Heavy Electrical Engineering

Abstract

WITH so prolific an author as Mr. Hobart, the expectation of finding in any new book a good deal of old matter in a new guise is but natural, but in the present case such an expectation would be quite erroneous. This book is original from beginning to end; moreover, it is a perfect store of useful practical data and is clearly written, so that the reader always remains in touch with the author and knows what point he washes to make. These points are not matters of little detail, but the features in a design which really count. It is this ability of Mr. Hobart to take a broad and comprehensive view of his subject which makes this book so eminently readable. But in parts it is also highly controversial, and although also these parts are interesting reading, one cannot help feeling a little anxious for the author lest he should prove a false prophet. Thus he calls the London, Brighton and South Coast electrification “this singlephase monstrosity,” and devotes several pages to prove that the work could have been done for two-thirds the money on the direct-current system and in much less time. It may be that he is right, but if one remembers that the Swiss railway committee, which has been deliberating for three years, has not yet taken heart to condemn the single-phase system root and branch as Mr. Hobart does, a saying about a region where angels fear to tread comes to one's mind. Another point on which the author is equally dictatorial in his judgment concerns the transmission of power by high-pressure continuous current on the series system.

Heavy Electrical Engineering.

By H. M. Hobart. Pp. xxiv+338. (London: A. Constable and Co., Ltd., 1908.) Price 16s. net.