Electric Universe: The Shocking True Story of Electricity Review

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(More customer reviews)+++++
In this book author and former professor David Bodanis presents "the shocking true story of electricity." Actually this book is more about electrical devices through history and the scientists who created them. The electrical devices investigated are as follows: telegraph, telephone, light bulb, electric motor, radio, radar, and computer. Even human biological devices are looked into-specifically the nervous system and brain. Bodanis says this more eloquently:
"The world is made of electric charges and our technologies operate through electric charges, and even our brains are powered by electric charges."
The author does present some of the science behind electricity. (Electricity is a general term used for all phenomena caused by electric charge.) But he seems to concentrate only on DC or Direct Current (a term he never uses). (Direct Current is electric charge always flowing in the same direction.) Nothing (not one word!!) is said about the more important AC or Alternating Current and its colorful scientific history. This I feel was a major, major oversight. (Alternating Current is a flow of electric charge that periodically reverses its direction.)
Chapter 1 to chapter 6 of this 12-chapter book presents the scientific history of direct current. I feel Bodanis does a decent job here with his explanations and portraits of major scientists. In fact, I feel that his writing style is very engaging throughout the book.
The next two chapters discuss radar. Unfortunately, the author goes into way too much detail about the war effort and strays significantly off topic. I feel all this information was not needed.
Chapter 9 and chapter 10 discuss the idea of a "thinking machine" (what we now call the computer) and the man behind this revolutionary idea. As well, this man's legacy is explained. This information is well presented.
The last two chapters look into human biology. Here we learn that "our entire body operates by electricity." I found this information very interesting but felt that most of it was not relevant to the theme of the book.
There are two more brief sections at the end of this book. They are entitled as follows:
(1) "What happened next." This section profiles what happened to the major people mentioned in this book. Some of these people include Samuel Morse, Alexander G. Bell, Edison, Faraday, Hertz, and Turing. I found this section interesting.
(2) "Mr. Amp, Mr. Volt, and Mr. Watt." These units (amp, volt and watt) describe, according to Bodanis, "what's happening inside all...electric devices." What happened to Mr. Ohm? An ohm is a measure of electrical resistance. I thought not mentioning this unit was a major oversight.
Finally, there are no illustrations in this book. I felt simple diagrams would have reduced the book's wordiness. As well, pictures of some of the major people mentioned would have been nice.
In conclusion, this is a well-written book about electricity that has some major oversights and that, in some cases, presents irrelevant information.
(first published 2005; introduction; 6 parts or 12 chapters; 2 concluding sections; main narrative 235 pages; notes; further reading; acknowledgements; index)
+++++


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Crystal Fire: The Invention of the Transistor and the Birth of the Information Age (Sloan Technology Series) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is an excellent book on the history of the transistor. Not exactly light reading, but still an enjoyable read. As an engineer it is wonderful to learn the history of the one of the most important inventions of recent times. Really a well written book.

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Amps: The Other Half of Rock 'N' Roll Review

