B chapter.indd - Charles Babbage Institute - University of Minnesota

236
Erwin Tomash Library
Byrne, Oliver Byrne, Oliver
the mere description of circles, and the use of coloured
diagrams and symbols..
Year: 1877
Place: London
Publisher: Crosby, Lockwood, and Co.
Edition: 1st
Language: English
Figures: frontispiece figure in red and black, 36 full-page
figures (19 in color)
Binding: original cloth boards
Pagination: pp. iv, [74]
Collation: A–D 8 E 7
Size: 186x123 mm
In this work Byrne demonstrates the solution of several
geometric problems by the use of the compass. Of major
interest is the use of color to illustrate the different
compass radii and movements. This may be regarded
as an extension of Byrne’s most successful book, The
first six books of the elements of Euclid, in which colored
diagrams and symbols are used instead of letters for
the greater ease of learners. London, 1847 (not in the
collection).
Illustrations available:
Title page
Frontispiece
B 312
B 313
Byrne, Oliver (1810–1880)
Mechanics: Their principles and practical applications
Year: 1853
Place: New York
Publisher: De Witt & Davenport
Edition: 1st
Language: English
Binding: original gilt-pictorial cloth boards; gilt spine faded
Pagination: pp. 182
Collation: 1 4 1* 8 -7 4 7* 8 8 4 8* 3
Size: 185x122 mm
In this work Byrne describes himself as a civil, military,
and mechanical engineer. He points out that there are
already a great many books describing mechanical
devices; his has the advantage that it stands in the same
relation to the execution of works, and the construction
of machines, as Descriptive Geometry stands to the
drawing of machines. Once the reader has attempted
to digest that boast, he or she is treated to a complex
jumble of physical principles in the rest of the volume.
While Byrne certainly does describe simple mechanical
devices such as the lever, pulley and gears, the examples
given are seldom the practical applications of the title.
They often refer to hypothetical falling balls, balancing
of eggs, etc. When Byrne does consider more practical
problems, he assumes idealized conditions. For example,
he notes that the inclined plane must be considered to be
a perfectly hard, smooth, inflexible surface … and other
such less than realistic considerations.
Illustrations available:
Title page
Book binding, front gilt
Frontispiece, B 312