Blowing Hot and Cold
Thermotank and the Story of Air Conditioning at Sea
Seiten
2024
Pen & Sword Books Ltd (Verlag)
978-1-0361-0769-7 (ISBN)
Pen & Sword Books Ltd (Verlag)
978-1-0361-0769-7 (ISBN)
Air-conditioning is one of those universal modern conveniences whose origins are entirely unknown to the general public. Online sources credit the first commercial system to the American Willis Carrier in 1902 – but this is not true. The first workable machine was patented four years earlier by Alexander Stewart, a Scottish marine engineer, who called his invention the Thermotank. It offered a massive improvement in comfort for passengers and was rapidly adopted by the shipping industry, eventually equipping many of the greatest liners of their day like _Lusitania_ and _Mauretania_.
From these beginnings Alexander and his brothers William and Frederick Stewart built an immensely successful engineering firm with subsidiaries in America, Africa, Australia and Europe. Based on Clydeside, its fortunes were always closely linked to the shipbuilding industry, but with the slump at the end of the First World War the company was forced to look to other markets. At this point Alexander came up with a second world-beating invention, which he called the Punkah Louvre – the swivelling nozzle most familiar today as the source of ventilation in airliners. This made it easier to apply the Thermotank system to other forms of transport and even buildings, greatly expanding its sales potential.
Still largely a family concern, the business remained innovative and competitive until the 1960s, when the decline in British shipbuilding and the beginnings of globalisation led to amalgamation, restructuring and eventually the demise of the Thermotank name. In the process, most of the company records were dispersed or lost so this book is a particularly valuable testimony to a great British – specifically, Scottish – success story. Although almost unknown today, Thermotank was a business that changed the world.
From these beginnings Alexander and his brothers William and Frederick Stewart built an immensely successful engineering firm with subsidiaries in America, Africa, Australia and Europe. Based on Clydeside, its fortunes were always closely linked to the shipbuilding industry, but with the slump at the end of the First World War the company was forced to look to other markets. At this point Alexander came up with a second world-beating invention, which he called the Punkah Louvre – the swivelling nozzle most familiar today as the source of ventilation in airliners. This made it easier to apply the Thermotank system to other forms of transport and even buildings, greatly expanding its sales potential.
Still largely a family concern, the business remained innovative and competitive until the 1960s, when the decline in British shipbuilding and the beginnings of globalisation led to amalgamation, restructuring and eventually the demise of the Thermotank name. In the process, most of the company records were dispersed or lost so this book is a particularly valuable testimony to a great British – specifically, Scottish – success story. Although almost unknown today, Thermotank was a business that changed the world.
IAN JOHNSTON is a well-known authority on Clydeside shipbuilding and the historian of both John Brown’s and Beardmore’s. His training as a graphic designer is to be seen in the superb choice of photographs from the John Brown collection in _Clydebank Battlecruisers_ and _A Shipyard at War._ This new book is a labour of love as Ian’s father worked for Thermotank, whose achievements he felt deserved wider public recognition.
| Erscheinungsdatum | 09.04.2024 |
|---|---|
| Zusatzinfo | 80 colour illustrations, 100 mono illustrations; 180 Illustrations |
| Verlagsort | Barnsley |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 210 x 260 mm |
| Themenwelt | Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte |
| Technik ► Fahrzeugbau / Schiffbau | |
| ISBN-10 | 1-0361-0769-8 / 1036107698 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1-0361-0769-7 / 9781036107697 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
Mehr entdecken
aus dem Bereich
aus dem Bereich
Geschichte der Mathematik in Europa von Vieta bis Euler
Buch | Softcover (2023)
Springer Spektrum (Verlag)
CHF 83,95
