Bicycling Science The Mit Press

An updated edition of a classic: an indispensable companion for a new era in cycling. The bicycle is almost unique among human-powered machines in that it uses human muscles in a near-optimum way. This essential volume offers a comprehensive account of the history of bicycles, how human beings propel them, what makes them go faster—and what keeps them from going even faster. Over the years, and through three previous editions, Bicycling Science has become the bible of technical bicycling not only for designers and builders of bicycles but also for cycling enthusiasts. After a brief history of bicycles and bicycling that demolishes many widespread myths, this fourth edition covers recent experiments and research on human-powered transportation, with updated material on cycling achievements, human-powered machines for use on land and in air and water, power-assisted bicycles, and human physiology. The authors have also added new information on aerodynamics, rolling drag, transmission of power from rider to wheels, braking, heat management, steering and stability, power and speed, and other topics. This edition also includes many new references and figures. With racks of bikeshare bikes on city sidewalks, and new restrictions on greenhouse gas–emitting cars, bicycle use will only grow. This book is the indispensable companion for a new era in cycling.

A new, updated edition of a popular book on the history, science, and engineering of bicycles. The bicycle is almost unique among human-powered machines in that it uses human muscles in a near-optimum way. This new edition of the bible of bicycle builders and bicyclists provides just about everything you could want to know about the history of bicycles, how human beings propel them, what makes them go faster, and what keeps them from going even faster. The scientific and engineering information is of interest not only to designers and builders of bicycles and other human-powered vehicles but also to competitive cyclists, bicycle commuters, and recreational cyclists. The third edition begins with a brief history of bicycles and bicycling that demolishes many widespread myths. This edition includes information on recent experiments and achievements in human-powered transportation, including the "ultimate human- powered vehicle," in which a supine rider in a streamlined enclosure steers by looking at a television screen connected to a small camera in the nose, reaching speeds of around 80 miles per hour. It contains completely new chapters on aerodynamics, unusual human-powered machines for use on land and in water and air, human physiology, and the future of bicycling. This edition also provides updated information on rolling drag, transmission of power from rider to wheels, braking, heat management, steering and stability, power and speed, and materials. It contains many new illustrations.

An updated edition of a classic: an indispensable companion for a new era in cycling. The bicycle is almost unique among human-powered machines in that it uses human muscles in a near-optimum way. This essential volume offers a comprehensive account of the history of bicycles, how human beings propel them, what makes them go faster—and what keeps them from going even faster. Over the years, and through three previous editions, Bicycling Science has become the bible of technical bicycling not only for designers and builders of bicycles but also for cycling enthusiasts. After a brief history of bicycles and bicycling that demolishes many widespread myths, this fourth edition covers recent experiments and research on human-powered transportation, with updated material on cycling achievements, human-powered machines for use on land and in air and water, power-assisted bicycles, and human physiology. The authors have also added new information on aerodynamics, rolling drag, transmission of power from rider to wheels, braking, heat management, steering and stability, power and speed, and other topics. This edition also includes many new references and figures. With racks of bikeshare bikes on city sidewalks, and new restrictions on greenhouse gas–emitting cars, bicycle use will only grow. This book is the indispensable companion for a new era in cycling.

A guide to today's urban cycling renaissance, with information on cycling's health benefits, safety, bikes and bike equipment, bike lanes, bike sharing, and other topics. Bicycling in cities is booming, for many reasons: health and environmental benefits, time and cost savings, more and better bike lanes and paths, innovative bike sharing programs, and the sheer fun of riding. City Cycling offers a guide to this urban cycling renaissance, with the goal of promoting cycling as sustainable urban transportation available to everyone. It reports on cycling trends and policies in cities in North America, Europe, and Australia, and offers information on such topics as cycling safety, cycling infrastructure provisions including bikeways and bike parking, the wide range of bike designs and bike equipment, integration of cycling with public transportation, and promoting cycling for women and children. City Cycling emphasizes that bicycling should not be limited to those who are highly trained, extremely fit, and daring enough to battle traffic on busy roads. The chapters describe ways to make city cycling feasible, convenient, and safe for commutes to work and school, shopping trips, visits, and other daily transportation needs. The book also offers detailed examinations and illustrations of cycling conditions in different urban environments: small cities (including Davis, California, and Delft, the Netherlands), large cities (including Sydney, Chicago, Toronto and Berlin), and “megacities” (London, New York, Paris, and Tokyo). These chapters offer a closer look at how cities both with and without historical cycling cultures have developed cycling programs over time. The book makes clear that successful promotion of city cycling depends on coordinating infrastructure, programs, and government policies.

