The "Amateur Mechanic"
applied science. Among the contributors were men who afterwards rose to eminence—Professor A. H. Church, who wrote on such subjects as the chemistry of the fine arts; Professor Robert Ball, who expounded applied mechanics; Sir William White, whose subject was ship building; Professor Charles Cameron, Professor Delamotte, Philip Magnus, and T. C. Hepworth. The work found much favour, was several times re-issued, and only dropped out of the Catalogue a few years ago when technical subjects were dealt with in many separate volumes. The latest series of these separate books is that started by Mr. Bernard Jones, the editor of Work, early in the war, under the title of the "Amateur Mechanic." Both during the war and afterwards these volumes were found to meet one of the peculiar needs of the time. The dearth of workmen and the high cost of labour led to a demand by the householder for practical information on making, mending, decorating, and similar humdrum but necessary processes in which, before the war, he took but little interest. The "Amateur Mechanic" volumes met this want by means of lucid text and explanatory pictures, and so great was its success that it established what is probably a record in sales of works of this size and class.
The only other technical books which need be specifically noted are the large works on electricity. In its first form, "Electricity in the Service of Man" was a translation from the German, edited by Dr. Wormell, and was published in 1888. Of the work which now bears this title Dr. Walmsley is the author. "Practical Electricity" was the work of the late Professor Ayrton, to whom electricity is indebted for so many ingenious inventions. It would appear that his father, a considerable linguist, wished him to specialize in languages, and tried to get him to speak a different tongue (including Hebrew) on each day of the week. But the boy's bent towards science was not to be denied. Between 1887, when "Practical Electricity" first appeared, and 1908, when its author died, his book went through eleven editions. It was then
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