The invention of the steam engines was definitely one of the events deservedly considered most significant and important to the whole development of the modern human civilization; its impact on the course of North American history alone was as direct and powerful as its own mechanical action. This creation is one of the simplest and, at the same time, most beautiful power mechanisms that man has ever devised; to me all other machines pale by comparison.

This is an engine with a number of cylinders with a piston travels straight back and forth inside each of the cylinders, i.e. "reciprocating". Steam, being admitted and exhausted alternately at both ends of the piston stroke, pushes the piston forward and back, making each stroke a power stroke—a unique feature of the reciprocating engine. It means that the force is transmitted directly from the piston to either a wheel or a crankshaft by a system of rods and cranks, creating a sublime precision of movement.

The fact that there are no gears or transmission makes this the only engine with equal power both in forward and in reverse, and enables it to move anything provided there is enough steam for pushing the piston. A nice and interesting publication to be there on the bookshelf of any lover of history.

The ultimate purpose of the present training source was is to provide all hydraulics technicians with enough basic knowledge on electrical/electronic circuits and supplement it with some practical exercises for easier finding and remedy of the failures that may occur in integrated hydraulic and electrical installations/systems.

However, we are not intending to make anyone believe that the present publication may enable them immediately start the repair of the electrical equipment straight upon completion of the material provided in its pages. The document has been divided by the authors in the several chapters, with the first one providing the very basic information required to any specialist. The second chapter deals with the electric units - their designation, assigned symbols, abbreviations etc.

Then there goes a chapter dedicated to the active and passive components of any electronic hardware, followed by the chapter on the coils and capacitors, describing the capacity, charge and discharge, phase shifts, series and parallel connection, marking and application, speed-up etc; resonance circuits and transformers have also been addressed here. The rest of the chapters in this book deal with the semi-conductors, transistors, operational amplifiers, troubleshooting, and Danfoss hydraulics.

This is the revised and significantly updated release of the best-selling training set prepared for the students of English working on the improvement of their vocabulary book, prepared by Michael McCarthy, Felicity O'Dell, and Stuart Redman with the intention to assist readers in building their new vocabulary.

Note that this is a full set containing all four books of the series, fitting the students of the Elementary, Pre-Intermediate, Intermediate, and Advanced levels. There are thousands of the new words and expressions - they can be found on the left-hand page of each unit. Every new word or phrase is presented in in a sentence, has a picture, or is used in a conversation, or is provided with the description. And, on the right-hand page readers will find interesting aimed to help them practice using the newly learnt words. This book may be used either with or without a teacher.

There are keys to exercises provided at the end of the book. Regardless of whether the vocabulary is used in class or at home, it covers all words and phrases most of the users need at Elementary level in order to understand and to be understood. The book contains sixty units of vocabulary reference and practice; it is divided into nine chapters, namely learner training, everyday verbs, people, words and grammar, at home, the world, workplace and school, social issues and leisure.

As it is clear from the title of this book, it is mainly intended for mariners and other participants of the maritime industry who are willing to improve their maritime English skills. It is quite obvious that all people involved in any sort of shipping-related activities, such as maintenance and handling of vessels, ship management, marine surveys, port state control inspections, cargo handling, etc. - they all have to have a very good knowledge of the maritime English in order to perform their professional duties.

The training material provided in this book has been divided into major parts. The first part has been named "Merchant vessels" and it addresses the general info on the ships, their construction, machinery, outfitting, safe navigation issues, classification societies etc. The second part, "Safety at sea" deals with the safety of the crew, seaworthiness of the ship, lifesaving appliances, IMO and other maritime entities.

There is also a Glossary in the book, contained in its last third part and providing readers with various important forms of shipping documents, informative illustrations, instructions to be followed by the officers, recognized international standards and other information. This book will be useful to any merchant mariner or even a member of shore support team.

This would be an excellent choice for the people needing a publication that would be focusing on various aspects of troubleshooting and repair of the diesel engines. The book is considerably thorough and full of informative illustrations. This textbook will provide readers with the technical details that they need beyond the general idea of how such engines function.

It really contains plenty of useful info and would definitely help all industry participants, and particularly diesel technicians with a great deal at work in their professional careers, giving much more than would be enough. The author, Paul Dempsey, has presented all recent technological advances in diesel engines. This revised and updated classic guidance is very practical, comprehensive and easy to use, equipping readers with excellent tools as well as proven techniques that are required in order to keep their diesel machinery in satisfactory working condition.

Moreover, the publication also includes so much information relating to the diesel engine diagnostics, fuel oil systems, generators and starters, mechanics of the diesel engine, some basic knowledge of the electrics, engine cooling and lubrication systems, turbochargers, governors, valves, exhaust after-treatment and other critically important aspects. The book is packed with more than three hundred schemes, drawings and images.

The authors of this publication, which addressing one of the most terrible and large-scale technological catastrophes in the whole history of the offshore industry, have used the true story of the Gulf of Mexico disaster as the background, based on which they have discussed the relationships of the energy-complexity spiral to what had happened. Patzek and Tainter touched on so many interesting matters, and it really makes sense to spend some time on reading this book because it will let the reader have some better and more thorough understanding of the problem.

The content of the present publication has been found very important for all participants of the industry and something that everyone directly or indirectly concerned with the future of the oil and gas industry should be aware of. The authors have widely appreciated the links existing thee between energy and consumption, and also between energy and the environment; however, note that they all are only one part of the story.

In short, we may say that this is a really fascinating reading telling so much of interesting facts and opening the readers eyes to many things that were not paid due attention before. An excellent and must-have one.

Diesel engines, also referred to as combustion ignition engines, are possessing a truly wide field of possible practical applications as energy converters, and that is owing to their high efficiency, The present textbook is intended to present a contemporary approach used when studying the different technical aspects of this type of engines.

The book consists of ten major chapters and the papers presented there have been selected and carefully reviewed by the recognized industry professionals and all suggestions of the reviewers have also been taken into consideration when releasing this volume. For convenience of the readers, this publication has been arranged in three sections.

The first section provides the theoretical basics of the combustion and emissions. The second section concentrates on the after-treatment of the exhaust gases and EGR. Finally, the closing section of the volume has been dedicated to the various systems of engine control and monitoring.

This is really recommendable reading for both industry professionals and students, who will definitely find there the answers to the most common theoretical questions that may arise when studying the construction and operating principles of the diesel engines. The book discusses the most important tools of detecting the common failure modes that could detect the early signs of the diesel engine failure...

Here is the second, revised and updated, release of the waste and water management dictionary - the volume has been expanded by about ten per cent in comparison with the first edition, and includes more than a thousand revised or completely new entries.

This volume provides readers with much more comprehensive coverage of terminology relating to the storm water and flood management; the latest EU Directives in the environmental field have also been incorporated in this release of the dictionary and it now includes a number of extra entries concerning detection of the leaks, sewer  and pipeline rehabilitation.

The readers treat this dictionary as the important and timely one, recommended to all libraries supporting various waste and water management programs and other environment-related studies as well as hydrology. It is a good and very comprehensive reference covering waste and water treatment and management. This latest edition of the dictionary includes more than seven thousand entries and takes into consideration the most recent developments of the water/waste management and associated terminology.

This all makes the book a very handy reference source for the engineers, contractors and other professionals involved in the industry. The United States and British standards and legislation are referenced in the book.