LITMIR.BIZ

The mystery, excitement, and romance of whaling have fired the human imagination since ancient times. And although many books have been written about whales and whaling, few have presented as comprehensive a pictorial survey of the whale ships of all periods as the present — and now rare — volume. Over 200 vintage engravings, drawings, and photographs depict a magnificent fleet of barks, brigs, cutters, and other whaling vessels, including interior views and interesting details.You'll also find photographs and prints of actual whaling implements (blubber forks, harpoons, lances, cutting spades, etc.), whaling guns, boating implements, and other tools and equipment of the whalers of yesteryear. Additional pictorial highlights include a 1621 engraving of Mass being celebrated on the back of a whale; a wood engraving of the ship «Maria» of New Bedford built in 1782 (oldest whaler in the U.S. in 1853); a Currier and Ives lithograph of a sperm whale, «In A Flurry;» and a revealing series of prints documenting the whaler «Charles W. Morgan» of New Bedford.Most of the prints have been culled from private sources, especially the celebrated Macpherson and Forbes collections, and are generally inaccessible. They have been painstakingly reproduced here, making them widely available to anyone interested in this fascinating chapter of maritime history. George Francis Dow, one of this century's foremost authorities on sailing vessels, selected the illustrations and contributed an expert, well-researched text outlining the history of whaling over three centuries, with special attention to the whaling industry of colonial New England.

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Rockets, in the primitive form of fireworks, have existed since the Chinese invented them around the thirteenth century. But it was the work of American Robert Hutchings Goddard (1882-1945) and his development of liquid-fueled rockets that first produced a controlled rocket flight. Fascinated by rocketry since boyhood, Goddard designed, built, and launched the world's first liquid-fueled rocket in 1926. Ridiculed by the press for suggesting that rockets could be flown to the moon, he continued his experiments, supported partly by the Smithsonian Institution and defended by Charles Lindbergh. This book is comprised of two papers he wrote for the Smithsonian. Among the most significant publications in the history of rockets and jet propulsion, these Smithsonian articles ― the first published in 1919 and the second in 1936 ― were issued at a time when little was known about these subjects. Goddard's first paper, «A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes,» addressed the theoretical possibility of achieving great ranges by means of well-designed rockets. It also demonstrated that fairly high jet velocities were attainable and described advances in the construction of a solid cartridge magazine-type rocket. The second paper served as a progress report and indicated what had been accomplished through experimentation.Goddard went to to lay the foundations for the development of long-range rockets, missiles, satellites, and spaceflight. In fact, a liquid-fueled rocket constructed on principles he developed landed humans on the moon in 1969. Today, Goddard is widely recognized as the «Father of American Rocketry.» According to The New York Times, «This . . . is certainly a book that the historian of rockets cannot ignore.»

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This expanded and revised U.S. Navy training course text provides thorough coverage of the basic theory of electricity and its applications. It is unquestionably the best book of its kind for either broad or more limited studies of electrical fundamentals.It is divided into 21 chapters and an extensive section of appendixes. Chapters cover safety, fundamental concepts of electricity, batteries, series direct-current circuits, network analysis of direct-current circuits, electrical conductors and wiring techniques, electromagnetism and magnetic circuits, introduction to alternating-current electricity, inductance, capacitance, inductive and capacitive reactance, fundamental alternating-current circuit theory, direct-current generators, direct current motor magnetic amplifiers, and synchros and servomechanisms. Appendixes acquaint lay readers with common terms, abbreviations, component color-code, full load currents of motors, and cable types; they also supply trig functions, square and square roots, basic formulas, and laws of exponents.Thus the reader is supplied with a complete basic coverage of all important aspects of electricity. And, drawing on its ample funds, the Navy was able to fill this text with dozens of illustrations so that the book becomes almost a multimedia teaching process.This is an excellent text for classroom use or for home study. Students will also find it a valuable supplement to courses in which theory is emphasized while little attention is paid to application; it will also supplement a course in which this situation is reversed. In addition, Basic Electricity serves the lay reader who simply wants a knowledge of fundamental concepts of electricity or wishes to study more advanced concepts and applications. 1969 edition.

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Wind power represents a critical component of the strategies to reduce air and water pollution and to combat the effects of global climate change. Further, the development of wind farms promises to provide jobs and income to farmers and rural economies throughout the nation. This survey covers the history of the U.S. wind industry: how it works, its geography, and its impact on the environment.A collaborative panel—including members of the U.S. Department of Energy—explored a modeled energy scenario in which wind would provide 20 percent of the nation's electricity by 2030. This official 2008 report by the panel estimates impacts and discusses specific needs and outcomes in the areas of technology, manufacturing, transmission and grid integration, markets, siting strategies, and potential environmental effects.

