For anyone interested in the history and developement of marine propulsion, this book is seminal.
Published privately in 1909 by George Westinghouse, it is a re-print of work that first appeared that year in the British journal Engineering. It details the theoretical designs of Rear-Admiral George W. Melville and John H. Macalpine for a high-speed, steam-driven turbine engine to power large naval vessels.
It was Westinghouse, personally granted more than a dozen turbine-related patents, and his engineers who figured how to transform the theories of Melville and Macalpine into the reality that made ships move.
As George Westinghouse ended the introduction he wrote for the American edition:
“I regard this invention as epoch-making in its importance. It has been my privilege to supply the material things which were needed to transform the creature of Messrs. Melville and Macalpine’s imaginations into an actual thing of iron and steel. The results achieved by the completed machine have fully justified my faith in its success.”