This new edition of John Forester's handbook for transportation policy makers and bicycling advocates has been completely rewritten to reflect changes of the last decade. It includes new chapters on European bikeway engineering, city planning, integration with mass transit and long-distance carriers, "traffic calming," and the art of encouraging private-sector support for bicycle commuting. A professional engineer and an avid bicyclist, John Forester combined those interests in founding the discipline of cycling transportation engineering, which regards bicycling as a form of vehicular transportation equal to any other form of transportation. Forester, who believes that riding a bicycle along streets with traffic is safer than pedaling on restricted bike paths and bike lanes, argues the case for cyclists' rights with zeal and with statistics based on experience, traffic studies, and roadway design standards. Over the nearly two decades since Bicycle Transportation was first published, he has brought about many changes in the national standards for highways, bikeways, bicycles, and traffic laws. His Effective Cycling Program continues to grow.

A study of technological, sociological, and cultural changes in the British bicycle industry from the 1870s to the present.

How American bicyclists shaped the landscape and left traces of their journeys for us in writing, illustrations, and photographs. In the later part of the nineteenth century, American bicyclists were explorers, cycling through both charted and uncharted territory. These wheelmen and wheelwomen became keen observers of suburban and rural landscapes, and left copious records of their journeys—in travel narratives, journalism, maps, photographs, illustrations. They were also instrumental in the construction of roads and paths (“wheelways”)—building them, funding them, and lobbying legislators for them. Their explorations shaped the landscape and the way we look at it, yet with few exceptions their writings have been largely overlooked by landscape scholars, and many of the paths cyclists cleared have disappeared. In Old Wheelways, Robert McCullough restores the pioneering cyclists of the nineteenth century to the history of American landscapes. McCullough recounts marathon cycling trips around the Northeast undertaken by hardy cyclists, who then describe their journeys in such magazines as The Wheelman Illustrated and Bicycling World; the work of illustrators (including Childe Hassam, before his fame as a painter); efforts by cyclists to build better rural roads and bicycle paths; and conflicts with park planners, including the famous Olmsted Firm, who often opposed separate paths for bicycles. Today's ubiquitous bicycle lanes owe their origins to nineteenth century versions, including New York City's “asphalt ribbons.” Long before there were “rails to trails,” there was a movement to adapt existing passageways—including aqueduct corridors, trolley rights-of-way, and canal towpaths—for bicycling. The campaigns for wheelways, McCullough points out, offer a prologue to nearly every obstacle faced by those advocating bicycle paths and lanes today. McCullough's text is enriched by more than one hundred historic images of cyclists (often attired in skirts and bonnets, suits and ties), country lanes, and city streets.

An illustrated history of the evolution of British women's cycle wear. The bicycle in Victorian Britain is often celebrated as a vehicle of women's liberation. Less noted is another critical technology with which women forged new and mobile public lives—cycle wear. This illustrated account of women's cycle wear from Goldsmiths Press brings together Victorian engineering and radical feminist invention to supply a missing chapter in the history of feminism. Despite its benefits, cycling was a material and ideological minefield for women. Conventional fashions were unworkable, with skirts catching in wheels and tangling in pedals. Yet wearing “rational” cycle wear could provoke verbal and sometimes physical abuse from those threatened by newly mobile women. Seeking a solution, pioneering women not only imagined, made, and wore radical new forms of cycle wear but also patented their inventive designs. The most remarkable of these were convertible costumes that enabled wearers to transform ordinary clothing into cycle wear. Drawing on in-depth archival research and inventive practice, Kat Jungnickel brings to life in rich detail the little-known stories of six inventors of the 1890s. Alice Bygrave, a dressmaker of Brixton, registered four patents for a skirt with a dual pulley system built into its seams. Julia Gill, a court dressmaker of Haverstock Hill, patented a skirt that drew material up the waist using a mechanism of rings or eyelets. Mary and Sarah Pease, sisters from York, patented a skirt that could be quickly converted into a fashionable high-collar cape. Henrietta Müller, a women's rights activist of Maidenhead, patented a three-part cycling suit with a concealed system of loops and buttons to elevate the skirt. And Mary Ann Ward, a gentlewoman of Bristol, patented the “Hyde Park Safety Skirt,” which gathered fabric at intervals using a series of side buttons on the skirt. Their unique contributions to cycling's past continue to shape urban life for contemporary mobile women.

