GILBERT, Davies On the expediency of assigning specific names to all such functions of simple elements as represent definite physical properties; with the suggestion of a new term in mechanics; illustrated by an investigation of the machine moved by recoil; and also by some observations on the steam engine. London, Reprint from Phil.Trans. 1827
4to. (ii) + 14pp. Orig. wrappers, a little dog-eared. Davis Gilbert was a significant figure in the scientific and engineering world in the early years of the 19th century and a friend of Trevithick, Hornblower and James Watt. He used his mathematical skills in several aspects of engineering, most famously to improve the design of Telford’s Menai suspension bridge, and in particular to the steam engine. In this paper he separates for the first time the concept of efficiency in a steam engine from the concept of duty, a term invented by James Watt. To demonstrate the usefulness of this new concept, he carries out a theoretical investigation of the reaction turbine, known then as Barker’s mill, a simple form of reaction water turbine invented in 1743 by Dr. Robert Barker. However, it could also be worked using steam, as invented by Wolfgang von Kempelen in 1784, much to Watt’s alarm. Trevithick himself had also designed a steam reaction turbine in 1815. The paper goes on to consider how to increase the efficiency of the high-pressure steam engine by reducing its fuel consumption,citing in particular Hornblower’s compound engine, and is a rare example of a theoretical rather than practical approach to this problem.
£350
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