Let a Hundred Mechanisms Bloom.
Spencer Wright on antique apple parers, and how an old tool can force you to confront a problem anew.
Spencer Wright
Spencer Wright is the (mostly accidental) founder of Scope of Work, which he started writing (as The Prepared) in 2013. Today he serves as its editor-in-chief and chief dilettante.
Ford and Macadam.
It used to be rare that more than a couple of sentences at a time were cut from drafts of this newsletter. For years I
2023-Q3
A More Fun Ride
Jan Heine on the physics of pneumatic tires, the rise of gravel cycling, and his role in the bike industry.
Cars.
Since the introduction of the Model T, the rubber industry has evolved in tandem with the automobile industry – and American car culture.
On Pneumatic Tires.
Pneumatic tires were invented (and then promptly forgotten) in 1846. Then, they became perhaps the quintessential twentieth-century transportation technology.