How to make city cycling--the most sustainable form of urban transportation--safe, practical, and convenient for all cyclists. Cycling is the most sustainable mode of urban transportation, practical for most short- and medium-distance trips--commuting to and from work or school, shopping, visiting friends, going to the doctor's office. It's good for your health, spares the environment a trip's worth of auto emissions, and is economical for both public and personal budgets. Cycling, with all its benefits, should not be reserved for the fit, the spandex-clad, and the daring. Cycling for Sustainable Cities shows how to make city cycling safe, practical, and convenient for all cyclists.

Tells how to select, maintain, and repair a bicycle, describes basic cycling skills, and discusses traffic, accident prevention, cycling clubs, and commuting

The second edition of a comprehensive textbook that introduces turbomachinery and gas turbines through design methods and examples. This comprehensive textbook is unique in its design-focused approach to turbomachinery and gas turbines. It offers students and practicing engineers methods for configuring these machines to perform with the highest possible efficiency. Examples and problems are based on the actual design of turbomachinery and turbines. After an introductory chapter that outlines the goals of the book and provides definitions of terms and parts, the book offers a brief review of the basic principles of thermodynamics and efficiency definitions. The rest of the book is devoted to the analysis and design of real turbomachinery configurations and gas turbines, based on a consistent application of thermodynamic theory and a more empirical treatment of fluid dynamics that relies on the extensive use of design charts. Topics include turbine power cycles, diffusion and diffusers, the analysis and design of three-dimensional free-stream flow, and combustion systems and combustion calculations. The second edition updates every chapter, adding material on subjects that include flow correlations, energy transfer in turbomachines, and three-dimensional design. A solutions manual is available for instructors. This new MIT Press edition makes a popular text available again, with corrections and some updates, to a wide audience of students, professors, and professionals.

A unique exploration of the history of the bicycle in cinema, from Hollywood blockbusters and slapstick comedies to documentaries, realist dramas, and experimental films. Cycling and Cinema explores the history of the bicycle in cinema from the late nineteenth century through to the present day. In this new book from Goldsmiths Press, Bruce Bennett examines a wide variety of films from around the world, ranging from Hollywood blockbusters and slapstick comedies to documentaries, realist dramas, and experimental films, to consider the complex, shifting cultural significance of the bicycle. The bicycle is an everyday technology, but in examining the ways in which bicycles are used in films, Bennett reveals the rich social and cultural importance of this apparently unremarkable machine. The cinematic bicycles discussed in this book have various functions. They are the source of absurd comedy in silent films, and the vehicles that allow their owners to work in sports films and social realist cinema. They are a means of independence and escape for children in melodramas and kids' films, and the tools that offer political agency and freedom to women, as depicted in films from around the world. In recounting the cinematic history of the bicycle, Bennett reminds us that this machine is not just a practical means of transport or a child's toy, but the vehicle for a wide range of meanings concerning individual identity, social class, nationhood and belonging, family, gender, and sexuality and pleasure. As this book shows, two hundred years on from its invention, the bicycle is a revolutionary technology that retains the power to transform the world.

Investigating the scientific wonders that keep the cyclist in the saddle and explaining how the bike and rider work together, this fascinating book is the perfect way to analyse your own kit and technique by showing you the techniques of the professionals. Each chapter investigates a different area of physics or technology and is organised around a series of questions; What is the frame design? How have bicycle wheels evolved? What muscle groups does cycling exploit? How much power does a professional cyclist generate? Each question is investigated using explanatory infographics and illustrations to clarify the answers. Dip into the book for answers to specific questions or read it right through for a complete overview of how machine and rider work together. At its heart, the simple process of getting about on two wheels contains a wealth of fascinating science.

An authoritative and comprehensive account of the bicycle's two-hundred-year evolution.