Larrie D. Ferreiro

Larrie D. Ferreiro

Larrie D. Ferreiro

Adjunct Faculty

World History: History of Engineering; History of Science; History of Technology; Naval history; Military history; History of the American Revolution; History of the Scientific Revolution; Latin American history; Naval architecture; Naval ship design; Defense acquisition; Systems engineering; Complex systems management

Larrie D. Ferreiro FRHistS received his PhD in the History of Science and Technology from Imperial College London. He teaches history and engineering at George Mason University in Virginia, Georgetown University in Washington DC and the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey. He has served for over forty years in the US Navy, US Coast Guard and Department of Defense, and was an exchange engineer in the French Navy. He lives with his wife and their sons in Virginia.

Current Research

History of naval architecture in the Industrial Age

Naval history of World War II

Development of American Science in the 20th century

 

 

Selected Publications

  • Churchill's American Arsenal:  The Partnership Behind the Innovations That Won World War Two.  New York: Oxford University Press, 2022
  • Bridging the Seas: The Rise of Naval Architecture in the Industrial Age, 1800-2000. Cambridge, MA:  MIT Press, 2020 
  • Brothers at Arms: American Independence and the Men of France and Spain Who Saved It. Alfred A. Knopf, 2016 (Pulitzer Prize Finalist in History 2017 ; Journal of the American Revolution Book of the Year 2016)
  • Measure of the Earth: The Enlightenment Expedition that Reshaped Our World. New York: Basic Books, 2011 (Physics World Top 10 books of 2011)
  • Ships and Science: The Birth of Naval Architecture in the Scientific Revolution, 1600-1800. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2007 (North American Society for Oceanic History award, best science and technology book, 2007)
  • Technology of the Ships of Trafalgar (editor). Madrid: UPM, 2006

Expanded Publication List

Books:

  • Churchill's American Arsenal:  The Partnership Behind the Innovations That Won World War Two.  New York: Oxford University Press, 2022
  • Bridging the Seas: The Rise of Naval Architecture in the Industrial Age, 1800-2000. Cambridge, MA:  MIT Press, 2020 
  • Brothers at Arms: American Independence and the Men of France and Spain Who Saved It. Alfred A. Knopf, 2016 (Pulitzer Prize Finalist in History 2017 ; Journal of the American Revolution Book of the Year 2016)
  • Measure of the Earth: The Enlightenment Expedition that Reshaped Our World. New York: Basic Books, 2011 (Physics World Top 10 books of 2011)
  • Ships and Science: The Birth of Naval Architecture in the Scientific Revolution, 1600-1800. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2007 (North American Society for Oceanic History award, best science and technology book, 2007)
  • Technology of the Ships of Trafalgar (editor). Madrid: UPM, 2006

 

Book Chapters:

  • The Sea in History - The Early Modern World. Martlesham, Suffolk UK: Boydell and Brewer, 2017
  • Maritime Strategy and Global Order. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, 2016
  • Compendium of ship hydrodynamics: Practical tools and applications. Les Presses de l'ENSTA, 2016
  • Contemporary Ideas on Ship Stability and Capsizing in Waves. New York: Springer, 2011
  • Oxford Encyclopedia of Maritime History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007
  • Why has the Cost of Navy Ships Risen? (contributing researcher). Santa Monica: RAND, 2006
  • A Half-Century of Maritime Technology 1943-1993 (contributing researcher). New York: Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME), 1993
  • The Archaeology of USS Monitor. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, in press

 

Articles in Popular Press:

“The Alliance that saved America in its Infancy”.  New York Post, July 3, 2015

 

Articles and Symposia in Engineering, Science and Technology Studies:

“Cutwaters Before Rams: An Experimental Investigation into the Origins and Evolution of the Waterline Ram”. International Journal of Nautical Archeology 46/1 pp. 72-82, March 2017

 “Horatio Nelson Never Wrote “A Ship’s a Fool to Fight a Fort”; It Was Jackie Fisher Who Invented the Attribution”. The Journal of Military History 80/3 pp. 855-856, July 2016

