Innovation should be purposeful, not whimsical. That’s the message from Naval History and Heritage Command historian Tyler Pitrof’s book Too Far on a Whim: The Limits of High-Steam Propulsion in the U.S. Navy, new in print out of the nautical climes of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It hooked me because it promised to take me back to those thrilling days of yesteryear when I was a twentysomething engineer overseeing a high-pressure (600 PSI), high-temperature (850o F) steam propulsion plant of the type whose history Pitfrof chronicles. His book looked like an education on part of my own heritage.

And by no means does it disappoint on that front. But there’s far more to the appeal of Too Far on a Whim than nostalgia or mere scientific-technical interest. What Pitrof really provides is a case study on the promise—and the perils—of technical innovation. The danger part is the important part. Rather than grasp at the latest shiny bauble, he opines, institutional leaders must demand that realistic field testing vindicate its merits. In short, the scientific method must prevail. This is sage counsel that the contemporary U.S. armed services must heed.

But it’s a message that could get lost. Nowadays military magnates clamor constantly for the services to innovate. By that they chiefly mean harnessing novel technology to keep abreast of the likes of China’s People’s Liberation Army. The Pentagon has instituted a Defense Innovation Unit. The individual services have set up kindred innovation centers of their own. And there is no gainsaying the need to stay in tune with changing times and circumstances, especially with the rise of dynamic, domineering competitors like China. In fact, adaptability is a must. Thinkers from the Renaissance Florentine philosopher-statesman Niccolò Machiavelli to U.S. Air Force colonel John Boyd attest to it. Machiavelli and Boyd beseech rulers, diplomats, and warriors to constantly take stock of ambient surroundings and amend habits of mind, heart, and deed to keep up with change. Only thus can institutions of state prosper.

Willingness to change constitutes the essence of statecraft.

But it’s easy to get carried away in the quest for the next big thing. Not all change is for the better. Just because some widget, tactic, technique, or procedure breaks with the past does not make embracing it necessary or........

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