An appreciation of the science of mechanical engineering is so indispensable to the manufacture and sale of machinery that the reader of this Guide might simply have been referred to the chapter For Engineers as covering the industry, if it were not that the Britannica contains (as the list at the end of this chapter shows) a great number of articles dealing with individual machines. The amount of space which the new Britannica devotes to mechanical subjects, and the great number of expert contributors whose collaboration was enlisted in this connection, are significant from more than one point of view. All other general encyclopaedias, including earlier editions of the Britannica itself, seem to have been influenced by the old-fashioned fetish of “pure” scholarship and “pure” science, treating theory as a subject of study much more dignified than the application of knowledge to the practical affairs of life. Until recent days the great universities of such important manufacturing countries as England, Germany and France were almost exclusively devoted to the teaching of philosophy, history, Greek and Latin, mathematics and pure or natural science. The older universities of the United States, too, were for a long time reluctant to recognize the growing importance of technical education, and the necessity, apart from technical education, of giving the general student some knowledge of mechanics. And it is a significant fact that the Britannica, the first encyclopaedia that has ever been published by a university, should be, although it comes from one of the oldest of all universities, the first to give full recognition to the importance of this department of knowledge.

Men in the machinery trade will welcome this change of attitude in the Britannica, not because they crave a public acknowledgment of the great share of the world’s work that they are doing, but because public ignorance of mechanical subjects results in the abuse of machines and in unreasonable complaints against manufacturers when improperly used machinery fails to do its work. A curious illustration of the general disregard of the subject is supplied by the fact—as true of the United States as of England, Germany or France—that representative government is, in practice, chiefly government by lawyers, and that in this age of machinery it is the exception to find in the cabinet which directs the affairs of any country, a single member who has any knowledge of mechanics. The same ignorance is conspicuous in newspaper offices. Even the most dignified dailies seem unable to deal with any news that has to do with machinery without making ridiculous blunders.

Influence of AutomobilesFortunately, the automobile is beginning to stimulate interest in practical mechanics, for no one can attempt to drive his own car, or even to obtain proper service from his chauffeur and from garage workmen, without realizing that he failed, at school, to learn some of the most useful of lessons. Before long the authorities responsible for our public schools may realize that it is absolute barbarism to neglect mechanical teaching as they do; and the new Britannica is already doing good service in stimulating public interest in the subject.

An examination of the articles mentioned in detail in the following summary, and a glance at the long list of articles at the end of the chapter, will show the comprehensiveness with which the Britannica treats all types of machinery. The materials employed are, logically, the first subjects upon which information will be desired.

Iron and Steel (Vol. 14, p. 801), by Professor H. M. Howe of Columbia University, is a mine of information about the properties and uses of the different varieties of the indispensable metal of which 50,000,000 tons per annum are employed. In the manufacture of electrical apparatus Copper (Vol. 7, p. 102) is largely employed, and for this reason alone the article has great value for the manufacturer. Almost as important is Alloys (Vol. 1, p. 704). Its chief author, Sir William Chandler Roberts-Austen, is the greatest living authority on alloys, and it is full of interesting facts about new admixtures.

The processes of Annealing, Hardening and Tempering are described in J. G. Horner’s article under that title (Vol. 2, p. 70). This authority explains clearly the difference between hardening and tempering and gives valuable advice as to the most efficient methods of hardening. Founding (Vol. 10, p. 743), also by J. G. Horner, is fully illustrated, and the question of the highest economies of machine moulding are among the practical matters considered. Forging (Vol. 10, p. 663), with 19 illustrations, discusses fullering, swaging, upsetting, bending, welding, pinching, cutting-off, and die-forging. There is also a separate article, Welding (Vol. 28), in which the section on Electric Welding is written by Elihu Thomson, who invented the process. A table of energy used in electric welding is added. See also Brazing and Soldering (Vol. 4, p. 463).

Manufacturing MethodsThe designer of machinery will find much practical information in Drawing, Drawing Office Work (Vol. 8, p. 556), and Sun-Copying (Vol. 26, p. 93). It is a remarkable fact that prints identical in scale with the originals are now made up to a length of 22 feet.

Bearings (Vol. 3, p. 578), illustrated, is written by Professor Dalby of the South Kensington Central Technical College. The article Tool (Vol. 27, p. 14), by J. G. Horner, is 33 pages in length and has 79 illustrations. The whole subject is completely covered. In the section on Machine Tools are discussed turning lathes, reciprocating machines, machines with drill and bore holes, milling machines, machines for cutting the teeth of gear wheels, grinding machinery, sawing machines, shearing and punching machines, hammers and presses, portable tools, appliances, wood-working machines, and measurement. In regard to the last subject great advances have lately been made. A thousandth of an inch is now considered a coarse dimension in the machine shop, where gauges within one five-thousandth of an inch are often used. This article is an invaluable manual for the machine-shop, and supplies many hints which should be given to workmen, for, to use the author’s words, “a clumsy workman is as much out of place in a modern machine-shop as he would be in a watch-factory.” Another article useful to the mechanic is Screw (Vol. 24, p. 477), with 10 illustrations, by J. G. Horner, with a section on the Errors of Screws, by the late Henry A. Rowland, the American physicist, whose skill, shown in the construction of dividing engines of extraordinary precision and delicacy, made him famous the world over. See also Graduation (Vol. 12, p. 312).

