Product Description

This book looks at the way science and industry relate to each other, and at the way social attitudes affect this relationship. The expert author beautifully illustrates this by tracing the story of the remarkable endeavors of the Parsons family during the 125 years that embraced their lives in Ireland and Great Britain during the developing Industrial Revolution. Lavishly illustrated throughout, with a handy family tree and map of the River Tyne pin-pointing key historic events, this is a highly accessible and fascinating account for the general reader interested in the way scientific knowledge and industrial application have slowly emerged in recent history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1278659 in Books
• Published on: 1999-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 596 pages

Review
"Scaife's book provides a popular and highly readable account of the contributions made by these two great Irishmen." Science Today "From Galaxies to Turbines is stuffed with facts, figures, diagrams, pictures and quotations, many from archival sources. The pile of details helps to measure the breadth and height of the Parsons' achievements. Scaife's unpretentious text makes plain the courage, stubbornness and stamina that created the Parsons family Leviathans and offers welcome refreshment among the gimcracks and glitter of more fashionable histories of science." Nature vol 407 14 Sept 2000 "This book is, without doubt, the most extensive archival study of the science of the Rosse family." Allan Chapman, Astronomy Now .." this is a highly accessible and fascinating account for the general reader interested in the way scientific knowledge and industrial application have slowly converged in recent history." VGB/PowerTech .." a real gold mine." Centaurus "From Galaxies to Turbines is a well-researched book, detailing the lives of the Parsons family until the early 20th century. Many of the trials and tribulations that william Parsons and Charles Parsons experienced are brought to life with excerpts from letters between members of the Parsons family . . .the book is beautifully illustrated throughout." Vincent Chan in Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, October 2002 sup_mat www.birrcastle.com/: Galaxies 's book provides a popular and highly readable account of the contributions made by these two great Irishmen." Science Today "From Galaxies to Turbines is stuffed with facts, figures, diagrams, pictures and quotations, many from archival sources. The pile of details helps tomeasure the breadth and height of the Parsons' achievements. Scaife's unpretentious text makes plain the courage, stubbornness and stamina that created the Parsons family Leviathans and offers welcome refreshment among the gimcracks and glitter of more fashionable histories of science." Nature vol 407 14 Sept 2000 "This book is, without doubt, the most extensive archival study of the science of the Rosse family." Allan Chapman, Astronomy Now .." this is a highly accessible and fascinating account for the general reader interested in the way scientific knowledge and industrial application have slowly converged in recent history." VGB/PowerTech .." a real gold mine." Centaurus "From Galaxies to Turbines is a well-researched book, detailing the lives of the Parsons family until the early 20th century. Many of the trials and tribulations that william Parsons and Charles Parsons experienced are brought to life with excerpts from letters between members of the Parsons family . . .the book is beautifully illustrated throughout." Vincent Chan in Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, October 2002 sup_mat www.birrcastle.com/: Galaxies

Science Today
"Scaife's book provides a popular and highly readable account of the contributions made by these two great Irishmen."

From the Author
This is the story of two men who made their mark.
The steam turbine has revolutionised the way energy in coal, gas or oil is turned into power. Charles Parsons began that revolution in 1884 when he built the world's first practical turbo-generator. Not only that he pushed its development forward without subsidies to support him, creating new markets; for example he adapted it for the propulsion of fast warships and liners like the Titanic. He made his offering to mankind at a time when his fellow Irishmen, James Joyce, Bernard Shaw and William Butler Yeats were making their contributions to world literature. My own interest in the achievements of the Parsons family dates back to the sixties when I began teaching in the Engineering School at Trinity College Dublin. Each day as I entered the stylish Museum building to reach the lecture theatres, I passed a glass case which housed 'Parsons' steam turbo-generator #5 1885', presented by Gerald Stoney. As 1984, the centenary year of his invention approached, I became increasingly interested to know how exactly this had been born. While preparing for the Centenary Conference in Dublin several questions came to mind; why was the turbo-generator invented in 1884, and not 1834 or 1934? why was it Charles Parsons who accomplished this? And, how did it happen that its development took place in Newcastle upon Tyne and not in Belfast or Dublin? Another item which the Engineering School possessed was a model of a giant 3 foot reflecting telescope built by Charles' father, William Parsons- the astronomer and 3rd Earl of Rosse, at his home in Birr. William was the first to discover the spiral nebulae- fellow galaxies of our own Milky Way. As I searched among the artefacts and archival material in museums and libraries in Birr, Dublin, London and Newcastle, I uncovered the story of how society of the time with its attitudes to industry, to wealth and to education, interacted with the new sciences like electricity as a new era of technology was ushered in. At the same time an awareness of the personalities of the two great men, William and Charles Parsons began to emerge. My hope is that I can convey something of that to the reader, and trace the influence of father on his son. In the nature of the story, technical details have an essential place, but I have treid to describe them in a way that will satisfy the reader who is not a technical expert.