Bouncing-Bomb Man: The Science of Sir Barnes Wallis by Iain Murray

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Amazon says Oct '09 for release of your book - is this the case?

Might we have a preview/chapter list in advance to wet our appetites - or any illustrations that might get left out of the book ;D

Regards,
Barry
 
Dear Barry,

Amazon says Oct '09 for release of your book - is this the case?
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Yes, they haven't started typesetting it yet!

Might we have a preview/chapter list in advance
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The chapters will be as follows; the chapters are all (very) roughly the same length, to give you an idea of coverage:

  • Preface
  • Chapter 1 - Barnes Wallis - 19th century ideals and 21st century ideas
  • Chapter 2 - Airships
  • Chapter 3 - Geodetic Aircraft
  • Chapter 4 - The Bouncing Bombs - Early Development
  • Chapter 5 - Upkeep - the anti-dam bomb
  • Chapter 6 - Highball - the anti-ship bomb
  • Chapter 7 - The Earthquake Bombs
  • Chapter 8 - Early Supersonics (Wild Goose etc.)
  • Chapter 9 - Later Supersonics (Swallow etc.)
  • Chapter 10 - Hypersonics (Cascade, Universal aircraft etc.)
  • Chapter 11 - Miscellaneous projects (submarines, telescopes and many more)
  • Chapter 12 - Wallis with hindsight
  • 7 Appendices

The appendices include a list of awards made to Wallis, his publications, and a complete list of test drops of his bombs.

Happy to answer any questions about it.

Regards,


Iain.
 
Iain,

Great!!! Another book to look forward to! ;D

One question: How illustrated will it be - especially with his various designs?

Regards,

Greg
 
Hi Greg,

One question: How illustrated will it be - especially with his various designs?
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There are 125 illustrations, which include archive and modern photos, copies of plans, and renderings of 3-D computer models of his later designs ... some of these images have multiple aircraft in them so I've sneakily exceeded the 125 image limit imposed by the publisher. There could easily have been 250 images in it!

Order now for Christmas!

Regards,


Iain.
 
Pre-ordered earlier with Amazon.

It is a pity that perhaps a CD/DVD with images on could not be included or scrapbook of photos available like a certain other publisher puts out ;)

Regards,
Barry
 
Pre-ordered earlier with Amazon.
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Lovely, thanks! In the last few days my sales ranking has gone up from over 1,000,000th to just 120,000th! ;D

It is a pity that perhaps a CD/DVD with images on could not be included or scrapbook of photos available like a certain other publisher puts out
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That would vertainly be a nice idea, and there are plenty to pick from. However, whilst the economics of producing a CD is not great, the cost of the images is, when done commercially. The archives charge between £30-£75 per image (averaging about £50), so £1,000 buys you use of just twenty images.

Regards,


Iain.
 
Be glad it's not a Boeing.
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That's true, Boeing charge up to around £250 for use of an archive photo. I did try to get hold of some photos from them of B-29s carrying earthquake bombs, but despite chasing several times, they never got back to me. I know they have them, as I've seen them in other publications creditted to Boeing!

Out of interest, the BAE SYSTEMS (ie. Vickers/BAC) pictures did not cost to use, though written permission to use them was essential.

Regards,


Iain.
 
Disappointing but understandable. One assumes you have included a broad representative sample for our indulgence
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I hope the selection is good - I wanted to include some "standard" images so people would see familiar stuff, and some unseen archive images. My publisher had no preference, so I leaned toward the latter. I have also included 3-D models of his later (unflown) aircraft as this got around copyright problems in reproducing the plans.

Regards,


Iain.
 
Sounds like an amazing book Iain!
Wallis Is a bit of a childhood hero of mine - unlike the hoardes of kids in the 80,s who grew up with rubbish Ninja turtles and silly fake wrestling, i was building model kits of the bouncing bomb lancasters and wellingtons, listening to my grandfather, wide eyed, of the stories of the research he did - and it was even cooler when he told me he was born in Ripley-where i have lived all my life!
Im definitely getting that book!!
 
Hi all,

I have now created a new site with information about Sir Barnes Wallis, and more about my forthcoming book - please visit www.SirBarnesWallis.com

The site includes a forum which I invite you to join.

Regards,


Iain.
 
Sorry if I have missed a more relevant post.

I recently got a copy of "Bouncing Bomb Man" by Iain Murray.

Whilst a lot of this is about the well known work of Barnes Wallis (Geodetics, Upkeep, Tallboy and Grand Slam) it also includes chapters on his post-war work.

I liked it for just a couple of pages on his high-speed torpedo work (but there's no accounting for taste).

Well worth looking at in the bookshop.

.
 
more info
Titel: "Bouncing-Bomb Man: The Science of Sir Barnes Wallis"
Author: Iain Murray
Hardcover with 288 pages
Publisher: Haynes Publishing (January 15, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1844255883
ISBN-13: 978-1844255887
Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.4 x 0.9 inches
 
Well, I received my copy of this today and I have read the first few chapters. Its a great book. Very well researched and immaculately referenced, it is a highly readable account of the work of a remarkable engineer in many different areas.

I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the book. Highly recommended.
 

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