Foreword by Charles Bytheway. A Value Analysis book disguised as a novel, Basic Function, is told through the eyes of Michelle Jamison, a recent engineering college grad who begins her career with Alarum Aerospace in her home town of Chicago. When she arrives on her first day she is confronted with chaos and animosity that is nothing like the public image of the company culture. The economy has been rough on the aerospace business and especially at the iconic firm. The company's reputation takes another blow when one of their valves fails in flight for the second time in the same month with...