''Tom Swift and His Motor Cycle, or, Fun and Adventure on the Road'', is Volume 1 in the original
Tom Swift
Tom Swift is the main character of six series of American juvenile science fiction and adventure novels that emphasize science, invention, and technology. Inaugurated in 1910, the sequence of series comprises more than 100 volumes. The fi ...
novel series published by
Grosset & Dunlap
Grosset & Dunlap is a New York City-based publishing house founded in 1898.
The company was purchased by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1982 and today is part of Penguin Random House through its subsidiary Penguin Group.
In recent years, through the P ...
.
Plot summary
Tom Swift, in his first adventure, has purchased a
motorcycle
A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...
and immediately gets busy modifying it. Eager to test his enhancements, Tom volunteers to transport his father's revolutionary
turbine
A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced can be used for generating electrical ...
design plans across the country roads to
Albany. Unaware of the evil corporate investors who want to steal the invention for themselves, Tom falls into their trap and finds himself facing the greatest peril of his young life. It is up to Tom not only to retrieve the
blueprint
A blueprint is a reproduction of a technical drawing or engineering drawing using a contact print process on light-sensitive sheets introduced by Sir John Herschel in 1842. The process allowed rapid and accurate production of an unlimited number ...
s and turbine
prototype
A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...
, but also to bring a gang of hired thugs to justice.
Inventions & innovation
* Tom purchased a very expensive motorcycle from his new friend, Mr. Damon. The model year would have been 1909 or 1910. Tom tweaked the
sprocket
A sprocket, sprocket-wheel or chainwheel is a profiled wheel
A wheel is a rotating component (typically circular in shape) that is intended to turn on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the whe ...
ratio
In mathematics, a ratio () shows how many times one number contains another. For example, if there are eight oranges and six lemons in a bowl of fruit, then the ratio of oranges to lemons is eight to six (that is, 8:6, which is equivalent to the ...
s, spark levers and overall performance of his machine by 15%, as well as increasing its range.
* Barton Swift, Tom's father, was working on a new turbine design, which would increase performance of motors. Turbines are used all over the world today in the same way. About the same time Barton Swift was working on this design,
Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla (;["Tesla"](_blank)
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; 10 July 1856 – 7 ...
was working to patent his own model - the bladeless turbine, which may have been the basis for Barton's work.
See also
*
Curtiss V-8 motorcycle — 1907 record-setter designed and ridden by Glenn Curtiss
References
External links
*
1910 American novels
Tom Swift
American young adult novels
Grosset & Dunlap books
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