Transportation Books

Must have for all boaters and workers in the industry.

It was very hard to tell from the description or the reviews that the book is almost exclusively designed for the wind-borne sailor. For example there is very little on multiple alternator charging systems and all pictures of boats are of sailboats.
As a result I have a brand new copy for sale.

10 years ago I used this book to engineer and install the electrical system on an old 60's vintage sailboat. Since then, the boat has been sailed extensively and the system has performed flawlessly. The information on batteries, energy management, and charging is invaluable.

I work in a boatyard, and can honestly say that because of this book there are not many boats that are wired as well as mine.

It took me a bit to get used to the format of the book, its all outline style, point 1, 1a 1b etc. I did catch some mistakes in some tables... it seemed that wiring sizes in one table were different than another table. I wish some areas had more detailed infomration. But there is a LOT of information here, and he covers every category I can think of. I am currently in the process of rewiring my DC and it is very helpful. I use it in conjunction with Nigel Calder's book, and each has good info. Over all I prefer Calder, but like having both.

This book gives an overabundance of information about the electrical and electonic system aboard a boat. Some of the diagrams are not accurate i.e. the thing the author is trying to explain will not work if you construct it the way he is suggesting you should.

A ripoff of bad, but large picts, no text to speak of.

This is a small coffee table book (less than a hundred pages) that is intended as an introduction to Patick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey novels. It is chock-full of diagrams, drawings, tables, pictures and so on. It covers a wealth of topics, such as types and ratings of vessels, sails and sailing, weapons. Uniforms, naval powers other than Great Britain, and privateers. It also includes a glossary at the end. There is a lot of information packed into those 90 or so pages and the reader can learn a lot. However, there is one great drawback to this book: it is written in a style that is sometimes hard to follow and assumes the reader already has a certain command of naval vocabulary. One example (page 43) will suffice:
"The lower mast passed down through holes in the deck known as partners and was stepped on the kelson. Masts were held in position by forestays which extended forward on the centerline of the vessel, while there were two sets of backstays extending aft to be secured to the sides by channel plates. The masts were stayed athwartships by shrouds."
Huh? If you can follow that, great, but in a book designed as an introduction, it's a bit much. One has to keep flipping to the glossary to figure out what's going on. However, not all the problematic words are in the glossary, kelson for example is absent (Kelson does appear in Sea of Words-see my review of that excellent book). This style diminishes the value of the book somewhat. If you find a copy, read it, but make sure you have Sea of Words at hand.

This slim volume is very attractively put together. The layout is pleasing, and the many photos and historical paintings are easily the best part of the book. Past that, though, the quality drops off.

The text is reasonably well written, but doesn't always flow well. Often you'll turn the page and be surprised that the chapter is over. Or you'll read fairly detailed information on one subject, yet find gaps in others. For instance, there is a detailed chart of the actual weight of cannon shot depending on the nationality of its manufacture. This is interesting, but seems oddly out of place. In many places the book feels like a hastily organized jumble of facts. A bit more effort, and the services of a decent editor, would have improved this book.

Another improvement that could have been made by an editor is the removal of numerous typos and glitches. On one page, two illustrations have their captions transposed. In many other places obvious typos are present. If I can catch them by reading the book once, they shouldn't be there.

Perhaps the worst flaw of this book is its incompleteness. It's missing a serious discussion of how ships were sailed, information on battle tactics, and recurring locales from the novels. Worse, the book uses terms that it never explains. For instance, the caption of one illustration mentions that the bowsprit gammoning is ommitted for clarity. But gammoning is not in the glossary. (As it turns out, if you google for "bowsprit gammoning" you'll find an amazing online reference, geared towards model ship builders, with more detail than you can shake a stick at) The book is filled with such omissions. I'm pretty familiar with nautical terminology, but I'd worry for someone who got this book as their only reference.

Overall, I enjoyed the book; I received it as a gift and am happy with it. The numerous contemporary illustrations and photos of actual items are a joy, and the book did contain facts that I had not previously been aware of. However, as a reference book, it is somewhat lacking.