“Contested Waterlines: The Wave-Line Theory and 19th-Century Naval Architecture”, Technology and Culture 57/2 pp. 414-444, April 2016

“The Hidden Contributions of the Netherlands to Naval Architecture”.  On Higher Seas: Scheepsbouwkundig Gezelschap William Froude, Jaarboek 2014-2015, Technical University of Delft, pp. 18-19

 “The Wave-Line Theory”, (mt) Marine Technology, SNAME June 2014, pp. 72-73

“Breve Historia de la Universidad de Adquisición de la Defensa (Brief History of the Defense Acquisition University)”, Revista General de Marina (Madrid) pp. 19-27, Jan/Feb 2014

“The mutual influence of aircraft aerodynamics and ship hydrodynamics in theory and experiment”, Archive for the History of the Exact Sciences 68, pp. 241–263, 2014

 “Teach the ‘Why’ of Engineering: Historical analysis is essential for leadership”, American Society for Engineering Education PRISM 23/1 p. 72, September 2013

“French Shipbuilding in Spain and the Attempt to Create a Unified Bourbon Fleet, 1765-1805”, US Naval Academy 2013 McMullen Naval History Symposium, Annapolis, September 2013.  

 “The Scientific and Management Revolution in Shipbuilding on the Two Clydes, 1880-1900”, Nautical Research Journal 58/2 pp. 105-128, 2013

“L’Aube des Sciences Navales (The Dawn of Naval Science)” DCN Research, 1/1 pp. 6-10,June, 2013.

 “Development and Tactical Advantages of Copper Sheathing of French, British and Spanish ships”, International Colloquium on the Navies of the American War of Independence, Paris, Society of the Cincinnati, February 2013

“The French Model Basin Experiments of 1775-1778”, (mt) Marine Technology, SNAME July 2012, pp. 77-78

“The Radical Theory of Evolution That Explains Democrats and Republicans”, The Atlantic, June 2012

“Measure of the Earth: Navigation, Science and the War of Jenkins’s Ear”, Sea History 137 pp. 18-21, Winter 2011-2012

“Paul Hoste, Premier Théoricien de la Tactique Navale et de l’Architecture Navale (Paul Hoste, First Theoretician of Naval Tactics and of Naval Architecture)”, Neptunia 262, 2012 pp. 6-13

“Paul Hoste et Les Premiers Développements de l'Architecture Navale (Paul Hoste and the First Developments of Naval Architecture, 1685-1700)”,Bulletin de l’Association Technique Maritimes et Aéronautiques,2012 (ATMA Best Paper 2012)

“The Social History of the Bulbous Bow”, Technology and Culture 52/2 pp. 335-359, April 2011

“Pierre Bouguer and the Solid of Least Resistance”, Revue d’Histoire des Sciences 63-1 pp. 49-76, June 2010; Congrés de la Société Française d’Histoire des Sciences et des Techniques, September 2008   

“The Aristotelian Heritage in Early Naval Architecture, from the Venice Arsenal to the French Navy, 1500-1700”, Theoria 25/2 no. 68 pp. 227-241, May 2010; Max Planck Institute Preprint No. 371, Berlin: MPI 2009

“Shipbuilders to the World: Evolution and Revolution in Spanish and Chilean Shipbuilding from the Cold War to the 21st Century: A Study in International Technology Transfer in the Naval Industries”, International Journal of Naval History 8/3, 2010; US Naval Academy Naval History Symposium, September 2009

“Bernard Renau d’Elissagaray”, Neptunia 255 pp. 32-46, September 2009

"Mahan and the "English Club" of Lima, Peru: The Genesis of The Influence of Sea Power upon History," The Journal of Military History 72/3 pp. 901-906, July 2008

“Using Historical Lessons-Learned in the Systems Engineering Process”, IDP 257, International Council of Systems Engineering (INCOSE) International Symposium, June 2008

