Most of which was available in 1950, and a surprising amount could be found in the 1800's. EX: For cooling, Spring house, cave, imported ice, or just location. The first thermometer dates back to ~1612.
I agree making things reproducible is a big deal, but that's mostly a question of cost not capability. 3d printing or computer control in general allows for beyond human levels of accuracy. Or even just computer modeling to find new and adventitious shapes.
While the technologies to do some of those things may have been available I wonder how many of those things the instrument makers of the time actually knew mattered, and to what extent did they understand it?
Temperature and humidity are very obvious and important if your doing woodworking so I would assume that quickly become common knowledge. But, it would be interesting to research it.
Though I think it's important to remember it was a high tech process for the time. At the time few things required that level of precision or complexity. And considering the size and physical effort involved few things have that kind of volume.
High tech IMO imply's more. For example: http://www.industrial-lasers.com/articles/2008/03/ornamental...
I agree making things reproducible is a big deal, but that's mostly a question of cost not capability. 3d printing or computer control in general allows for beyond human levels of accuracy. Or even just computer modeling to find new and adventitious shapes.