Anyone interested in the 19th century world of the British Royal Navy will find this book invaluable. Although Captain Jack Aubrey is fictional, the history is correct of that era. There are photos of museum relics, and much information fron primary sources. It is the most complete and affordable book I have yet seen that explains the ships of that era.One section even describes the uniforms of the Royal Navy and the Marines
of that era, a subject somewhat difficult to locate primary sources about.A great, hardback book that will keep the reader interested.

Very helpful in filling in background to the Aubrey/Maturin series only too brief (only 80 pages). This book is a good place to start acquiring info on the subject matter of the books, especially if you are a hopeless lubber like myself.

Boat-building is a technical area where good manuals are printed in any language, but somehow very poor about interior design and construction. This book, very practical, professionally tested and full of detailed color images, fills up the gap. The manual is intended to help both the amateur boatbuilder, both the professional carpenter. The planned interior is intended to be a medium-size one, but with the same skill you can construct a longer boat.

I have a 1976 production sailboat that needs refurbishing. My needs have been established by 25-years of usage and I will swap unused bunk space for accessible storage. Michael Naujok will be my guide. I will enjoy his presence every step of the way. This is one beautiful book with clear, crisp color photographs showing the stages of fabrication, installation, and finishing. It's a very enjoyable companion.

Naujok started with a bare production hull for a 34 foot sailboat, and finished it to standards equal to any production yacht. Along the way he took great photos showing the details of each step. The illustrations are excellent. A great feature of this book is that it systematically takes you through the entire fitting-out process.
Like all books, this one is limited in how much information it can pack into one volume. Completing a yacht interior usually involves applying the skills of a cabinetmaker, electrician, plumber, upholsterer, etc., and while this book shows you what's involved, you'll need other materials if you're not experienced in each of these areas. Surprisingly, all of the work is done with hand tools and a limited number of portable power tools (and, I guess, a lot of patience...). Stationary woodworking machines such as tablesaw, bandsaw, and sanders would save considerable labor.
My biggest criticism has to do with the translation. The book was originally written in German, and translated in the UK. As such, much of the terminology and product names are unfamiliar in North America. For this reason you'll want to refer to other sources. But, if you're considering building or rebuilding a boat interior, books are going to be your least expense.

A well-written step-by-step guide for refitting a sailing vessel. The photographs were excellent. Mr Naujok included many helpful hints on projects. I had hoped for more detailed instruction on redoing headliner and ideas for modernizing an old interior than what was covered in this book. However, it is a valuable reference book for do-it-yourselfers.

This book did a great job providing a brief early history of the car and illustrating the problems with them. The chapter on how to do without your car was informative and well researched but very repetitive.

This book inspired me to bite the bullet and become car-lite (I live a little too far from town to achieve car-free just yet). It has a lot of exciting examples of how being car-free and car-lite can lead to a more pleasant lifestyle, as well as motivation why it's a good thing to do. Katie's own example is also inspiring, as she has significantly reduced car usage while living in a rural area in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, a place with legendary winters. Now when I get whiny about putting on my rain suit in the winter here in Northern California and want to jump in my car instead of riding, I think about Katie and her husband biking in the snow of the U.P.

I'm moving out of state next year and won't be taking my car with me. Life will probably be more difficult in some ways but it's worth it. When you read about cars and study about them and think about them, it's really unbelievable the amount of death, destruction, and suffering that they've caused over the last hundred years. I've read a lot of anti-car books and this is one of the better ones. It's very thorough while not being too dry or academic like some of the others. Read this book and you'll learn things that will surprise you, like how much money it really costs a society when it uses cars as its main form of transportation. And don't forget perhaps the greatest tragedy of all. Cars gave rise to one of the lowest forms of life that the human race has ever known - the car salesman!

Divorce Your Car, by Katie Alvord, is thought provoking. In the United States of America, an automobile is many things to many people: transportation, status symbol, hobby, money pit. Alvord takes apart the place of the car in modern society (the focus of the book is on North America, though she does refer to Europe and the Third World in places) and roundly condemns our dependence.

