From September 1959 until January 1971 my professional work was
mainly devoted to the research, development and application of gas
lubrication, firstly at the University of Southampton, and after
September 1963, at the company that later became known as Westwind Air
Bearings Ltd., of Poole in Dorset. Towards the end of these twelve years
I had taken the decision to look for an opportunity to teach
engineering in Africa but I also resolved to preserve in writing as much
as I could of what I had learned on the south coast of England. With
the encouragement and support of the Machinery Publishing Company The
Design of Aerostatic Bearings was released in November 1970. When three
months later I flew off to a new life at the Kwame Nkrumah University of
Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana, I little thought that
the book would be redrawn to my attention in some unexpected ways.
'I suppose you can teach just about anything,' were the words with which I was greeted by my new boss, Professor Norman Smith. After some urgent negotiation, 'anything' was reduced to fluid mechanics, thermodynamics and engineering drawing, together with a topic shared with the great man himself: principles of mechanical engineering, which turned out to be 'anything' in disguise. With a head still full of gas lubrication and students studying fluid mechanics I couldn't resist proposing some topics for final year BSc honours projects that involved experiments with air bearings. So in the 1971-2 academic year two students made and tested what might have been the first air bearings in Africa.
No further opportunity was presented to preserve this link with the past. In January 1972 I took up the post of first director of the Technology Consultancy Centre (TCC) and gradually wound up my teaching duties in the Faculty of Engineering to devote my efforts to Appropriate Technology. The next few years were occupied responding to requests from grassroots entrepreneurs and craftsmen who wanted to be taught how to make soap, paper glue, afro-wigs and gunpowder, and helping small engineering workshops to make the necessary tools and production plant. After four years of service the opportunity arose to take a six months Sabbatical leave, so in August 1977 I flew off to Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, India, to study with the Appropriate Technology Development Group (ATDG).
My aim in visiting ATDG was to share some of the knowledge of the great Sri M K Garg, who the Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, once said had created employment for a million souls. It was Garg who dismissed much of the appropriate technology undertaken by Western engineers in developing countries as 'ad-hoc improvisation.' By this he meant that although village industries required small-scale production plants, the machines and equipment should still be well engineered and made from durable materials to provide reliability and long life with minimal maintenance.
Garg was working on establishing small-scale textile plants and had designed and manufactured appropriate spinning frames. The next task was to provide machines for opening the bales of cotton, and undertaking scutching and roving. He was travelling south to Coimbatore to consult one of India's leading textile engineers, Sri Balasundram, and invited me to join him. I was told that Sri Balasundram was the first engineer to manufacture electric motors in India.
After M K Garg had got what he needed, Sri Balasundram remarked that the English manufacturer, Platt, had put air bearings on their spinning heads and he would like to do the same - could I help him? Much surprised, I admitted that I was rather rusty and would need my book. 'Oh, we have your book,' the high Brahmin replied and asked his son to bring it. So working with the son, a graduate of the local polytechnic, a Saturday morning was passed producing a first draft of a suitable design.
Many years passed and retirement brought idle hours to be passed exploring the Internet. After discovering the phenomenon of Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk it was inevitable that The Design of Aerostatic Bearings should eventually be typed into the search engine. This was December 2010, and much to my surprise I found that someone was offering used copies of the 40 year old book for sale on Amazon.co.uk at £147.00 a copy. By May 2011, Amazon.com offered a used copy at $427.00. By the middle of December 2011, used copies had apparently been sold on Amazon.co.uk at prices up to £792.86 and on Amazon.com at prices up to $2,249.53.
I have no idea why this old book should be still in demand or command such a high price. If any reader can shed some light on the matter I would be delighted to hear from them.
'I suppose you can teach just about anything,' were the words with which I was greeted by my new boss, Professor Norman Smith. After some urgent negotiation, 'anything' was reduced to fluid mechanics, thermodynamics and engineering drawing, together with a topic shared with the great man himself: principles of mechanical engineering, which turned out to be 'anything' in disguise. With a head still full of gas lubrication and students studying fluid mechanics I couldn't resist proposing some topics for final year BSc honours projects that involved experiments with air bearings. So in the 1971-2 academic year two students made and tested what might have been the first air bearings in Africa.
No further opportunity was presented to preserve this link with the past. In January 1972 I took up the post of first director of the Technology Consultancy Centre (TCC) and gradually wound up my teaching duties in the Faculty of Engineering to devote my efforts to Appropriate Technology. The next few years were occupied responding to requests from grassroots entrepreneurs and craftsmen who wanted to be taught how to make soap, paper glue, afro-wigs and gunpowder, and helping small engineering workshops to make the necessary tools and production plant. After four years of service the opportunity arose to take a six months Sabbatical leave, so in August 1977 I flew off to Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, India, to study with the Appropriate Technology Development Group (ATDG).
My aim in visiting ATDG was to share some of the knowledge of the great Sri M K Garg, who the Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, once said had created employment for a million souls. It was Garg who dismissed much of the appropriate technology undertaken by Western engineers in developing countries as 'ad-hoc improvisation.' By this he meant that although village industries required small-scale production plants, the machines and equipment should still be well engineered and made from durable materials to provide reliability and long life with minimal maintenance.
Garg was working on establishing small-scale textile plants and had designed and manufactured appropriate spinning frames. The next task was to provide machines for opening the bales of cotton, and undertaking scutching and roving. He was travelling south to Coimbatore to consult one of India's leading textile engineers, Sri Balasundram, and invited me to join him. I was told that Sri Balasundram was the first engineer to manufacture electric motors in India.
After M K Garg had got what he needed, Sri Balasundram remarked that the English manufacturer, Platt, had put air bearings on their spinning heads and he would like to do the same - could I help him? Much surprised, I admitted that I was rather rusty and would need my book. 'Oh, we have your book,' the high Brahmin replied and asked his son to bring it. So working with the son, a graduate of the local polytechnic, a Saturday morning was passed producing a first draft of a suitable design.
Many years passed and retirement brought idle hours to be passed exploring the Internet. After discovering the phenomenon of Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk it was inevitable that The Design of Aerostatic Bearings should eventually be typed into the search engine. This was December 2010, and much to my surprise I found that someone was offering used copies of the 40 year old book for sale on Amazon.co.uk at £147.00 a copy. By May 2011, Amazon.com offered a used copy at $427.00. By the middle of December 2011, used copies had apparently been sold on Amazon.co.uk at prices up to £792.86 and on Amazon.com at prices up to $2,249.53.
I have no idea why this old book should be still in demand or command such a high price. If any reader can shed some light on the matter I would be delighted to hear from them.
0 comments:
Post a Comment