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MATHEMATICS FOR ELECTRICIANS AND RADIOMEN. By Nelson M. Cooke, Chief Radio Electrician, U.S.N. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc. 1942. 604 pages. $4.00.
Reviewed by Professor D. G. Howard, U. S. Naval Academy
The author has gathered under one cover those mathematical procedures most commonly used in practical electrical and radio problems. Frequently clarifying the text with specific electrical applications, Mr. Cooke has, throughout the book, very successfully linked pure mathematics with applied mathematics.
The book provides a sound mathematical background for students of electricity and radio. As a reference book or as a textbook it meets the need of the first-class electrician who must today be able to analyze complex circuits which require considerable knowledge of mathematical methods.
A very large number of problems with answers is included, a fact which, added to the clear method of exposition, renders the book valuable for home study.
The outstanding feature of Mathematics for Electricians and Radiomen is its logical and progressive development from the simplest mathematical forms to the relatively complex subject of vector algebra.
AIRCRAFT INSTRUMENTS. By George Ellis Irvin. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc. 1941. 506 pages. $5.00.
Reviewed by Lieutenant C. H. Clark, U. S. Navy
Aircraft Instruments has much to recommend it. First is the complete mastery of his subject shown by author Irvin, who writes with assured authority as President of the Irvin-Aircraft Instrument Schools and Irvin-Aircraft Mechanic’s Association.
Briefly touching on meteorology for an opening chapter seems a wise idea. Also commendable is Mr. Irvin’s standard practice of giving first for each instrument a clear and uncomplicated idealistic diagram and description before delving into the more complicated details.
The chapter on aircraft compass compensation is outstandingly thorough, and should be particularly useful. Although designed as a textbook, the book goes beyond the requirements of such in that it explains in great detail the repair, adjustment, installation, and overhaul of each common panel instrument, plus octant and Sperry gyropilot, with trouble shooting also included. Thus, it would make an ideal handy reference book for all who are concerned with aircraft instruments, and would obviate the necessity of retaining a series of pamphlets for each separate device. The inclusion of certain useful tables would substantiate such employment.
Several obvious errors lead to the conclusion that the proofreading was not up to the otherwise high standards set in this book. Therefore, it is believed that an errata sheet would have considerable merit.
THE BARRINGTON PAPERS. Selected from the Letters and Papers of Admiral the Hon. Samuel Barrington and Edited by D. Bonner-Smith. Vol. II. Printed for the Navy Records Society. London: William Clowes & Sons, Ltd. 1941.
Reviewed by Richard S. West, Jr., Assistant Professor, U. S.
Naval Academy
The Barrington Papers, Vol. II, is a source book that will interest historians of the American Revolution for the glimmers of light it throws upon the Anglo- French campaign in 1778-79 in the Lesser Antilles. Just before the break with France Samuel Barrington, Rear Admiral of the Red, was dispatched to the Caribbean to relieve Vice Admiral James Young as commander in chief on the Leeward Islands station. In addition to his regular duty (ordering West Indian convoys, patrolling the islands from Antigua to Grenada, repairing and provisioning ships), Admiral Barrington was given secret instructions to capture the French outpost of St. Lucia, immediately to the south of Martinique.
A partisan of Kcppel, and secretly a despiser of Lord North’s bungling ministry, Barrington was from the outset handicapped by Earl Sandwich’s inefficient management of the Navy. His force for waging war was smaller than his predecessor’s had been in peace time. His supplies miscarried and he was oppressed by a stream of importunate demands from the governors of the islands. While he was off Barbados the French seized his central base at Dominica. This gave the enemy control of the three large islands, Guadeloupe, Dominica, and Martinique, which constitute the center links in the chain of Leeward and Windward Islands.
In December, 1778, Barrington in conjunction with an army under Major General James Grant overwhelmed its tiny garrison and captured St. Lucia. Both Comte D’Estaing and Vice Admiral John Byron were momentarily expected from America. D’Estaing arrived first with a superior fleet. Barrington formed a line of battle across the mouth of St. Lucia’s Harbor, Le Grand Cul de Sac, behind which he shepherded his transports and successfully fended off D’Estaing. Barrington now hoped “to amuse” the Frenchman until Admiral Byron’s arrival; but D’Estaing, wholly inadequate as a fighter, retired to Martinique eight days before Byron appeared. Several months later an indecisive action off Grenada between Byron and D’Estaing, in which Barrington participated as second in command, concluded the latter’s service in this theater. In the fall of 1779 Barrington returned to England to explain the unsatisfactory situation and seek reinforcements.
His ruffled feelings, however, got the better of him and a bitter personal quarrel with Earl Sandwich removed him from further participation in the war until after the fall of the ministry in 1782.
Aside from meager and matter-of-fact entries in his journal and a spirited 10-page summation of his experiences, there is little in the book from the pen of Barrington himself. In place of the many cajoling letters from petty governors one would like to see produced some of Barrington’s own letters to the Admiralty. One suspects that they might make far more interesting and historically enlightening reading. Some small glimpse into the personality of the man may be inferred from the postscript to a letter from his close friend Admiral Lord Howe:
P.S.—I do not know how to condole with you on an attack of the Gout, as your cheerful temper and spirit are not to be brought, I find, to consider those incidents as evils, that disturb the tranquillity of ordinary men.
MERCHANT MARINE OFFICERS’ HANDBOOK. By E. A. Turpin and W. A. MacEwen. New York: Cornell Maritime Press. 740 pages. 1942. $5.00.
Reviewed by Commander K. J. Christoph, U. S. Navy
As a practical handbook for reference purposes this volume contains a large fund of information useful to merchant marine officers in their everyday activities. To those who are familiar with the fundamentals of seamanship as far as required for an original license the book gives essential information required for the new examinations proposed by the U. S. Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation.
