Review of Hitting the Brakes: Engineering Design and the Production of Knowledge by Ann JohnsonHitting the Brakes: Engineering Design and the Production of KnowledgeDuke University Press978-0-8223-4526-8$79.95

Abstract

Using the case of the antilock braking system ABS , Ann Johnson’s book illustrates engineering design, from idea and conceptualization to commercialization, as a set of complex and dynamic processes engaging various knowledge communities, each contributing to the final success of the important safety system common in automobiles today. The book describes the interaction between academic research, government-sponsored research, and private sector research and development. The role of publications and patents as a means of knowledge dissemination and the flow of information between the various research and design communities are extensively described. Numerous examples are provided for differences between the state of the art in other domains and in the automotive domain, and the knowledge transfer between these domains is described. According to the book, ABS has it roots in the 1950s, when skidding was first addressed as a multidisciplinary problem resulting from automobile and tire design, road design, and driver behavior. The British Road Research Laboratory RRL and government agencies in the United States played an important role in defining the problem of skidding. RRL’s approach and its partnership with Dunlop served as a model for other agencies addressing interaction problems. Measuring and sensing vehicle skids are portrayed as significant prerequisites for the commercial development of ABS. The contribution of various knowledge domains such as scientific instrumentation, vehicle dynamics modeling, avionics, electronics, hydraulics, and mechanical engineering to the development of ABS is described in a historic context. Examples illustrate the transfer of knowledge from one domain to another and serve as proof of the dynamic nature of knowledge communities. On the private sector side, the book illustrates the failed attempts of various automakers and brake system suppliers to bring ABS to the market in the mid-1960s and mid-1970s, before the successful launch of the first mass production ABS by Bosch in 1978. In this context, differences in knowledge sharing in the public domain between U.S. corporations and German corporations are highlighted. An interesting claim is that the first successful mass production ABS was the result of Bosch’s competence in electronic control of hydraulic components and the reliable implementation of inexpensive electronics in an industry that was re-