Her book is split into three parts--the first covers the history of the automobile and other forms of transport. She legitimizes what I'd often heard and dismissed as a myth--the car industry bought up the transit systems of cities in the US early in the 20th century and replaced them with buses. The second is a laundry list of the negative effects of the car (which, I must confess, I didn't finish--too depressed after the first thirty pages). The final section covers alternatives, including walking, biking, mass transit, non-gasoline cars, and telecommuting.

I found the book to be quite good in outlining the problem and highlighting solutions. The dependence of modern life on the car is a dependence on convenience. But, to some extent, it's a matter of inertia. Automobiles are so prevalent and easy that many of us never try the alternatives, let alone use them in preference to our car. A strong point is that she realizes that car-free living isn't for anyone, and makes a point that going car-lite can have a positive effect as well. She also touches on the far reaching implications that technology decisions have had on our society, our cities and our lives--from subsidies to the development of advertising. It would have been interesting to read more about that, but what she did say was definitely thought provoking.

However, I do have three quibbles. Alvord cites sources extensively, but her arguments would be more compelling were the sources less biased (as you can tell by titles like Asphalt Nation) and more first hand. She ignores two factors that would affect my divorce. Giving up your car, or at the very least being aware of alternatives, makes drunk driving less likely--a good thing! On the other hand, if you don't have a car, you suddenly have a dearth of available camping and hiking activities. But these concerns aren't everyone's, to be sure.

Overall, a book well worth reading, especially if you commute a lot. Too bad they don't sell it as a book on tape!

Alvord makes a very convincing argument for divorcing your car. So convincing, in fact, that my husband and I will likely divorce our one and only car in the coming months.

Divorce Your Car explains the obvious--how divorcing your car will save money and help protect the environment. More intriguing, though, is the explanation of how divorcing your car will actually save you time.

How can divorcing your car save time, you wonder? Alvord factors in not just how long it takes to get somewhere (by car versus by other modes of transit), but also how much time you have to spend working to pay for all the costs associated with a car. When all is said and done, the car doesn't move any faster than a bike.

While Alvord does mention that walking and biking instead of driving have health benefits, her calculations of time don't include another big factor working against the car--making time for exercise. Many people complain that they don't have "time" for exercise. I used to complain about this too. But now that I bike virtually every day, making time for exercise is a non-issue. It may take me 20 minutes to bike somewhere I could get to by car in 10 minutes, and ditto for the return trip. But if I had to find another 40 minutes each day to exercise (plus time to drive to and from the gym!)...geez, no wonder I didn't used to have time to exercise.

By ditching the car, you can save enough money to work less (Alvord has some inspiring examples) and easily work exercise into your daily routine. As an added perk, you even get to help save the planet. What's not to like!

My three year old loves this book. The book is simple to read & the pictures are very eye catching.

THis is one of the BEST books for early readers. Many common words are repeated. I have many books from various early reading programs(some have too many difficult words and too many different words) and this is one of the best. The vocabulary is limited, just what a new reader needs. My 4 year old can read many of the words.

Thomas the Tank Engine books and DVD's are the best, and kids love them. At 2 1/2 years old, my grandson is a little frightened of the stories on DVD, I think it's because of the intense facial expressions (I'm sure he'll outgrow it soon), but he loves the books.

My son loves this book, and constantly brings it to me to read. It's such a simple book, I think he can understand it easily. I'm guessing before too long, he's going to be able to almost read it on his own. I think it's a great book for beginning readers. I'm not very concerned about the message that it sends, I see it as an entertaining Thomas story. I just don't see it as a negative book.

Great pictures, but did Donald Trump write the story line? The books ends with a smug Thomas exclaiming "I am first and you are last!"

An Excellent boat design 101, all the glossary,definitions,explanations , and boat design syntax.
This is the first book u should buy if you are passionate for boats design,buidling, or owning.