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A cross between genuine privateers, commissioned to defend a country’s colonies and trade, and outright pirates, buccaneers were largely English, French, and Dutch adventurers who plied the waters among the Caribbean islands and along the coasts of Central America, Venezuela, and Colombia more than 300 years ago. The activities of these bands of plundering sea rovers reached a peak in the second half of the seventeenth century, when this remarkable eyewitness account was first published (1678).Alexander Exquemelin, thought to be a Frenchman who enlisted with the buccaneers for a time, chronicles the bold feats of these raiders as they ravaged shipping and terrorized Caribbean settlements. Exquemelin provides fascinating details of the French presence in Hispaniola (now comprising the island nations of Haiti and the Dominican Republic) describes the features of that country and its inhabitants, and comments at length on the origin of the buccaneers, vividly recounting their rules of conduct and way of life. These bold plunderers come across as shrewd strategists, crack shots, fine navigators, wild debauchers, and greedy adventurers who frequently engaged in vicious acts of cruelty. Among the figures in his rogues’ gallery, none stands out more than the infamous Henry Morgan, whose exploits culminated in the seizure and burning of Panama City.A bestseller in its own time, The Buccaneers of America will fascinate any modern reader intrigued by piracy and by the often sordid history of European conflicts in the Caribbean and on the Spanish Main.

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A fascinating compendium of early-twentieth-century mechanical devices, this wide-ranging work covers a variety of applications. More than 1,800 engravings—ranging from simple diagrams to detailed cross-sections—illustrate the workings of each item, from simple hooks and levers to complex machinery used in steam, motive, hydraulic, air, and electric power, navigation, gearing, clocks, mining, construction, and more.Compiled as a ready reference for inventors, students of mechanics, artisans, and other workers, this volume features only minimal text. Its true value lies in its wealth of illustrated information, offering the quickest and most satisfactory method of conveying the exact conditions of mechanical action and construction.

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Epicyclic trains, oblique rollers, trip hammers, and lazy-tongs are among the ingenious mechanisms defined and illustrated in this intriguing collection. Spanning the first century of the Industrial Revolution, this 1868 compilation features simplified, concise illustrations of the mechanisms used in hydraulics, steam engines, pneumatics, presses, horologes, and scores of other machines.The movements of each of the 507 mechanisms are depicted in drawings on the left-hand page, and the facing page presents a brief description of the item's use and operation. Ranging from simple to intricately complex, the mechanisms offer a fascinating view of the variety of small components that constitute complex machinery. A detailed index provides easy reference to specific mechanisms.Inventors, tinkerers, and anyone with an interest in the history of invention and technology will find this volume a treasury of information and inspiration.

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"Written by one of the leading aerospace educators of our time, each sentence is packed with information. An outstanding book." — Private Pilot"Illuminated throughout by new twists in explaining familiar concepts, helpful examples and intriguing ‘by-the-ways.’ A fine book." — Canadian Aeronautics and Space JournalThis classic by a Stanford University educator and a pioneer of aerospace engineering introduces the complex process of designing atmospheric flight vehicles. An exploration of virtually every important subject in the fields of subsonic, transonic, supersonic, and hypersonic aerodynamics and dynamics, the text demonstrates how these topics interface and how they complement one another in atmospheric flight vehicle design. The mathematically rigorous treatment is geared toward graduate-level students, and it also serves as an excellent reference. Problems at the end of each chapter encourage further investigation of the text’s material, the study of fresh ideas, and the exploration of new areas.

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Most people do not think to observe geology from the sidewalks of a major city, but all David B. Williams has to do is look at building stone in any urban center to find a range of rocks equal to any assembled by plate tectonics. In Stories in Stone , he takes you on explorations to find 3.5-billion-year-old rock that looks like swirled pink-and-black taffy, a gas station made of petrified wood, and a Florida fort that has withstood three hundred years of attacks and hurricanes, despite being made of a stone that has the consistency of a granola bar.Williams also weaves in the cultural history of stone, explaining why a white fossil-rich limestone from Indiana became the only building stone used in all fifty states; how in 1825, the construction of the Bunker Hill Monument led to America’s first commercial railroad; and why when the same kind of marble used by Michelangelo clad a Chicago skyscraper it warped so much after nineteen years that all 44,000 panels of it had to be replaced. This love letter to building stone brings to life the geology you can see in the structures of every city.

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In 1702, the second emperor of the Qing dynasty ordered construction of a new summer palace in Rehe (now Chengde, Hebei) to support his annual tours north among the court’s Inner Mongolian allies. The Mountain Estate to Escape the Heat (Bishu Shanzhuang) was strategically located at the node of mountain “veins” through which the Qing empire’s geomantic energy was said to flow. At this site, from late spring through early autumn, the Kangxi emperor presided over rituals of intimacy and exchange that celebrated his rule: garden tours, banquets, entertainments, and gift giving.Stephen Whiteman draws on resources and methods from art and architectural history, garden and landscape history, early modern global history, and historical geography to reconstruct the Mountain Estate as it evolved under Kangxi, illustrating the importance of landscape as a medium for ideological expression during the early Qing and in the early modern world more broadly. Examination of paintings, prints, historical maps, newly created maps informed by GIS-based research, and personal accounts reveals the significance of geographic space and its representation in the negotiation of Qing imperial ideology. The first monograph in any language to focus solely on the art and architecture of the Kangxi court, Where Dragon Veins Meet illuminates the court’s production and deployment of landscape as a reflection of contemporary concerns and offers new insight into the sources and forms of Qing power through material expressions.Art History Publication Initiative

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