The Lighthouse Stevensons

The Lighthouse Stevensons PDF Author: Bella Bathurst
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062094742
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
For centuries the seas around Scotland were notorious for shipwrecks. Mariners' only aids were skill, luck, and single coal-fire light on the east coast, which was usually extinguished by rain. In 1786 the Northern Lighthouse Trust was established, with Robert Stevenson appointed as chief engineer a few years later. In this engrossing book, Bella Bathhurst reveals that the Stevensons not only supervised the construction of the lighthouses under often desperate conditions but also perfected a design of precisely chiseled interlocking granite blocks that would withstand the enormous waves that batter these stone pillars. The same Stevensons also developed the lamps and lenses of the lights themselves, which "sent a gleam across the wave" and prevented countless ships from being lost at sea. While it is the writing of Robert Louis Stevenson that brought fame to the family name, this mesmerizing account shows how his extraordinary ancestors changed the shape of the Scotland coast against incredible odds and with remarkable technical ingenuity.

The Lighthouse Stevensons

The Lighthouse Stevensons PDF Author: Bella Bathurst
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062094742
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 336

Get Book Here

Book Description
For centuries the seas around Scotland were notorious for shipwrecks. Mariners' only aids were skill, luck, and single coal-fire light on the east coast, which was usually extinguished by rain. In 1786 the Northern Lighthouse Trust was established, with Robert Stevenson appointed as chief engineer a few years later. In this engrossing book, Bella Bathhurst reveals that the Stevensons not only supervised the construction of the lighthouses under often desperate conditions but also perfected a design of precisely chiseled interlocking granite blocks that would withstand the enormous waves that batter these stone pillars. The same Stevensons also developed the lamps and lenses of the lights themselves, which "sent a gleam across the wave" and prevented countless ships from being lost at sea. While it is the writing of Robert Louis Stevenson that brought fame to the family name, this mesmerizing account shows how his extraordinary ancestors changed the shape of the Scotland coast against incredible odds and with remarkable technical ingenuity.

The Lighthouse Stevensons

The Lighthouse Stevensons PDF Author: Bella Bathurst
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
ISBN: 0007358970
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 57

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Book Description
Bella Bathurst’s epic story of Robert Louis Stevenson’s ancestors and the building of the Scottish coastal lighthouses against impossible odds.

The Lighthouse Stevensons

The Lighthouse Stevensons PDF Author: Bella Bathurst
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
ISBN: 0007204434
Category : Civil engineers
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
Bella Bathurst tells the story of how Robert Louis Stevenson's ancestors built the network of lighthouses around the coast of Scotland. The family built all of the Scottish lighthouses, the last one of which became automated in 1998.

Sentinels of the Sea

Sentinels of the Sea PDF Author: R. G. Grant
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780500519769
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Lighthouses have always unsettled and attracted in equal measure, highlighting the triumphs and failures in humanity's battle with the forces of nature. Taking as its heroes the lighthouses themselves, Sentinels of the Sea describes the engineering genius that allowed their construction on even the smallest of rock outcrops and the innovations that made the lights so powerful and reliable. Intricate, elegant architectural plans and elevations, and evocative period drawings and photographs showcase the innovative designs and technologies behind fifty historic lighthouses built around the world from the 17th to the 20th century. R.G. Grant's engaging and authoritative text chronicles the incredible feats of engineering and endurance that brought these iconic, isolated towers into being, the advances in lens technology that made the lights so effective, and the everyday routines of the lighthouse keepers and the heroic rescues that some performed. Packed with extraordinary stories of human endeavour, desperate shipwrecks, builders defying the elements and heroic sea rescues, the book also reveals the isolation and vulnerability of the dedicated lighthouse keepers.

The Wreckers

The Wreckers PDF Author: Bella Bathurst
Publisher: HMH
ISBN: 0544301617
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 372

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Book Description
An “entertaining” historical investigation into the scavengers who have profited off the spoils of maritime disasters (The Washington Post). Even today, Britain’s coastline remains a dangerous place. It is an island soaked by four separate seas, with shifting sand banks to the east, veiled reefs to the west, powerful currents above, and the world’s busiest shipping channel below. The country’s offshore waters are strewn with shipwrecks—and for villagers scratching out an existence along Britain’s shores, those wrecks have been more than simply an act of God; in many cases, they have been the difference between living well and just getting by. Though Daphne du Maurier and Poldark have made Cornwall famous as Britain’s most notorious region for wrecking, many other coastal communities regarded the “sea’s bounty” as a way of providing themselves with everything from grapefruits to grand pianos. Some plunderers were held to be so skilled that they could strip a ship from stem to stern before the Coast Guard had even left port. Some were rumored to lure ships onto the rocks with false lights, and some simply waited for winter gales to do their work. This book uncovers tales of ships and shipwreck victims—from shoreline orgies so Dionysian that few participants survived the morning to humble homes fitted with silver candelabra, from coastlines rigged like stage sets to villages where everyone owns identical tennis shoes. Spanning three hundred years of history, The Wreckers examines the myths, realities, and superstitions of shipwrecks and uncovers the darker side of life on Britain’s shores. “Bathurst, who won a Somerset Maugham Award for The Lighthouse Stevensons, offers a spellbinding tale of seafaring men, their ships and the ocean that cares for neither.” —Publishers Weekly “A fascinating, haunting account of pillagers, plunderers, and pirates.” —John Burnett, author of Dangerous Waters: Modern Piracy and Terror on the High Seas

Scottish and Manx Lighthouses

Scottish and Manx Lighthouses PDF Author: Ian A. Cowe
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780956720917
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
A compilation of glorious photographs of Scotland's marvellous lighthouse heritage. Join photographer Ian on a journey by foot, car, boat and helicopter around the stunning coastline of Scotland and the Isle of Man to capture this wonderful collection of images. Learn about the exploits of the Stevensons who battled against the elements for over 150 years and the keepers who manned these inspirational sentinels of the sea.

Records of a Family of Engineers

Records of a Family of Engineers PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


Dynasty of Engineers

Dynasty of Engineers PDF Author: Roland Paxton
Publisher: Whittles
ISBN: 9780956720900
Category : Engineers
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Account of the building of the lighthouse and the famous engineering Stevensons

The Poems of Robert Louis Stevenson

The Poems of Robert Louis Stevenson PDF Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
Publisher: New York, Thomas Y. Crowell [c1900]
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 422

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Book Description


Lighthouses

Lighthouses PDF Author: Toby Chance
Publisher: Fox Chapel Publishing
ISBN: 1780091044
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 371

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Book Description
The Great Exhibition, Crystal Palace, 1851: James Chance, of the glass-making firm Chance Brothers, is nervously showcasing a new lens, that, unknown to him, will revolutionise lighthouse production, propel his family business into a position of world leadership, save countless lives and have far-reaching consequences for trade, empire and the map of the world.This is where "Lighthouses" begins. The true-life story that follows is of one man and his family's unexpected role in an exciting race to perfect this technology, against European rivals and colleagues, as they strive to regain for Britain the leadership position she had lost to the French in the 1820s.This fascinating story places James Chance and the Chance Brothers firm against the backdrop of a time in which lighthouse manufacture was transformed from a craft into a scientific, high-precision industry. As a tool for globalisation, and with immense strategic and economic value, lighthouses helped to establish a network of communications that transformed the trade maps of countries and empires.