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(More customer reviews)As the title of this book implies, it is about the role of guitar amplifiers in creating the unique signature sounds that many people instantly associate with various bands and guitarists they've heard over the years. While many musicians and the public tend to focus on the guitar itself in providing a unique sound, amps easily account for half or more of the sound quality and tonality of a performance. This book includes a good technical description of how guitar amps work, what makes them different from other types of amplifiers, and a worthwhile discussion of vintage tube amp tone versus the reissue models now being marketed by various manufacturers. It also has a useful troubleshooting section for dealing with various symptoms of an ailing amp. Perhaps the most interesting part of the book is on the human nature side, providing excellent thumbnail sketches of the various companies and personalities that were involved in pioneering amplifier innovations, such as Jim Marshall and the legendary Leo Fender. The book also deals with the histories and/or products of other companies (including Vox, Ampeg, MESA/Boogie, Roland, Gibson and others), and has lots of photographs and reproductions of old advertising fliers. My only complaint about the book is that it misses the opportunity to give at least a little bit of technical specifications for the amps that are discussed and pictured. As just one example, on page 21 there is a photograph of a Fender Tweed Deluxe that was taken in Tuscon with the caption: "This cinder-block wall art surrounding Tucson's biggest meat packing plant seemed like the logical place to shoot this amp. Musta been the heat." The effort at humor aside, a more useful caption might have been, "This model Tweed Deluxe was manufactured by Fender between 1954 and 1961 and boasted a single 12" Jensen and 15 watts of power." It would have been a mistake for Fliegler to try to provide extensive technical specs on the numerous amps that are pictured throughout the book, but a little more detail in the captions would have been appreciated. I wouldn't want this one narrow criticism to overshadow the value of this entertaining and useful book, which will be of interest to players and collectors alike. The best thing you can say about a book is that it will change the way you think -- and that is exactly what this book will do for the performing guitarist who has underestimated the impact of guitar amplification in providing a unique and personalized sound. As a well known working guitarist and someone who also worked for Marshall, Fliegler has the credentials and experience needed to speak on this subject with a lot of authority.

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Wankel Rotary Engine: A History Review

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(More customer reviews)The only book of it's kind ever. I appreciate the time and effort that went into this book. There is no other place to find the information contained in it's pages. Thank you John Hege for your time and effort.

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Conceived in the 1930s, simplified and successfully tested in the 1950s, the darling of the automotive industry in the early 1970s, then all but abandoned before resurging for a brilliant run as a high-performance powerplant for Mazda, the Wankel rotary engine has long been an object of fascination and more than a little mystery. A remarkably simple design (yet understood by few), it boasts compact size, light weight and nearly vibration-free operation. In the 1960s, German engineer Felix Wankel's invention was beginning to look like a revolution in the making. Though still in need of refinement, it held much promise as a smooth and powerful engine that could fit in smaller spaces than piston engines of similar output. Auto makers lined up for licensing rights to build their own Wankels, and for a time analysts predicted that much of the industry would convert to rotary power. This complete and well-illustrated account traces the full history of the engine and its use in various cars, motorcycles, snowmobiles and other applications. It clearly explains the working of the engine and the technical challenges it presented--the difficulty of designing effective and durable seals, early emissions troubles, high fuel consumption, and others. The work done by several companies to overcome these problems is described in detail, as are the economic and political troubles that nearly killed the rotary in the 1970s, and the prospects for future rotary-powered vehicles.

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History of Liquid Propellant Rocket Engines Review

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(More customer reviews)this book is nothing less than great, it's packed with useful informations, lot of diagrams, pictures. everything you can ask about LRE history is here; definitively another great AIAA book.
i know one of the the first things one would like to know about a "history.." book, is the level of details reported.
this is a very detailed book. i was impressed by the fact that some informations reported here are not so easy to find, like the regenerative channel drilling pattern of the agena rocket engine..
i think you know how rocket engineering textbooks are: they give you some formulas, some ideas; they tell about rocket engines as they were ideal metaphysical objects; where are the pipes? where the bolts? you can't find in them a single detail on the implementation of a real rocket engine, a real existing working object. maybe the book fills the gap: this is not the usual "i'll tell you something about rockets but just to fill 300 pages and collect some money" book, but remembers the efforts of something like "modern engineering.." of huzel / huang, that is to say a book written to be complete (if possible; sure the author tried hard: it's a 911 pages book..) very interesting, useful, and a pleasure to read.
my final impression is that this book has something of the work of art.
absolutely a must for rocket engineers, rocket scientists, rocketry amateurs.
excellent work, Mr. Sutton!