If you've been around boats for a while, you've noticed all sorts of shapes and hull designs. This book explains why.
Every design has strengths and weaknesses. Every hull is a compromise. Don't expect design tables or details, just good basic information

This a great book if you are just starting to ponder the mysteries of boat design and its modern, which makes it better for beginners than Chapelle's books. IF, however, you are looking for more scientific/engineering sort of information, then you will be disappointed. Bottom line- it provides a wide survery of yacht designs, but does not delve into specifics enough for those of use who already know the basics. I would recommend it to anyone starting out in the field, but it is less technical than, say, Skene's Elements of Yacht Design.

I was disappointed in this book. I expected a well thought out, easy to understand description. The author starts out defining some terms, but omits others, and then describes things using undefined terms. By his initial definitions, one thinks "Good, this author doesn't assume I understand all the terms he will be using." Yet in the rest of the text he clearly considers that the reader knows a fair amount about boats and the terms used to describe them. Some drawings are missing important labels, and some explainations referring to drawings are missing important details, with a result that one is sometimes left perplexed. The book struck me as a quick gloss over of boat design with too much detail for someone in need of the grand overview. I don't think it had detail for someone actually interested in learning more about boat design. Someone interested in the quick basics would do better with other general sailing texts where simple principles of boat design are covered. Not sure what a better, more detailed text would be.

I've have studied a fair number of books about design. This was the first I read and it's a good thing because it's not too hard to follow but it is definitely informative. It helps to understand design terminology and how a boat will perform based on its characteristics. I think I would have been frustrated had I begun somewhere else (such as Chapelle).

The focus is fairly broad. The designs are those most often seen on the water during the last 50 years (no brigatines, viking ships, or submarines). They are both power and sail, and both displacement and planing hulls. The size mostly seems to be boats of the "yacht" size (20 to 100 feet). Topics covered include styles of hull shape, line drawings, keels and rudders, layout, safety, construction materials.

This book will help you understand WHAT characteristics of a boat affect performance (and I don't just mean speed, because there is much more to it) and HOW they affect performance.

After reading and understanding this book, you will be able to better determine what to expect from a boat by just standing next to it and sizing it up. You will also figure out a few of the goofy things production companies do these days because they are focused on making boats that will be easy to sell, and not focused enough on making a boat that sails well. Make sense? Many modern designs have goofy characteristics that make a boat look good on paper and in an advertisement, but detract from performance, seaworthiness, reliability, and practicality when out on the water.

Bottom line: This book includes what I believe it should based on the title and the fact that it is ~150 pages long. It is very useful to someone want to own a boat, or get into boat design.

I agree with what the author says about why the ship sank, but none of this is really new.
I think the iceberg did more damage than they realized it did, as for Brittle steel, this is another theory from people who have all of the sudden become experts because they saw James Camerons Movie.......

Very interesting take on the famous ship. Revisits a lot of imformation we already knew and brings modern science to bear a la CSI. It comes to a pretty definite conclusion, which adds yet another "If only......." to the saga. Busts a few myths on the way. Any Titanic buff will like it.

What Really Sank the Titanic: New Forensic Discoveries
OK, right off the bat I must admit that I am a (now retired) mechanical engineer, so I'm not afraid of a little metallurgy. I have also been something of a "Titanic nut" since I began diving on shipwrecks in the early 1970's (Titanic is, after all, the ultimate shipwreck). All that said, this is a very readable book that keeps the technobabble to an absolute minimum. It is written in an easy style that presents the necessary technical background like the differences between iron, wrought iron and steel and how they are made in only 12 pages, with pictures. The authors use simple, everyday analogies to help the reader understand the concepts being explained and they also introduce many interesting sidebar items. Their theory is that sub-par (even for 1912) rivets in the hull are main cause of the sinking. They relate the labor conditions of the early 1900's and the testimony of the survivors with the known details of both the construction and the current condition of Titanic in a very convincing manner. Unless you are so hopelessly non-mechanical that filling your cars gas tank is a technological challenge, you will find this book to be a very good read.

"What Really Sank the Titanic" is yet another book where the authors attempt to attach themselves to the Titanic story by offering "new discoveries" into the disaster that have little if any substance to them.

