Powered Ships: THE BEGINNINGS.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.FINE/FINE.No owner inscrptn, but price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,glossy laminated, mono-colour artwork illustrated dw/dj; with negligible shelf-wear and creasing to edges and corners - no major nicks or tears present.Spine/backstrip lightly sunned/faded - as usual/normal.Top+fore-edges bright and clean; contents bright,tight and near pristine.Publisher's bright, clean,original blue-green cloth boards with bright,crisp, blocked gilt letters to spine/backstrip and clean white endpapers.UK,slim 8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,3-143pp [paginated] includes maps list/table,introduction+5 chapters,profuse b/w contemporary b/w maps/illus/ diagrams/photographs throughout the text and the book,a bibliography,acknowledgements and index; plus [unpaginated] b/w vignette illustrated title page. Powered ships are an important part of our daily life - although perhaps not everyone thinks of them in that way.Not only do they carry passengers and mail all over the globe,but they are the main means of transporting large quantities of raw materials.It is because of the efficiency of a highly complex network of shipping,that heavy industry can operate thousands of miles from the source of fuel' or that people everywhere can drink a cup of coffee for breakfast.How did this all come about? This new history is concerned only with the origins of powered ships,from which stemmed the revolution in travel and trade,for it is the early experiments that are the most fascinating part of the story. In 'The Beginings', Richard Armstrong relates how the early pioneers of steam travel faced ignorance and prejudice with a kind of reforming determination.First came the inventors,foremost among them Thomas Newcomen and James Watt,who developed the 'first practicable steam engine'.Soon other men saw the possibilities of this new engine and John Fitch built a paddle steamer to run on the River Delaware as early as the 1790s. Experiments multiplied on both sides of the Atlantic,and Symington's Charlotte Dundas and later,Bell's Comet and Fulton's Clermont proved that the steam ship was no longer a wild theory.It was a practical reality.Within two decades steam ships were attempting the Atlantic crossing and their obvious advantages over sail encouraged further improvements in machinery and design. The author lucidly describes the main advances with the help of contemporary accounts and drawings, including details about such influential vessels as the Savannah,the Sirius and the Great Eastern.But the growing success of the steam ship also involved tragedy and disappointment; some ships exploded,others disappeared without trace; and even as late as the 1870s, innovations such as the use of iron or the screw propeller were regarded with deep suspicion by the Admiralty.By this time however,the powered ship's usefulness was undisputed and its enormous scope for development had begun to be realized. Please contact seller @ rpaxtonden@blueyonder.co.uk ,because of the lighter weight of this item,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! ALL UK,buyers please note,this item's actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if offered P/p free.
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