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The contents mentioned in this book include Meeting Papers, Books, AIAA Education Series, Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics, General Interest, The Aerospace Press, Case Studies, Supplemental Material, Journals, Aerospace America, Standards, AIAA Electronic Library, How to Order, Reprint Permissions, Terms of Use. This new book, written by one of the foremost experts in rocket propulsion, gives an account of the liquid propellant rocket engine field over the last fourscore and more years. It is the story about the technological advances that allowed progressive improvements in design, analysis, thrust magnitude, reliability, cost, and performance; where and when those advances were made, including unique engines from the countries most important to this technology; the groups, companies, or organizations of engineers, specialists, and dedicated people who made it happen; and the different kinds of flight vehicles that have been propelled by liquid propellant rocket engines.You will learn about the early pioneers, amateur rocket societies, evolution of key hardware components, past investigations of different liquid propellants, reorganizations and mergers of key companies, and the principal areas of application. In addition to the United States, Russia, Ukraine, Germany, France, Japan, United Kingdom, People's Republic of China, and India histories are included.

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Where Discovery Sparks Imagination: A Pictorial History of Radio and Electricity Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm not into reviewing. I've bought many books from Amazon over the years, ranging from worthy-of-a-book-award down to boring. But this is the first time I feel like writing a review. This book is a must for any collector of anything electrical. It is spectacular in every respect. A readable balance of clear but authoritative text and a huge number of magnificent photographs, most in color, of real antique electrical items, many of them very rare, on heavy glossy paper. The main sections are:
The Dawn of the Electrical Age: Very early artifacts of electricity and magnetism.
Electricity Sparks Invention: From Galvani in 1780 to Faraday in 1831 to Morse in 1837 to Alexander Graham Bell in 1875 to Edison and Tesla in the eighteen-seventies and beyond, with great heavily illustrated sections on incendescent lighting, electric motors, electrical measuring instruments, the telegraph, the telephone, and even many electro-therapeutic quackery devices such as the electro-magnetic hairbrush and the bi-polar electric belt with suspensory pouch (I presume for men).
The Wireless Age: Again heavily illustrated, with sections on the electromagnetic spectrum, the discovery of radio waves, early detection of radio waves, Marconi and his many early wireless devices, vacuum tubes, and early radio including military radio in World War One.
Radio Enters the Home: With a huge number of illustrations of radios from the 1920s and 1930s.
The Golden Age of Radio: With an equally huge number of illustrations of radios from the 1930s and 1940s.
The Jones Gallery: About vacuum tubes, ranging from early ones to the one used on the Lunar Orbiter III to photograph the dark side of the moon in 1968.
All profits go to the American Museum of Radio and Electricity, a non-profit organization. I hope I've convinced you to click on the "ADD TO CART" button and then the "PLACE YOUR ORDER" button.
Full disclosure: I'm an avid collector of some items of early incandescent lighting and original documentation about them, and I like to think that I'm somewhat of a historian of some aspects of very early electric incandescent lighting. In that connection, I've corresponded with the author on occasion and we have exchanged some information, but I have no involvement with the American Museum of Radio and Electricity or any other organization of the author.

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In Where Discovery Sparks Imagination, Jenkins examines the early history of electricity and radio, presented via a marvelous collection of over 600 stunning photographs of actual apparatus, many of which have never before been published. Beginning with the rise of electricity in the 17th century, the book follows a continuous thread of discovery and invention through electric motors, electric light, the telegraph, telephone and ultimately radio. Anyone who appreciates the amazing workmanship and artistry of old technology will love this book!

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Priming the Pump: How TRS-80 Enthusiasts Helped Spark the PC Revolution Review

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(More customer reviews)As one of the co-creators, I know the history of the TRS-80. This is the most accurate history of this "Industry Creating Machine" out there. Even knowing the history, it was enjoyable to fill in the holes related to some of the other players.
Many people give Apple the credit for creating the personal computer industry, but it really took Radio Shack with their stores and presence in the market to bring the awareness of personal computers to the masses. Then IBM made the market take off.
A fun read for those that lived the revolution and those who want to know why we have personal computers today.
Another good book for additional history on the personal computer revolution is Fire in the Valley: The Making of The Personal Computer. This gives an account of the other player in the infancy of the industry.

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