It's not mentioned here, but I think it's in the book they mention (and the BBC documentary based on it): containers were "open source" in the sense that they allowed anyone to use the patents, which was vital in kickstarting the network effects.
It chronicles competing standards, proprietary efforts, attempts at sea-rail-road integration, with some lively characters thrown in. It captures the entrepreneurial vibe of the heady postwar decades. I loved it.
Indeed, it'll teach you a lot about how the recent "modern" world developed; containers became important for the Vietnam War, but its mostly pure business and economic history, with sufficient detail---well, enough for me---on the technical side. Also the interplay of government laws and regulation, and shipping cartels, on the path this all took. And tells you why most of the historic ports of old faded away.
