Babbage Analytical Engine - CBC interview

[William Donzelli]

> I seem to recall an article in Smithsonian or American Heritage some
> time ago that put forth the idea of crediting Eli Whitney with the
> mass production of interchangeable parts is overstating the point
> somewhat.  He neither invented the concept (that goes to a Frenchman)
> nor did his muskets achieve the goal--parts required quite a bit of
> "tweaking" to get them to fit.

Just like everything else - nothing really is truly invented, but
rather a bunch of old ideas with maybe one or two new ones mixed in.

Even the Romans had something like mass production for their armies.

--
Will