Slide Rule The Autobiography of an Engineer
London: William Heinemann, 1954. Octavo, red cloth, spine embossed with gilt lettering, [viii], 250 pp., frontispiece, illustrated with four black-and-white plates. Spine ends slightly bumped and rubbed; small sticker on inside of front cover at bottom left edge from F. W. Preece Ltd. Booksellers, Adelaide; dust-jacket foxed, worn and torn; otherwise a very good copy. First edition. An autobiography by engineer-turned-novelist Nevil Shute concentrating on his time working in aviation. The first part of this volume covers Shute's early life, his first encounter with aviation while working at the de Havilland aircraft factory during school holidays, and his important work at Vickers on the R100 project, an aircraft which would be compared to Air Ministry's ill-fated R101. Shute then offers a frank recount of his time co-founding and designing for Airspeed Ltd from 1931 to 1938 and the many difficulties this entailed. The book concludes with his resignation from the company. Item #4521
Name of previous owner written on front free endpaper: "J. Howell. 1956"
Price (AUD): $180.00