体验世界文化之旅阅读文库 速度的追求PDF电子书下载

The Quest for Speed 1

Introduction 2

Chapter 01 Speed Over Land 4

On Foot or by Wheel 4

Early roads 5

Stagecoaches 7

Tools of the trade 11

Steam Power—Britain and America on the Move 13

Railway travel in England 17

Isambard Kingdom Brunel 23

American railroads 25

Gathering steam 28

Twenty-First-Century Railways 30

The Channel Tunnel 30

High-speed trains 32

The Internal Combustion Engine 35

The horseless carriage 35

Racing improves the breed 37

Brooklands 40

Indianapolis 44

Le Mans 45

Grand Prix races 48

Two Wheels 55

Bicycles 55

Motorbikes 58

Motorcycle racing 61

Chapter 02 Speed Over Water 63

From Dug-Out to Sail 63

Improvements in navigation 67

When Sail was King:The Clippers 69

When Sail was King:The Fighting Ships 72

The First Steamers 75

The Atlantic Crossing 78

The slave trade 81

Cutting the journey time 83

Rowing across 84

The Australia Route 86

Round the World Sailing Races 89

The great sailing races 90

High Speed on the Water—Power Boats 91

Ground Effect Vehicles 92

Chapter 03 Speed Through the Air:The Early Days 96

Man's Desire to Fly 96

Balloons 99

Dirigibles and Airships 102

Powered Flight 108

Aeroplanes 110

The Schneider Trophy races 115

Crossing the Channel by Air 121

The First Passenger-Carying Flights:1918-1952 123

Opening up the World—the Birth of Long-Haul Flights:1918-1949 126

Flying Eastwards:1918-1939 132

Trail Blazers and Record Breakers:1925-1937 134

Success for Alan Cobham 134

"Amy,Wonderful Amy" 136

Alex Henshaw 138

Charles Lindbergh 140

Amelia Earhart 141

The Challenge of the Pacific:1932-1939 145

West to East by Imperial Airways:1931-1939 148

Chapter 04 Speed Through the Air:The Age of the Jet 154

Designing the Jet 157

The Jet Fighters 164

Breaking the Sound Barrier 168

The First Commercial Jet Services 174

Concorde 175

Air Speed Records 179

Measuring Speed 181

Variations on the Theme of Flight 182

Rotating wing machines 182

Flying cars 187

Chapter 05 The Future 190

Rockets 190

The scramjet 195

Space Travel 197

Moon landings 197

Visiting Mars 198

The Space Shuttle 200

Commercial space travel 201

The Future of Travel:Faster,Further,Smarter? 203

Or Will It Be Greener? 207

Appendices 215

Places 215

People 227

Exercises 236