Page:The Steam Turbine.djvu/16

 discarded. The discoveries and data made and tabulated by physicists, chemists, and metallurgists, are eagerly sought by the engineer, and as far as possible utilized by him in his designs. In many of the best equipped works, also, a large amount of experimental research, directly bearing on the business, is carried on by the staff.

The subject of our lecture today is the Steam Turbine, and it may be interesting to mention that the work was initially commenced because calculation showed that, from the known data, a successful steam turbine ought to be capable of construction. The practical development of this engine was thus commenced chiefly on the basis of the data of physicists, and, as giving some idea of the work involved in the investigation of the problem of marine propulsion by turbines, I may say that about £24,000 was spent before an order was received. Had the system been a failure or unsatisfactory, nearly the whole of this sum would have been lost.