Features
- Cover Type: Paperback with 275 pages
- Published by: McGraw-Hill/TAB Electronics
- Edition: 3rd Edition August 8, 2001
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 0071373233
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0071373234
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Book Dimensions:
9.1 x 7.3 x 0.8 inches
- Weighs: 1.1 pounds
IEEE Insulation Magazine, January/February 2003
Hands-on…Filled with design plans for building electrostatic generators and…high-voltage components…largerimproved version…many illustrations and photos…revised bibliography and materials supplier list
Product Review
IEEE Electrical Installation Magazine : From January/February 2003 issue
Hands-on high-voltage experimentalists interested in electrostatic machines will love this book. Filled with design plans for building electrostatic generators and various high-voltage components, this book provides the necessary details to construct these devices. Like the first two editions, there are detailed plans describing the construction of a Wimhurst machine. This edition however, details a more simplified but greater and improved version than previously described. There is also now an entire chapter devoted to Van de Graff generators describing the principles of operation, construction, modifications for improvement, and making accessories. There are many illustrations and photographs describing the construction of these generators as well as methods for making electroscopes, large capacitors, and an electrophorus. There are many tips and tricks revealed that show how to make various parts like high-voltage corona spheres, shorting rods, and terminals. Other topics include electrostatic motors, cold light, levitation, exploding wire experiments, and historical notes on unusual electric discharges. A revised bibliography and materials supplier list also made in this new edition.
Anyone with an interest in high-voltage electrostatics will find this book to be not only a "cookbook" for designing and building high-voltage generators but also an historical account of the Wimhurst and Van de Graff generators.
Reader Reviews
There is an old saying to the effect: If you steal from one, it is plagiarism. If you steal from many, it is research. On that basis, this is a well-researched book. Without actually counting pages, my impression is that roughly a third of the book consists of facsimile reproductions of 100-150 year old news releases, advertisements, and journal reports. Most of the illustrations and pictures are of similar age. The author does go into loving detail with regards to the construction of his machines -- essentially a copy of a Wimshurst with a modern drive system (dual axle-mounted motors vs one motor/crank driving a straight and a crossed belt). The chapter on theory is only 5 pages long, and 3.5 of those are facsimile reproductions. I'm also surprised the author managed to get any output from his version of Kelvin's water drop generator -- his illustration shows the drops formed inches above the induction rings. A working device needs the drops to break loose from the water source just at the point of induction. In order for the drop to retain the charge as it falls into the collector it has to have the "repelled" charge pass from one-side, which means a continuous circuit from nozzle through source to other nozzle. If deciding between this book, and A. D. Moore's "Electrostatics" (which was finally reprinted in 1997, thirty years after the original release), I recommend one consider "Electrostatics"
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