The Fourth Book of 2026: The Perfectionists, by Simon Winchester

Started 1/19/26
Ended 1/26/26

I eat this kind of book up.

I call the category "popular history;" written for a general reader, concentrating on a single event of concept. I'd never come across Simon Winchester before, but now I'm certainly glad I did.

I first encountered The Perfectionists in a review by Eleanor Konick on her Substack account in mid-January 2026. I had aquired the book within a day, and started reading a few days later. It was time for some non-fiction, and such books are usually my first choice for non-fiction.

It's a book about precision, how our world has grown more and more precise over the centuries, from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution to the creating of the atomic clock, how our measuring and manufacturing have grown ever more precise. I learned a great deal through this book, which is told in a clear, semi-formal and highly readable manner. Indeed, Winchester really seemed to enjoy writing this book. I'm looking forward to reading some of his other stuff, especially the ones about the Oxford English Dictionary.