishes to get a ride along with us on our Noah’s Ark to eternity.
Edward– excellent selection!
As well, I would highly recommend “Master Hands,” 4 -part series produced by the Jam Handy Organization from 1936, detailing the manufacture & production of Chevrolet’s in Flint, Michigan. (not just assembly–they manufactured everything from the ground up.)
>Selected for preservation in 1999 by the National Film Registry.
Parts 1-2 start out slow, but are also fascinating nonetheless. (all 4 parts run about 30 minutes total.)
https://archive.org/details/MasterHa1936_3
Fascinating, was that a plasma ark they used to cut the sides out with?, I wonder if this kind of labor intensive building happens any where in the world today, not talking about ship building, but locomotives, China maybe?
I love watching things being built. I worked for a company that had me in various Boeing plants in the Seattle area, and I’d sometimes get so caught up in watching the manufacturing that I’d neglect my job for a bit. Humans, and life in general, are the antithesis of the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics. From chaos; order. Good stuff.