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PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION.
It is the author’s hope and desire that this book, which is
the outcome of years of study, work and observation, may be
a help to the class of people to which he himself has the honor
to belong,—the working mechanics of the world.
This is not intended solely as a reference book, but itmay
also be studied advantageously by the ambitious young engineer
and machinist; and, therefore, as far as believed practical
within the scope of the work, the fundamental principles upon
which the rules and formulas rest are given and explained.
The use of abstruse theories and complicated formulas is
avoided, as it is thought preferable to sacrifice scientific hair-
splitting and be satisfied with rules and formulas which will
give intelligent approximations within practical limits, rather
than to go into intricate and complicated formulas which can
hardly be handled except by mathematical and mechanical
experts.
In practical work everyone knows it is far more important
to understand the correct principles and requirements of the job
in hand than to be able to make elaborate scientific demonstra-
tions of the subject; in short, it is only results which count in
the commercial world, and every young mechanic must remem-
ber that few employers will pay for science only. What they
want is practical science. Should, therefore, scientific men, (for
whom the author has the greatest respect, as it is to the scien-
tific investigators that the working mechanics are indebted for
their progress in utilizing the forces of nature),—find nothing of
interest in the book, they will kindly remember that the author
does not pretend it to be of scientific interest, and they will
therefore, in criticizing both the book and the author, remember
that the work was not written with the desire to show the reader
how vulgarly or how scientifically he could handle the subject,
but with the sole desire to promote and assist the ambitious
young working mechanic in the world’s march of progress.
P. Lobben.
New York, October, 1899.
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