Engines and MotorsThe articles on the prime-movers are an important and noteworthy part of the new Britannica. Professor Ewing, of Cambridge University, contributes Air Engine (Vol. 1, p. 443) and Steam Engine (Vol. 25, p. 818), both fully illustrated. The latter has a most interesting preliminary historical account of engines from the aeolipile of Hero of Alexandria (about 130 B.C.) to the steam-turbine, the most modern type of all. The newest forms of internal combustion motors, Oil Engine (Vol. 20, p. 35) and Gas Engine (Vol. 11, p. 495), are described by Dugald Clerk, inventor of the Clerk cycle gas engine, and the articles are fully illustrated. Under Hydraulics (Vol. 14, p. 91) will be found complete information as to the construction of water-pressure engines, water-wheels, turbines, and also pumps. The article is written by Professor W. C. Unwin, and has been universally declared to be the best treatise on the subject that has yet appeared. There is a separate illustrated article Water-Motors (Vol. 28, p. 382), by Professor Beare of Edinburgh University. See also Windmill (Vol. 28, p. 710).

Designers and constructors of electrical machinery will be greatly interested in C. C. Hawkins’ illustrated article Dynamo (Vol. 8, p. 764), which explains fully how the dynamo is constructed and gives its history from Faraday’s discovery of the principle in 1831. Dr. Louis Bell, of the General Electric Co., writes on Motors, Electric (Vol. 18, p. 910).

Machinery for Special PurposesIn hundreds of articles on manufacturing and manufactured products there are excellent descriptions of the machinery employed. Cotton-Spinning Machinery (Vol. 7, p. 301), by Professor Fox, of Manchester University, gives details, with illustrations, of the modern systems of spinning, all founded on the inventions of Paul, Arkwright, Hargreaves and Crompton, while an historical account of primitive machines as well as much practical information, will be found under Spinning (Vol. 25, p. 685). Weaving has a section Weaving Machinery (Vol. 28, p. 443). An account of the special machinery and appliances used in the manufacture of woollens is included in Professor Barker’s illustrated article Wool, Worsted and Woollen Manufactures (Vol. 28, p. 805). In Hosiery (Vol. 13, p. 788) we learn about framework knitting and warp-knitting machines. It is recorded that up to the middle of the 19th century only a flat web could be knitted, and that a circular knitting machine of American origin is the type of machine on which is produced the seamless hosiery of to-day. This was introduced by J. W. Lamb in 1863. Rope and Rope Making (Vol. 23, p. 713), by Thomas Woodhouse, of the Dundee Technical College, is richly illustrated with pictures of the most modern type of machinery for the manufacture of fibre and wire ropes. The various machines and apparatus for sugar making are carefully described in Sugar, Sugar Manufacture (Vol. 26, p. 35). For milling machinery see Flour and Flour Manufacture (Vol. 10, p. 548), by George F. Zimmer, author of Mechanical Handling of Material. The latest designs in agricultural machines, with illustrations, as well as a history of their development, will be found under Plough and Ploughing (Vol. 21, p. 850), Sowing (Vol. 25, p. 523), Harrow (Vol. 13, p. 27), Reaping (Vol. 22, p. 944), Thrashing (Vol. 26, p. 887), etc. It is a matter of interest that the first successful reaping-machine was invented by a Scotch clergyman in 1826. For machinery used in the modern dairy see Dairy and Dairy Products (Vol. 7, p. 750). The germ of the sewing machine dates back to 1755, and the whole story of its development is told in Sewing Machines (Vol. 24, p. 744). |A Vast Encyclopaedia of Machinery| The descriptions of machinery of various kinds are continued under such headings as Brewing, Brewing Operations (Vol. 4, p. 506), illustrated; Bellows and Blowing Machines (Vol. 3, p. 705), illustrated; Pin (Vol. 21, p. 615); Needle (Vol. 19, p. 338); Typography, Modern Practical Typography (Vol. 27, p. 542), illustrated; Printing (Vol. 22, p. 350), illustrated; Bookbinding, Modern Methods (Vol. 4, p. 218), illustrated; Textile Printing (Vol. 26, p. 694); Alkali Manufacture (Vol. 1, p. 674), illustrated; Refrigerating and Ice Making (Vol. 23, p. 30); Silk, Silk Manufacture (Vol. 25, p. 102); Lace, Machine-made Lace (Vol. 16, p. 44), illustrated; Carpet, Modern Machinery (Vol. 5, p. 396); Leather (Vol. 16, p. 330), illustrated; Bicycle (Vol. 3, p. 913), illustrated; Typewriter (Vol. 27, p. 501), illustrated; Dredge and Dredging (Vol. 8, p. 562), illustrated; and Paper, Paper Manufacture (Vol. 20, p. 727), illustrated.

Biographies of many inventors, designers and builders of machines are included in the list of articles at the end of the chapter For Engineers in this Guide, and are therefore omitted in the following alphabetical summary.