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Title: The Stirling Alternative: Power Systems, Refrigerants and Heat Pumps by G. Walker, Graham Reader, Owen R. Fauvel, Edward R. Bingham, Graham Walker ISBN: 2-88124-600-1 Publisher: T&F STM Pub. Date: 01 October, 1994 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $43.00

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Average Customer Rating: 3 (2 reviews)

Rating: 4
Summary: a balanced overview
Comment: The copy of this book that I own is a manuscript copy, and so I cannot speak to the existence of the editing shortcomings described in other reviews. Furthermore it was given to me by the principal author, so if that biases this review then so be it.
However, I have to give a higher rating than just 2 stars. The book gives a very balanced review of the then current state of Stirling development, and gives clearheaded predictions as to what applications may develop, and what technical improvements are needed.
I particularly liked the section that dealt with the advantages and disadvantages of Stirling machines vs other alternatives. That section is of vital importance to people who would like to do something with stirling engines because it points out where to find the tiger in the grass, waiting to devour the unsuspecting hobbyist/engine builder.

It is not a book with much if any math or analysis, or detailed design information.

Rating: 2
Summary: Stirling Alternative - Content OK, but where was the editor?
Comment: I bought this book recently to learn more about Stirling engines, their history, and their workings, with aspirations of building one from scratch. The level of depth of content is appropriate to the size and cost of the book, meaning that it is not an exhaustive study, and it does give a good background on the history and working of Stirling engines. In addition, there is a good list of resources in the back to further direct research and study.

However, I am appalled at the typos and editing of this book. In the introduction alone there are many mistakes: misuses of "it's" and "comprise" and several spelling and grammar mistakes. These continue throughout the book in varying degrees. (The chapters, I think, were written by different authors, but the styles were not unified, so quality varies.) In addition, the figures lack a consistent format and are clearly borrowed from other publications, with bad effect. In several cases, the figures are black and white copies of color originals, and the loss of detail is nearly complete. It is not apparent whether any original figures were developed for this book.

Some of content is conspicuously absent, too. For example, I was hoping to find a well written explanation of the different types of Stirling engines, and on the web, I have found many refences to alpha, beta, gamma, and delta types. While different engine types are explained, this naming scheme is not covered.

In general, I would not reccommend this book because of the sloppy editing and nearly useless figures. While it does present a good amount of material, there are some absences and the ever present typos making reading it a chore.