Abstract
THE author of this book is well known, both as a practising marine engineer and as an author. His “Manual of Marine Engineering” has long served as a text-book, and has passed through many editions. It was natural, therefore, that the announcement of a work by Mr. Seaton dealing with marine propellers should awaken interest over a wide circle of readers, more especially as the problem of propeller design has not yet received a complete solution. As Mr. Seaton says, “even in modern times … our best men do sometimes fail to achieve success,” although there are now available the results of much experimental and theoretical investigation on the subject. After seventy years' continuous work it still remains true that when novel types of ships or unprecedented speeds have to be attempted, although use may have been made of all available data, and the best advice taken, full success is not always or at once achieved. On the contrary, considerable gains in efficiency are frequently attained by a process of “trial and error,” out of which comes a final selection of the propeller forms and dimensions best suited to novel conditions.
The Screw Propeller: and other Competing Instruments for Marine Propulsion.
By A. E. Seaton. Pp. xii + 255. (London: Charles Griffin and Co., Ltd., 1909.) Price 12s. 6d. net.
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The Screw Propeller: and other Competing Instruments for Marine Propulsion . Nature 81, 213 (1909). https://doi.org/10.1038/081213a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/081213a0