Abstract
ANY author who attempts to cover the syllabus outlined in the preface and contents of this treatise needs considerably more than 415 pages of the ordinary-size text-book in which to do that properly. Too much has been attempted, and a great opportunity has not been made use of to the fullest advantage. Some portions of the book are elementary to a degree which irritates; other portions are so advanced that needful and useful sections have been sacrificed in order to keep the size of the book within the usual limits. Clearly the author should have divided his matter into two volumes, one elementary and the other advanced. In the preface there is rightly expressed the opinion that “the numerous applications of heat in modern industrial processes”… do not “receive more than the briefest mention in ordinary treatises on heat,” and it is the avowed object of this book to remedy that omission. Yet “Practical Heat Engines” are disposed of in sixteen pages, and one searches in vain for a mention of that most interesting and instructive heat motor— the Diesel engine. There is nothing about evaporators; a study of the action of multiple-effect evaporators especially conveys much that is useful to the engineering student; We obtain the impression that the. book is meant for the student in physics, and not for the engineer. If that is conceded, then there is more reason for its contents. In any case, however, space might have been found for dealing with the errors of the aneroid barometer, since the instrument itself is considered and described. An improvement in the arrangement of the contents could be made with advantage. For example, pp. 119 to 136 contain some excellent matter on pyrometers. It is advanced work. From pp. 276 to 358 we are made to wade through much that is quite elementary tin conduction, convection, and radiation!
Heat for Engineers. A Treatise on Heat, with Special Regard to its Practical Applications.
By Chas. R. Darling. Pp. xii + 430. (London: E. and F. Spon, Ltd., 1908.) Price 12s. 6d. net.
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SMITH, C. Heat for Engineers A Treatise on Heat, with Special Regard to its Practical Applications . Nature 79, 335–336 (1909). https://doi.org/10.1038/079335b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/079335b0
