A
Catechism of High Pressure or
Non-Condensing Steam Engines
Back in 1874 you might have only finished the fourth grade before going to work. After twenty years of twelve hour days, six days a week at the sawmill, you wanted something better. Then, as now, you needed a skill that set you apart from the other middle-aged fourth graders. You went looking for a book, and obviously, it had to be simple 'cuz you couldn't read very well, and after 72 hours a week sawing lumber your brain was almost mush (although I'm convinced it would have been better than most modern minds since television or the internet didn't exist back then). You need a simple book that taught the basic lessons of essential technology with questions and answers. So Stephen Roper came to your rescue.
Here you get a basic education in air, heat, steam, boilers of different types, safety valves, chimneys, grate bars, steam engines, knocking in engines, indicators, governors, injectors, steam-pumps, centrifugal pumps, piston-rod packing, incrustation, boiler explosions, belting, history, a glossary of terms and more.
This
book covers a lot of ground in simple explanations, but for the guy who knew
that being an engineer was two cuts above a common laborer in 1874, this delivered
the basic knowledge he had to know in order to talk his way into the power
house. You can learn a lot, too... although don't expect it to turn you into
a engine builder or machinist.
I find this interesting because it examines the engine technology that existed about the time the industrial revolution was taking off and was destined to change almost every aspect of American life.
We reprinted this about twenty-five years ago, but it hasn't been available for almost twenty. Interesting engravings and text. Worth having, even if you don't work in the local sawmill. Get a copy! 5-1/2 x 8-1/2 softcover 218 pages
No. 4066 ... $12.95
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