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Bridging the Seas: The Rise of Naval Architecture in the Industrial Age, 1800–2000 By Larrie D. Ferreiro. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2020. Pp. 408.
In Bridging the Seas, a history of naval architecture in the modern and contemporary periods, Larrie D. Ferreiro successfully continues the work he began with Ships and Sciences (MIT Press, 2007). Ferreiro is one of the very few experts, worldwide, in the history of naval architecture, and his book is a rare reference on this topic. It comprehensively synthesizes the developments in naval architecture from the eighteenth century to the present day, covering the industrialization of ships and shipbuilding. Ferreiro does this by analyzing the role and involvement of naval architects in the technical evolution of ships. The book addresses crucial historical questions such as the search for speed under sail, the transition from sail to steam technology, the accurate prediction of a ship's performance, and the standardization of ship construction. The author furthermore analyzes the evolution of naval architects into a distinct category of scientists and professionals, which also came to include women, a dimension often overlooked by historians in this field.
Ferreiro convincingly demonstrates his main...