I was reading Louis Hunter’s book Steamboats on the Western Rivers the other day (and if you wnat to know anything about how the steamboat business worked–mechanical, business, river improvements, labor relations, whatever–it’s the book to read), and he mentions Oliver Evan’s 1805 handbook for steam engineers, The Abortion of the Young Steam Engineer’s Guide. :eek:
Needless to say, the title raised my eyebrows a bit.
In what sense is the word “abortion” being used in that title?
It’s something along the lines of to cut short. It’s not a fully fleshed out book with all the details one would need. In other words it’s a primer.
He published the book to fund the manufacture of the idea presented in the book.
HD above had the right idea. It’s an incomplete idea at the time of publication. Oliver needed money to build a steam driven vehicle so he wrote a book about his ideas to both educate his investors and to make some money from the publication.
Steam Power was still garage science in 1805.
He was originally going to call it “The Young Steam Engineer’s Guide”, but then he ran into financial trouble. A patent he had applied for had been turned down. Meanwhile, he had written an earlier pamphlet called “The Principles of the Steam Engine”, and another steam engine designer had read it and accused him of plagiarizing his steam engine designs.
So, for reasons of finance and reputation, he had to get the book out sooner than he wanted. As he put it:
In other words, he knowingly put out a poorly done piece of crap instead of the book he wanted to do, because he needed the money.
Ah, I see. Thank you very much!