All About Engines

Preface The boy of to-day lives in a world of engines—en- gines in front of him, engines behind him, engines all round him—and most boys are devoured with curiosity to know how they are made and how they work. They will go out of their way to see engines, pluck up courage to ask questions of those in charge, spend hours reading about them when a suitable book falls into their hands, and at night dream that they are spinning along at sixty miles an hour with their hand on the starting lever of a locomotive, or, more probably in these days, soaring 10,000 feet high in an aeroplane. It is to satisfy such an admirable thirst for in- formation that this book has been written. Beginning with an account of a simple engine, and an explana- tion of how it works by steam, the reader is next introduced to the pioneers and their difficulties in order to bring out more clearly the principles involved in the production of mechanical power. After a survey of the various types of steam engines and boilers, gas, petrol, and oil engines are described. These chapters are followed by brief accounts of the