Hitting the Brakes

“[A] fascinating narrative. . . . [T]his book demonstrates the importance of history in understanding the trends in society today. . . . This historical lesson alone makes this book an important reading for students not only in engineering design, but with an interest in innovation more broadly.”

- Anna Rylander, Teachers College Record

“An interesting narrative of an intriguingly intricate technology in the later decades of the last century. But Johnson’s work is much more than this; it is a deeply thought-out exploration of the processes of engineering research and design. Indeed, I recommend this book to anyone interested in understanding how engineering innovation actually works in today’s world.” - Robert Friedel, Metascience

“Ann Johnson completed a thorough and comprehensive research on the history of ABS development, put ABS development in perspective, and drew some new and interesting conclusions. This detailed history, and not technical explanations of the issues engineers had to cope with, should be seen as the contribution of this book. Johnson’s writing style keeps the reader interested from beginning to end, and the broad coverage of engineering design problems and the numerous historic examples make her book quite enjoyable and engaging for the audience.” - Markus Klausner, Journal of Transportation Engineering

“The insights and generalizations given here are interesting and somewhat academic, but also of practical importance to public policy relate to engineering research and development.” - J. D. Drescher, Choice

“Hitting the Brakes is an important and enjoyable book. Cars are fascinating, and the opportunity to see how a significant safety system, antilock brakes, became part of them should interest anyone curious to learn how the cars we drive came to be as they are. But this book is more than an enjoyable history. It fundamentally rethinks how we understand engineering and the knowledge that engineers create. It will challenge philosophers to better understand knowledge and historians to better understand the development of knowledge. Hitting the Brakes is at once a social history of engineering communities, a philosophical thesis about engineering knowledge, and a great story.” - Davis Baird, author of Thing Knowledge: A Philosophy of Scientific Instruments

“Hitting the Brakes pays equal attention to the social and technical dimensions of engineering practice, showing how members of knowledge communities worked across national and institutional boundaries seeking to improve the braking performance of the postwar automobile. Ann Johnson describes how researchers and practitioners confronted this multidimensional problem and negotiated their way toward the development of a road-worthy antilock braking system. Her analysis challenges the idea that a corporation’s claim on proprietary information severely limits transnational innovation; so too the idea that engineers are ‘hired guns.’ Her epilogue prompts further questions about the notion of technological progress.” - Louis L. Bucciarelli, author of Designing Engineers

“In Hitting the Brakes, Ann Johnson provides a very engaging description of the engineering design and development process in the context of a compelling case study. She takes us from conception to the commercialization of a sophisticated braking system that many automobile drivers take for granted.” - Henry Petroski, author of The Essential Engineer: Why Science Alone Will Not Solve Our Global Problems