“A Biographical Sketch of John Willis Griffiths from Primary and Archival Sources”, Nautical Research Journal 52/4 pp. 221-228, 2007

“Spies Versus Prize: Technology Transfer Between Navies in the Age of Trafalgar" Mariner's Mirror 93/1 pp. 16-27, 2007 “Goodall in America: The Exchange Engineer as Vector in International Technology Transfer”, Comparative Technology Transfer and Society, 4/2 pp. 172-195, August 2006 

 “Historical roots of the theory of hydrostatic stability of ships”, in Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on the Stability of Ships and Ocean Vehicles, Madrid: ETSIN, 2003; Max Planck Institute Preprint No. 237, Berlin: MPI 2003. 

“Bridging the Gap between Science and Technology Studies and R&D Program Management”, The Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) Report, 73 pp. 1-10, April 2003

Bouguer en el Perú: Cómo la ingeniería naval bajó desde la montaña (Bouguer in Peru: How naval architecture came down from the mountain). Booklet.  Madrid: Fundación Jorge Juan, 2003  

“Bouguer au Pérou : Comment l’architecture navale est descendue des montagnes (Bouguer in Peru: How naval architecture came down from the mountains)”, in Un scientifique au XVIIIe siècle : Pierre Bouguer pp. 101-149Vannes : Institut Culturel de Bretagne, 2002

“David W. Taylor and his Legacy”, ABS Surveyor, September 2000 p. 11

“Genius and Engineering: Naval Constructors in France, Britain and the United States”, Naval Engineers Journal 110/6, pp. 99-132, 1998; Transactions RINA 141pp. 160-191 1999; Bulletin de l’Association Technique Maritimes et Aéronautiques, 98 pp. 281-335, 1999

“Organizational Trust in Naval Ship Design Bureaus”, Acquisition Review Quarterly, pp. 285-296, Summer 1998

“Loss of the Suffren and the Sinking of the Gaulois”, Warship International 33/3 pp. 227-229, 1996

 

Technical Articles and Reports in Defense Acquisition, Naval Architecture & Systems Engineering:

 “Undersea Clandestine Insertion of Special Operations Forces:  Analysis of Alternatives", RAND NDRI Report, 2014.

“Defense Business System Acquisition Probability of Success: Information Technology Project Management Bayesian Network”: Council of Engineering Systems Universities (CESUN) 4th International Engineering Systems Symposium, Hoboken NJ, 2014

“Access to Data for Defense Acquisition Research by Independent, Non-Commercial Organizations:  Issues and Options: An Independent View”, RAND NDRI White Paper, 2013.

“Adaptation of Commercial Structural Criteria to Military Needs”, Ship Structures Committee Report 432, 2003

 “Damage Control Training on Large Passenger Vessels”, Learning from Marine Incidents II, RINA, 2002

"Building the Rules: The ABS Perspective on Naval Classification Rules", RINA Warship Symposium: International Symposium on Future Surface Warships, RINA 2001

“Paradigm Shifts in Regulating Ships”, International Cruise and Ferry Review, Autumn / Winter 1998 pp 89-91

“Designing and Buying Warships: France, Britain and the United States”, Proceedings of the US Naval Institute 123/3 pp. 57-60, March 1997

“The CVX Program”, RINA Warship Conference: Air Power at Sea, RINA 1997

“La Parité de Pouvoir d’Achat Pour Comparer Entre Eux les Programmes d’Armements (Using Purchasing Power Parity to Compare Armaments Programs)”, L’Armement, Revue de la Délégation Générale de l’Armement, 58 pp. 114-117, July/August 1997

“Comparison of French and US Amphibious Ships:  TCD Foudre and LSD 41”, Naval Engineers Journal 107/3 pp. 167-184, ASNE 1995

“Pitch Stabilization for Surface Combatants”, Naval Engineers Journal 106/4, pp. 174-191, ASNE 1994

“Comparative Study of US and UK Frigate Design”, Transactions of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) 99 pp. 147-175, 1991 (Received SNAME’s Linnard Prize for best paper in 1991); also in Transactions of RINA 136 Part A pp. 1-55, 1994