Its authors, men with long careers at sea in many types of vessels, have compiled briefly and concisely information on a variety of subjects as follows: Day-byday work of ship’s officers, Navigation, Meteorology, Cargo Stowage, Shiphandling, Ship Construction and Stability, Signals, Rules of the Road, Laws, Engineering Knowledge for Deck Officers, First Aid and Ship Sanitation.
The appendices include examinations required for licensed officers, Mathematics, Table of Useful Information, Shipbuilding Terms, Paints and Painting, and a glossary of Spanish Nautical and Commercial Terms. Also a section on War Conditions at Sea and information on enlistments in the Naval Reserve.
The book deserves a place in the merchant marine officers’ bookshelf as a supplement to the more detailed texts on the various subjects covered.
AIR BASE. By Boone T. Guyton. New York: Whittlesey House. 295 pages, 9 illustrations. 1941. $2.50. Reviewed by Lieutenant Commander P. V. H. Weems, U. S. Navy (Retired)
This is a particularly valuable type of book for the use of Americans at this time. While written in the style of a wardroom conversation, it is informative as well as entertaining. A careful reading of this interesting book should help to condition the mind of the aviation student for the many critical situations which are bound to arise.
The pilot, a test pilot for Vought- Sikorsky Aircraft, received his naval aviation training at Pensacola, and later served with his unit at the Naval Air Station in San Diego, and on an aircraft carrier. Being a Naval Reserve officer, a keen observer, and an excellent narrator, personnel of the Navy in general will be interested in the author’s reaction to the regular Navy, and to its spirit of loyalty and camaraderie. Altogether Guyton makes out a good case for the present aviation training in the Navy.
The descriptions of naval maneuvers, naval aviation training, and battle practice are so vivid that the reader is given the impression that the book was written
after December 7, 1941, which of course could not be true.
Many incidents of great interest to the aviation beginner are told in a most fascinating manner. One particular episode is told about Ensign Gil Brown, U.S.N.R., flying over the Arizona mountains with a third-class mechanic in the rear cockpit, when the engine suddenly vibrated itself out of the plane and fell away. Brown \ signaled the mechanic to bail out, then he himself started over the side, but noticing the mechanic still struggling to get free of the plane, Brown dropped back into the seat and handled the controls until the mechanic was free, and then started out again. It was then too late for Brown to bail out, so he stayed with the plane and crashed on the desert, seriously injuring himself.
The mechanic landed half a mile away, with a broken leg, but in his loyalty crawled to the plane and gave first aid to Ensign Brown, then dragged himself to a highway another mile and a half north to get relief. It is a beautifully described story where first Brown saves the mechanic, then the mechanic in return saves Brown. Such examples of loyalty leave a lasting impression on the reader.
WINGS OF DEFENSE. By Captain Burr W. Leyson. New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, Inc., 210 pages. 1942. $2.50.
Reviewed by Commander G. A.
Dussault, U. S. Navy
Wings of Defense is an up-to-the-minute presentation of modem military airplanes and equipment. In clear and simple language, with but little technical data, it contains valuable information embracing practically all the components of air warfare.
Airplanes are treated as types rather than as models, with the result that the reader is better able to cope with the fast tempo of modem air power. The evolution of fighters and bombers is traced from World War I and naval aircraft with their peculiar operational requirements and design are separately treated.
The technique of bombing, the various types of bombs, the development and use of paratroops and gliders, anti-aircraft defenses and weapons, and civil air-raid precautions are interestingly presented.
The development and use of aircraft propellers and engines, both air-cooled and liquid-cooled, the problems of aircraft manufacture including the reasons why we can’t build an air force overnight and how American ingenuity and research are overcoming the major difficulties, are discussed, as well as the job of training pilots, air crews, and maintenance specialists.
The book is a compilation of data gathered from many sources, is up to date, and contains a number of good photographs. It should prove of interest to all readers who are concerned with the struggle of this nation to attain air supremacy.
THE NAVY WIFE—WHAT SHE
OUGHT TO KNOW ABOUT THE CUSTOMS AND THE MANAGEMENT OF A NAVY HOUSEHOLD. By Anne Briscoe Pye and Nancy Shea. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1942. 335 pp. $2.50.
Reviewed by Mrs. H. A. Baldridge
The title and subtitle perfectly describe Mrs. Pye’s book. It could almost be called “Navy Wife’s Handbook,” for there isn’t a question that one can’t find answered in this delightfully interesting book. From what to have in one’s trousseau, to what kind of accommodations and servants one may expect to find in the various places the Navy family drops down to live.
It was interesting to me to note that “light woolen clothing is comfortable most of the year in Corpus Christi,” and that “a camel’s hair or light fur coat could be worn with comfort in Pensacola.”
The chapters on “Navy Traditions,” “The Bride is Entertained and Returns Her Obligations,” “Following the Fleet,” “Beyond the Continental Limits and the Asiatic Station,” and “Missions in South America,” are especially interesting in that they read almost like a travelogue written by an eyewitness and contain so much information, advice, and counsel, that every Navy wife, be she new or not so new to the Navy, would do well to read, know, and follow.
The book is not a novel, yet it is so written that it holds the interest every minute and one can’t turn the pages fast enough to get on to the next chapter. It’s like traveling to the next port of call. Mrs. Pye starts it out in Annapolis and takes the reader and “Nancy Lee” through the several Aviation Stations, Submarine Bases, the Marine Corps Bases, and then to New London to the Coast Guard Base, explaining in detail the customs and stations and what to expect in housing and servants. Even on to duty in Alaska, Canal Zone, and St. Thomas.
It will bring back a flood of happy memories to the older Navy wife and make her wonder how she ever muddled through her years following the Navy without The Navy Wife.