The Evolution of the Parsons Steam Turbine
An Account of Experimental Research on the Theory, Efficiency, and Mechanical Details of Land and Marine Reaction and Impulse-Reaction Turbines
Cambridge Library Collection - Technology Series

Responsible for the generation of most of the world's electricity, and with applications to sea and land transport, the steam turbine may be regarded as a pivotal invention in the creation of a technologically advanced modern society. Charles Parsons (1854?1931) built the first practical steam turbine in 1884, and he remained at the forefront of its development for nearly fifty years, as he saw his invention become first the prime means by which thermal energy could be turned into electricity, and then the power behind pioneering cruise liners and warships. Alexander Richardson (1864?1928), an engineer and politician, had access to the inventor's papers when writing this account of the turbine's history. Published in 1911, and featuring more than 170 illustrative plates, it provides a valuable insight into the development of a technology that revolutionised power generation, marine transport and naval warfare.

Prefatory note; 1. Introductory and historical; 2. The turbine from the theoretical standpoint; 3. Experiments on mechanical details of turbines; 4. The evolution of the marine turbine and its applications to British warships; 5. The development of the turbine in the British merchant service; 6. The turbine in foreign and colonial fleets; 7. Recent and prospective developments in warship turbines; 8. Recent and prospective developments in merchant ship turbines; 9. Electric generators and turbines for driving them; 10. Exhaust-steam turbines and turbo-air compressors; 11. Parsons turbines for land purposes on the continent; 12. The manufacture of turbines; 13. The Heaton Works of Messrs. C. A. Parsons and Co.; 14. Parsons Marine Turbine Works at Wallsend; Index.