Thanks for the follow up.  And, happy new year.

Good answer, fairly throough with pointers to additional related material.

This answer has not been rated.

This answer has not been rated.

This answer has not been rated.

This answer has not been rated.

Thank you, the information about epicycles was just what I was looking
for, and the historical information was useful as well.

This answer has not been rated.

I gave you a high rating but I would have liked to seen some more
forward thinking instead of old research...

This answer has not been rated.

This answer has not been rated.

This answer has not been rated.

Good answer and follow up.

This answer has not been rated.

I was very happy with the answer and links.  I realize this is not a
complicated question, but beyond my capabilities.  Unfortunately, I
have not save $400 a month for the past sixty years.  I've had to live
on my income.  For you who have answered this: start saving, investing
and watch that money grow.

Thank you for your answer.  This gives me some good places to start.

This answer has not been rated.

Excellent researcher.Thanks

This answer has not been rated.

This answer has not been rated.

This answer has not been rated.

Answered my question, Thanks! I wish there could be a more "official"
answer (government website), but I guess based on the nature of this
question there will always be an element of luck to it....

This answer has not been rated.

This answer has not been rated.

Thanks for the information you provided.  I know it was a tough
question, and I appreciate the work you put into it.

This answer has not been rated.

This answer has not been rated.

Thank you, I didn't even think about the road/

Thanks Hedgie-ga!!! wonderful, complete and educational answer. 
Turned out to be much more complex than I expected.  Thanks.
Happy thanksgiving and best regards.
Until next time,
Jan

This answer has not been rated.

This answer has not been rated.

Been on holiday.  Thanks everyone!!  I did buy the book by Bill Bryson
but left it on a hotel nightstand!!  I'll go re-purchase.

T

Great. Thank you for the clarification.  I may come back with a
additional questions. but for now it seems sufficient.

Thank you very much Hedgie,

It appears that the Russian web site you refered me to has the bulk
compressive strength data for silicon, as well as the crystal plane
modulus values, and the Petersen paper you linked has some good
tensile strength information.

The only problem was that the link you referenced (copied below) for
the coatings appears to be broken. However, some of the other papers
you referenced in this section appear to be close to what I'm looking
for, so thank you very much!

BROKEN LINK:?
   http://ww-emrs.c-strasbourg.fr/2003SPRING/2003ABSTRACTS/2003_G_ABS.PDF

Thanks. The answer covers exactly my needs.

This answer has not been rated.

Great answer. esply for H2W tech address. Thanks a lot buddy and to you too google.

This answer has not been rated.

This answer has not been rated.

This answer has not been rated.

This answer has not been rated.

You made no effort to explain the claim I heard.

This answer has not been rated.

Appreciate the leads but they didn't answer my question in the detail
I was hoping for. I feared that might be the case because though today
we can see manufacturing proesses in operation, we can't go back to
1790 or l800 and see them--or talk to engineers.  And such minute
detail as I would like is often simply unavailable on the net. But I
do thank you.

This answer has not been rated.