Review of Hitting the Brakes: Engineering Design and the Production of Knowledge by Ann Johnson: Duke University Press, Durham, NC; 2010; ISBN 978-0-8223-4526-8; 232 pp. Price: $79.95.

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 reluctant to deploy electronics because of reliability concerns.

Johnson’s statement that almost all knowledge related to ABS was available in the public domain is based on the sheer number and broad coverage of articles written by engineers from the companies working on ABS. However, this conclusion is a bit too optimistic, as it neglects the difference in technical depth and detail between published engineering articles and a company’s internal engineering reports. Most of the important aspects of hardware and algorithm design for ABS and subsequent traction control and vehicle dynamics control systems have not been publically available until recently.

Johnson challenges the idea of engineers executing tasks or visions of the corporations they work for. Instead, technical progress and the advancement of knowledge in the public domain is a result of the dynamics of informally forming engineering communities around engineering challenges and the desire to solve them.

While Johnson claims that the development of ABS is not the linear story told by the companies that brought ABS to market, the book does not provide an explanation as to why the first ABS-related patents of the 1930s did not have an impact on the subsequent development of ABS. For example, Fritz Ostwald’s experimental prototype implementation of a fast pneumatic slip controller and the reasons this important slip control prototype was not picked up by the automotive industry deserved some explanation.

It should be kept in mind that this book looks at engineering design and the case of ABS from a historical, social, and cultural perspective. For audiences interested in learning and understanding the complicated nature of engineering design, this book is definitely worthwhile reading. But the author misses some technical points. For example, the term “adaptive control” is used instead of “closed-loop control,” and explanations of vehicle dynamics, friction, and wheel slip are a bit too superficial or, in some cases, misleading. However, this is clearly not the focus of the book and probably not a strength of the author. 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.