Customer Reviews

Around The World By Stirling Engine

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the book is nothing more than a few not good photos of stirling engines, most of them can be found in the web, and interviews with people that builds or use stirling engines for some or another reason, nothing to do with design, no usefull plans, or cutaways.
The usefull information from this book can be compiled from the web in a few hours.

I have been building model Stirling Engines for several years. When people find out about my hobby they often start asking me lots of questions about how the technology of Stirling engines can be applied in our modern culture. I often hear the questions, "Can it be used to generate electricity?", "Will it power a car?", "Do they use these in space missions?",or, "If you made it bigger, could it run your house?"

Van Arsdell answers all these questions and more. Every one of those issues gets addressed in his book. He does a great job illustrating how the technology is being applied today, and what efforts are being done to bring it into our future.

Much of the book is made up of interviews he has conducted with engineers and builders who are using Stirling engine technology is fascinating ways. He tells about marine applications of Stirling engines in yachts and in submarines, and he gives some great examples of how the technology is being applied to generating electricity. Van Arsdell does a good job in pointing out that the Stirling Engine has a limited zone in which it shines. When the circumstances and the needs are just right, a Stirling engine is the perfect solution. But in many cases, it is not. Stirling technology has a very specific scope and that is illustrated well in this book.

This book is not about building Stirling engines. This book is about how Stirling engines are being used in our modern society and some of the struggles we face as we try to adopt the technology.

I don't agree with all of the assertions in the book. He gets a little philosophical at times. He defends his position, but I still don't agree with all of it. But then, reading other's opinions is how we all get smarter!

This book gives a great deal of information about Stirling engines much more then the internet or any thermodynamics book. I would recommend it for anyone who is writing a report on these engines or even if they are just trying on construct on in their garage.

This is a primer book that introduces the reader to the general technology and uses of Stirling engines. The author (Van Arsdell) plainly has a passion for this type of engine and explores the possible uses, present, and future.
What this isn't, is an extremely technical manual, or one that plumbs the depths of the technical challenges associated with their design and applications.