The first stumbling block in the authors' arguments is that they ask the readers to accept that out of the 3,085,000 rivets used to construct the Titanic, the 48 which they analyzed constitute a sufficiently large sample group on which to base their conclusions. More critically, none of the rivets they used demonstrably come from the damaged section of the bow, making their "conclusions" nothing more than "inferrences."

Most devastating of all is that the authors themselves show that the location of the most extensive and critical damage done to the Titanic in the collision with the iceberg--the openings in Cargo Hold 2 and Boiler Rooms 6 and 5--occured in the part of the hull which was hydraulically riveted using steel rivets, rather than in the section of the bow where allegedly "substandard" rivets were driven by allegedly "second-rate" riveters.

Further, their assertion that the shipyard, Harland and Wolff, used "second-rate" work crews in an effort to complete the Olympic and Titanic on time betrays an utter lack of understanding of the shipbuilding industry in Belfast in the early 20th Century, as well as of the business relationship that existed between the shipyard and the White Star Line.

The hypothesis--and it is nothing more than that--presented by McCarthy and Foecke is of passing interest, but it is far from proven, and lacks any real lasting historical value. It provides no new insight into the disaster itself, instead being more of a curiosity than anything else.

A well researched and presented theory on what contributed to the Titanic's infamous demise. While it often gets bogged down in the minutiae of science, the book still manages to captivate Titanic-philes and conspiracy theorists, alike.

The more I learn about the behind-the-scenes world of Harland & Wolff, the more this hypothesis makes perfect sense. Plus...maybe Thomas Andrews wasn't the tragic hero he's been made out to be...interesting.

Certainly worthy of a place on your bookshelf for maritime collectors. A very interesting read by obviously respectful Titanic admirers.

... the FAA provides the complete book, free, as a full color PDF.

http://www.faa.gov/library/manuals/aviation/instrument_procedures_handbook/

Having a bound, printed version is very handy; however, the complete book is freely available from the FAA. Take a look at it there before you buy this re-print.

This should be in EVERY IFR pilot's library. Better quality printing and paper than other versions.

I bought this book for my 5 year old and it is a little mature for him. There are a lot of words to read on each page and he started to lose interest. It is a hilarious book but better for my 7 and 9 year old.

I haven't read this book, but my 5-yr-old grandson, Ryan Shaffer of Houston, Texas, has and he said in a phone call: "This is my favorite book ever." Sounds like a pretty good endorsement to me!

Carol Shaffer

If all looking for is a few laughs, this book is worth reading.

However, I have a big problem with this kind of book for kids, and we are seeing more and more of this. Anyone who has kids knows that they usually take things at face value. If an adult or a book tells them something, they believe it.

This book is full of mis-information and jokes that only an adult or a young adult would understand. Younger children will be utterly perplexed by the information presented here.

More and more, I see so-called "children's" books that are marketed towards the ADULTS who read to their children (Hey, it's the adults who are shelling out the money, why not market to the adults?). The kids won't get the jokes. But at least the adults can be entertained while reading to their kids. This mentality is an insult to the child's intelligence. It assumes that the kids can't really process the real facts - that they wouldn't understand the truth.

If your child has a genuine interest in pirates, this book will only confuse them with information about pirates that is outright wrong. It is ANTI-educational.

Ohh, this is a wonderful book. So it might misrepresent actual facts about pirates-soooo what. Do you tell kids that Santas not real? Your kid can look at this book and distinquish fact from fiction. This book is fun, colorful, and creative.(wonderful for children) If your 5-yr old is looking at writing a thesis on the history of pirates for an early admittance to Harvard than buy a different book. Otherwise, this is a colorful piece of young literature for your child. I recommend Lichtenheld's other books too.

If you don't find humor in this book, you just don't know how to laugh. For kids, there is nothing funnier than talking about boogers, B.O., and other stinky stuff. Adults sometimes loose site of the fun stuff in life...get this book and lighten up...you just might remeber what if feels like to be a kid again. If you are looking for hard facts about pirates, this is not the book for you (which, if you read the editor's review you would know). Tom Lichtenheld did a wonderful job incorporating a savy sense of humor, a rich vocabulary, and interesting illustrations into a book that kids will want to read.