“The Effects of Confined Water Operations on Ship Performance”, Naval Engineers Journal 104/6 pp.69-83, ASNE 1992

“Offboard Command Casualty Launch”, RINA NAVTEC Symposium on Ships and Weapons, RINA 1990

“Design Study for a SWATH ASW Frigate”, RINA Symposium on Antisubmarine Warfare, RINA 1987

“A Systematic Approach to Crew Cabin Design”, SNAME Southeast Section paper, 1980

 

Book reviews

Apostolos Delis, Mediterranean Wooden Shipbuilding. Economy, Technology and Institutions in Syros in the Nineteenth Century (Leiden: Brill, 2016).  In Tijdschrift voor Zeegeschiedenis 2017, in press

John Busch, Steam Coffin: Captain Moses Rogers and the Steamship Savannah Break the Barrier (New Haven: Hodos Historica, 2010). In British Journal for the History of Science 44/4, pp. 605-606, Dec. 2011

Gregory Volato, Ship (London: Reaktion Books, 2011). In Technology and Culture 52/3 pp. 818-819, Oct. 2011

Horst Nowacki and Wolfgang Lefèvre (eds.), Creating Shapes in Civil and Naval Architecture (Max Planck Institute for the History of Science Preprint 338, 2007). In International Journal of Nautical Archeology. 38/1 pp. 174-176, 2009

Alex Roland, et al.  The Way of the Ship (Hoboken: Wiley, 2008) In Naval History 22/4 pp. 68-70, 2008

Christian Dedet, Les fleurs d'acier du Mikado (Paris: Flammarion, 1993).In International Journal of Naval History 2/2, 2003

Rodney Carlisle, Powder and Propellants:  Energetic materials at Indian Head, Maryland 1890-2001 Second Edition (Denton: University of North Texas Press, 2002). In International Journal of Naval History 2/2 , 2003

Mary Mills, Greenwich Marsh: The 300 Years before the Dome (London: Wright, 1999). In The Journal Of The Society For Industrial Archeology 26/2 p. 93, 2000


Eric Rieth, Concevoir et construire les navires: de la trière au picoteux : Technologies, Idéologies, Pratiques: Revue d'anthropologie des connaissances 13/1 (1998).  In Technology and Culture 40/3 pp. 690-692, 1999

 

MEDIA EXPERIENCE

  • History Channel/H2: Historical consultant and on-screen presenter, “Ancient Impossible” (2014)
  • Walt Disney Studios: Historical and technical consultant, 20,000 Leagues under the Sea project (2012-2013)
  • BBC: Chief Historical Consultant and on-screen presenter, Voyages of Discovery series (2006)  
  • History Channel: Historical consultant, “Search for the Alligator” (2005)
  • History Channel: Historical consultant and on-screen presenter, “Engineering Catastrophes: Torrey Canyon” (2005)
  • Discovery Channel: Historical consultant and on-screen presenter, “Answers from the Abyss: The Titanic” (1999)

 

Courses Taught

SYST / HIST 202, Engineering systems in a complex world

SYST 508, Complex Systems Engineering Management

HIST 315, STEM in Society: A History

Education

Ph.D. – History of Engineering, Science and Technology Studies, Imperial College London – London, UK 2004

MSc. – Naval Architecture University College London -- London, UK 1986

BSE – Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, MI 1980

 

Recent Presentations

At the Smithsonian in 2017, discussing Brothers at Arms:

https://www.c-span.org/video/?422727-2/larrie-ferreiro-discusses-brothers-arms

At the National Archives in 2017, a round-table discussion of France and the USA:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoL-xepSW-o

In the Media

America First gets history all wrong (The Daily Beast)

http://www.thedailybeast.com/america-first-gets-history-all-wrong

 

The Radical Theory of Evolution That Explains Democrats and Republicans (The Atlantic)

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/06/the-radical-theory-of-evolution-that-explains-democrats-and-republicans/258307/