A Crowd of Twisted Things by Dawn Farnham

It is an honor to be asked to write a foreword to this book, for I believe that it and other books to follow will eventually lead to a dramatic change in the current statistics curriculum in our universities. I spent the 1975-76 academic year at Florida State University in Tallahassee. My purpose was to complete a book on Statistical Reliability Theory with Frank Proschan.

This book explores the history of mechanical engineering since the Bronze Age. Focusing on machinery inventions and the development of mechanical technology, it also discusses the machinery industry and modern mechanical education. The evolution of machinery is divided into three stages: Ancient (before the European Renaissance), Modern (mainly including the two Industrial Revolutions) and Contemporary (since the Revolution in Physics, especially post Second World War)