Standards Make the World

David Lang argues that technical standards are the quiet rules that give shape and direction to civilization, forming a third critical function alongside private organizations and public institutions. He states that well-designed standards can become enabling technologies, such as the Internet or shipping containers. Lang describes his book Standards Make the World as a mix of history of the past two centuries of standards-making, personal narrative based on the Bristlemouth connector standard, and guidebook for creating disruptive new standards.