New Chuck won't screw on | Model Engineer
Here's my take https://www.whitworthsociety.org/history.php?page=2 JW grew up through the early 1800s through the shop floors of Machinery Makers of the time and noted how there was no standard way of making nuts and bolts etc. So he set about amassing a collection from many of the factors around the Midlands area. He then deduced an average for Pitch (tpi) preferences and settled on an average angle of 55deg without further thought. He arrived at the form recognising that sharp points were impractical and made bolts weak So armed with a compass and a set square here is what occurred