The ''Hawkins Electrical Guide'' was a technical engineering book written by
Nehemiah Hawkins, first published in 1914, intended to explain the highly complex principles of the new technology of electricity in a way that could be understood by the common man. The book is notable for the extremely high number of detailed
illustrations
An illustration is a decoration, interpretation, or visual explanation of a text, concept, or process, designed for integration in print and digitally published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vi ...
it contains, and the small softbound size of the volumes.
The book was published by Theodore Audel & Company, and the majority of the illustrative content became the basis of decades of follow-up books published under the ''Audels'' brand name. The illustrative content of these books can still be found in Audels books sold new today.
Because the ''Hawkins Electrical Guide'' was printed in the United States prior to 1923, the content of the books has passed into the
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...
.
Free media access on the Internet
Due to several book digitizing initiatives such as the
Gutenberg project, and , many of these older public domain books are becoming available on the Internet. This series of books is currently available for free, non-commercial use from
Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...
and each volume can be downloaded as a PDF, though the illustration scan quality is not as good as the ones being added to Wikipedia on this page by Wikipedia contributors.
Google Books Volume Links
As of September 2008, Google Books does not provide a simple, direct means to find each volume of this media set, and appears to include scanned copies of different volumes from different libraries and copyright dates from 1914-1917. Scan quality varies from one volume to the next. For your convenience, links to the available scanned media are provided here:
Volume 1 Copyright 1917, Impression 1921, from the University of California
Volume 2 Copyright 1917, from the University of Wisconsin - Madison, General Library System
Volume 3 Copyright 1917, Impression 1926, from the Harvard College Library
Volume 4 Copyright 1917, from the University of Wisconsin - Madison, General Library System,
Volume 5 Copyright 1917, from the University of Wisconsin - Madison, General Library System
Volume 6 Copyright 1917, from the Harvard College Library
Volume 7 & 8 Copyright 1914, from the New York Public Library
Volume 9 Copyright 1917, Impression 1926, from the Harvard College Library
Volume 10 Copyright 1917, Impression 1924-1925, from the Harvard College Library
Illustrations from Volume 1
Chapter 14: The Dynamo: Current Commutation
Chapter 15: Classes of Dynamo
Chapter 16: Field Magnets
Chapter 17: The Armature
Chapter 19: Theory of the Armature
Chapter 20: Commutation and the Commutator
Illustrations from Volume 2
Chapter 35: Operation of Motors
Illustrations from Volume 4
Chapter 46: Alternating Currents
Illustrations from Volume 6
Chapter 68: Wave Form Measurement
Illustrations from Volume 7
Chapter 66, Power Stations
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Main article:
Electric generator
In electricity generation, a generator, also called an ''electric generator'', ''electrical generator'', and ''electromagnetic generator'' is an electromechanical device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy for use in an externa ...
Description: A 50,000 - 100,000 KVA direct-driven power station AC alternator with a separate belt-driven exciter generator.
Notes, References
* The author's full name was
Nehemiah Hawkins. Cf
Joule's Experiment DOB 1833.
* In 1882 a Mr. N. Hawkins "writing under the name
Theodore Audel" founded a magazine called "Steam"
Platt's History Another Hawkins pseudonym: William Rogers.
* Also available online:
Hawkins, Nehemiah. "Maxims and instructions for the boiler room."(1903)- Internet Archive
Hawkins bibliography at Open Library* Historical advertisement for the Hawkins Electrical Guide, ''
Popular Science
Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...
'' monthly, February 1919, Page 6, Scanned by Google Books: https://books.google.com/books?id=7igDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA6
Electrical engineering books