Page 9 - Practical Ship Design

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number of people who have actually designed ships is small. In his presentation he
has taken, from a position of great authority, a pleasing stance of humility. His
views are not handed down from lofty professional eminence, but are offered in a
real and sympathetic attempt to help fellow designers. There are endearing
admissions of difficulties he has experienced in summarising and presenting
concise data. There are biographical references to his own design problems along
the way. Explanation of and reference to the underlying principles is laid alongside
his design data and his recommendations and advice.
The question must have been asked at the inception of writing as to whom the
book was directed and whom it would benefit. Now that the book is written, it is
easier to answer. It is likely to interest almost everybody involved, not just in
design, but in ships generally. Students, especially those needing a counterbalance
to pure theory, young designers, designers working in isolation (the days of large
shipbuilding design teams have gone, at least in UK), designers who are faced with
unusual types of vessel, will all benefit from the vast store of design data and the
conclusions and recommendations. But because of the style of writing and the
more discursive approach, the Author has produced a text book that is not only
interesting, but provides an educational experience for the interested or the curious,
even those not directly involved in the ship design process.
It has become less common to find senior personnel in industry who have been
able or allowed to pursue their own professional interests throughout their career.
The pressure towards general management and the attraction of wider respons-
ibilities is all too pervasive. The author has been fortunate and successful in
following his technological career to a conclusion where it has brought to fruition
an opus magnum of great potential benefit to many others. A man of the sea in
every respect, he has demonstrated his depth of knowledge, his dedication in
keeping such detailed records, and his sharp memories of the why and wherefore.
As I read the book my own mind goes to a myriad of events in my design career
where it is obvious that both of us suffered the same doubts, fears and uncertainties
about the same topics; but perhaps we had our little successes too. I can see the
problem he has faced as he comes to specific paragraphs and subjects where I am
sure he would have wanted to lay out the pros and cons at much greater length, but
then he would have had continually to accept that he was writing a book and not
presenting and discussing a series of learned papers such as he has participated in
so often in his career. What I also see as I read, is his native caution that will be
transmitted to the reader. It will remind the designer that he will seldom have all
the information or facts to hand; but he will still have to make his decisions. I can
hear coming through, the Author’s Scottish sense of humour, dryish and pawky,
which I have known so well over the years. and underlying all, the principled
beliefs from which has come the dedication behind the recording, documenting,
evaluating and presenting of such a mass of design knowledge.