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Forgotten Battles
Holes in the Engineering Fossil Record
I pushed the button to turn off the night vision scope,
but the eerie greenish image of the Utah desert landscape persisted. The
characteristic cloud of sparkling noise continued to dance in my viewfinder
making it look like the desert had been invaded by an army of crazed
fireflies. Otherwise, the scene was devoid of any movement from the nocturnal desert life I had been seeking.
Somewhere, possibly thousands of miles away and maybe dead
by now, there is an engineer for whom the design of this particular scope
was a major project - someone who fought with colleagues over issues like
the choice of materials in the image sensor, the scheme for light
amplification, and the design of the power supply. Perhaps the project was
some cold-war-era Soviet skunkworks design. Unlike me, this engineer
understands (or understood) almost instinctively why this device continues
to operate for several minutes after it is powered down. His story,
however, is probably long forgotten.
It was the second week of my summer vacation (which will
end in a few more days, sadly), and my wife and I were headed into Colorado
for some camping, hiking, cycling, sightseeing and photography. I worried a
little about how our Airstream trailer would pull over the several ten- and
eleven-thousand-foot passes that separated us from our next day’s
destination. I needn’t have been concerned. The electronic engine
management system worked beautifully, adapting the fuel/air mixture for the
high-elevation conditions. The six-speed automatic transmission shifted
smoothly as we ascended and descended the steep and winding roads, keeping
us always in the right gear for the situation. The electronic inertial
trailer brake control system kept the trailer nicely where I wanted it
– behind my tow vehicle rather than in front. Each part of each of
these systems was probably the result of a project that was a major
milestone in some engineer’s career, and the unwritten history of each
could fill a novel with rejected ideas, unexpected design problems, and
heroic late-night efforts by passionate professionals captivated by the
pursuit of the perfect solution. [more] |
