Man and Machine: The Best of Stephan Wilkinson

by Stephan Wilkinson

They sit on a spur of test track outside General Electric's locomotive factory in Erie, Pennsylvania, panting and grumbling like two old lions half asleep. The ominous, muttering rumble is the idle of 8,800 horsepower--24 cylinders with pistons big as buckets, turbochargers the size of washing machines, two V12 engines driving alternators five feet in diameter. For here are two units of the most advanced diesel-electric locomotives in the world: a...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 159228812X
• ISBN13: 9781592288120
• Release Date: December 2005
• Publisher: Lyons Press
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.6" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Nice

This is a wonderful book. It's a collection of self-contained magazine articles originally published in 'Pilot,' 'Air & Space Smithsonian' and 'Popular Science' magazines that come together to form a greater whole. We get to look at machines that fly, and other machines from go-carts to ambulances to cruise ships. And we get to look at them through the gentle eyes of a smart literate man who doesn't miss much, a man who was the editor of Car and Driver, a man who smoothly writes about the things we wish we would have seen. We learn something about the machines; and celebrate the men that dreamt them up, made them possible and keep them running. If this book was a machine it would hum in quiet harmony, it would have no sharp edges, and it would do something better than that something had ever been done before. I think you'll enjoy being up close to see and feel the power of such a 'Man and Machine.'

Planes, Trains, Automobiles & Boats

This was a great book. Many technical stories and analysis of how things tick and the people who keep them ticking. This may be especially geared toward aircraft nuts, but it was still good for anyone interested in powered things. It even included a story on Steinway Pianos - very interesting.

One of my favorite books

I had borrowed this book from my local library. I liked it so much, I had to own a copy. I put Stephan Wilkinson right up with John McPhee as one of my favorite writers. If you like aircraft, boats, or cars, this book is a great read.