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Aviation History
1911
1911 - 0084.PDF
.ERONAUT': IBRAl To know something of books before they are bought is always a wise proceeding, if only from the economic point of view; and no doubt many people are deterred from stocking at least one whole shelf with aeronautical literature because they have not the leisure to find out for themselves those very points they want to know about possible purchases. There exists at the present time a very presentable collection of works relating to various aspects of aeronautics that are not only essential to the student of the subject, but are thoroughly well worthy of possession by the man who is admittedly more platonically interested. Moreover, it is neither necessary nor desirable to search second-hand book shops for out of print volumes by old writers, for, except to the bibliophile, such treatises have already become of little importance. First are such general works as " The Conquest of the Air," by Alphonse Berget, " Vehicles of the Air," by Victor Lougheed, " Airships Past and Present," by A. Hildebrandt, " Airships in Peace and War," by R. P. Hearne, " Aerial Navigation of To-day," by Charles C. Turner, " Aerial Navigation," by Frederick Walker, C.E., and " The Art of Aviation," by R. W. A. Brewer. All, naturally, have some points of interest, but for our own part we confess to a preference for Lougheed's work, which is well written, even though it suffers somewhat from rather careless arrangement and from a total absence of any index. It is, however, easy to forgive such faults in a first attempt, hoping for better things next time. Although perhaps somewhat out of date, Hildebrandt's "Airships" is still perhaps the most interesting work on this particular branch of the subject, while another book that has a distinct fascination is " My Airships," by Santos Dumont. Nobody could do better than make their first step the reading of the works of early pioneers—the admirable little Aeronautical Classics published by the oldest Aeronautical Society in the world. These give succinct accounts of the aspirations and experiments of the great men who are proving to have been instrumental in helping towards the conquest of the air, and each book has the fascination of a human document. Incidentally, too, the value of these reproductions is enhanced by exceptionally well-written introductions. Another good biographical work is the " Epitome of the Aeronautical Annual," containing a reprint of the principal articles appearing in a publication that was originally pro duced by James Means in 1895. It covers some of the ground dealt with by the Aeronautical Classics but would be worth having if only because of the account it contains of Lilienthal's famous gliding experiments, which is the best record of this work in English. On the technical side, it is necessary to classify books according to the precise aspect of the science of which they treat. If one would study bird flight, for example, Marey's famous tome is a classic that cannot possibly be ignored, although it is yet without an English translation. Almost all books on Aeronautics, however, have, of course, something to say on this subject; Marey, however, was the greatest of all scientific investigators in this field, and even to know something of his method of procedure is an education in itself. Mouillard's " L'Empire de l'Air " must also be included in this category. In the science of pure aerodynamics, Lanchester's first volume on Aerial Flight deserves to be regarded as a standard treatise and although dealing with a subject that many find abstruse, we have always contended that Lanchester exhibits therein powers of lucidity not always vouchsafed to minds of equal ability. Nor should anyone be without Langley's " Experiments in Aerodynamics," the first of all treatises on this subject and the record of the most famous experiments ever conducted. Some smaller works that may be of interest to the student are those by Herbert Chatley on the " Problem of Flight and the Force of the Wind." The title of this latter book is not altogether happy as it is preferable to reserve the term wind for the natural phenomenon instead of applying it broadcast to artificial currents. The study of winds and of meteorology on an even broader scale must necessarily form a part of the complete education of the student of aeronautics ; but for the moment this has not been the most pressing side of the science, although the rapid encroachment of mere flight upon the realm of aerial navigation renders this matter daily more urgent. So far Langley's " Internal Work of the Wind " is really the most important study of this branch of flight, and it is essential also that it should be studied in connection with bird flight, especially that part of it relating to soaring. " The Mechanics of the Earth's Atmosphere," published by the Smithsonian Institute, is also an important book. Two works that it is perhaps all the more necessary to mention because they are not ordinarily included as books are those giving the re searches of T. E. Stanton on " Air Resistance and Wind Pressure " ; they are among the reports of the National Physical Laboratory, but have been issued as separate publications. They should certainly be acquired by all those who do not already possess them, for Dr. Stanton's data is to-day the basis of reference in this particular field of investigation. There still remains a section of students to whom none of the books mentioned are quite suited, for none of them deal specifically with model making, which is not only an interesting but a very important pastime pursued by a great number of the rising generation. On this subject we have seen no book to equal V. E. Johnson's "Theory and Practice of Model Aeroplaning," which is written in just that instructive style that is so well suited to the needs of the amateur. For a book that is an attempt to summarise the subject of aeronautics at large, in a handy form for reference, we would refer our readers to our own " Flight Manual" and also to Moedebeck's " Pocket Book of Aeronautics " which of itself forms a remarkably good text-book of that branch of science defined as Aerostatics. Among a variety of miscellaneous works that may be of particular interest to students following a definite line of research, we might mention the small book in which Sir Hiram Maxim gives an account of his experiments and the companion volume to one already mentioned in which Lanchester also deals with a vast amount of experimental research mainly conducted with models. A book that may not be altogether easy to obtain is one containing the proceedings of the InternationalConference on Aerial Navigation held in Chicago in 1893. The annual report of the Smithsonian Institute also generally contains something of value; while one of the most remarkable books ever issued is Paul Brocket's " Bibliography of Aeronautics"—a stupendous undertaking of nearly a thousand pages full of references to aeronautical literature. Another book in the nature of a catalogue, but illustrated, is F. T. Jane's " Airships," containing a list of the aeroplanes and dirigibles at present in existence. 86
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