350 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



It is remarkable to read the words of Sir William Preece in 1879 when asked by 

 Lord Lindsay as member of a House of Commons Committee " whether he con- 

 sidered that the telephone will be an instrument of the future which will be largely 

 adopted by the public?" "I think not," was the reply. Of how many of the 

 great discoveries in science has this been said in England ! 



It would be impossible in a short review to do justice to this book. It is a 

 monument to the industry and thoroughness of one who is a recognised authority 

 in his subject. It is a book which should find its place in the library of every 

 scientific man, though it contains much that will prove of absorbing interest to 

 those who make no claim to that description, for it is the history of the develop- 

 ment (perhaps the most marvellous that the world has ever seen) of a great idea, 

 which has done more than any other to revolutionise the methods of human 

 intercourse. 



Land and Marine Diesel Engines. By Giorgio Supino. Translated by 

 Eng.-Lieut.-Commander A. G. Bremner, R.N., and James Richard- 

 son, B Sc. (Eng.) Lond., A.M.Inst.C.E. [Pp. xvi + 310, with 19 plates 

 and 380 illustrations.] (London: Charles Griffin & Co., 191 5. Price 

 12s. 6d. net.) 



This volume on the Diesel Engine is a translation of an Italian work. The 

 translators in their Preface write of the author as follows : " . . . an Italian 

 engineer of high repute, who died ere yet he had had time to enjoy the reputation 

 he had won, made a special study, not only of the theory, but of the construction 

 and running of oil engines, and such merits as this book possesses as a translation 

 are due entirely to his engineering genius, erudition, and lucidity of exposition. 

 The translators have sought only to interpret his ideas. The English edition, it 

 is hoped, will be accepted as much for its recognition of Ing. Supino's work as for 

 the stimulus and assistance it may bring to British workers. . . ." 



We join with the translators in their eulogy of the author and his book. It is 

 evidently the work of an engineer who has had the widest scientific and technical 

 training, and has then specialised in one particular branch of engineering. The 

 very arrangement of the book can be taken — now that this country is talking 

 about reconstructing its educational and commercial methods — as an object-lesson 

 to engineers and authors alike. It is divided into two parts. Part I. contains 

 six chapters as follows : I. Diesel Engines for Stationary Plants. II. Marine 

 Diesel Engines. III. Fuels for Diesel Engines, Heavy Oil Explosion Engines, 

 and Constant-Pressure or Diesel Engines. IV. Thermo-dynamic Cycles. V. Effi- 

 ciencies. VI. The Calculation of Cylinder Dimensions. Part II. discusses the 

 more technical detail from Chapter VII. on " Bed Plates, Crank Cases, Engine 

 Framing, Cylinders," to Chapter XVI. on " Tuning-up, Test Bench, and Accept- 

 ance Trials of Diesel Engines." 



Thus the engineer who completed his training some years ago but now finds he 

 has to face the Diesel engine problem — and there are many such, particularly, 

 perhaps, in the Royal Navy — can master the essential parts in the first 73 pages 

 of the book. And these essentials are regulated in suitable steps : first, what the 

 Diesel engine is and how it works ; secondly, the thermo-dynamical considera- 

 tions ; and thirdly, the calculation of the most essential part in any reciprocating 

 engine, the diameter of the cylinder, and stroke of the engine — i.e. cylinder 

 dimensions. Part II. can be used as desired. The engineer whose work is either 

 the design or construction will need to study every page in detail. The engineer 



