In 1984 America celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of the first successful roller coaster device: La Marcus A. Thompson’s switchback railway, erected at Coney Island. Robert Cartmell examines every phase of roller coaster history, from the use of the roller coaster by Albert Einstein to demonstrate his theory of physics, to John Allen’s use of psychology in designing one.

With more than 300 photographs, this pictorial history of steam and diesel coaster ships shows the evolution of these beautiful merchant vessels. The romance of British coasters, immortalized in John Masefield's famous poem “Cargoes”, can be attributed to the ship’s simple, functional beauty and its faithful toil before the advent of universal road haulage. This collection of photographs tells the story of the steam and diesel coasters from their origins in the UK and the Netherlands to the present day. The term 'coaster' includes a range of vessels designed for inland seas, including steam colliers, puffers, packets, steam flats and lighters, as well as the ubiquitous steam coaster itself. Along with the details of the ships themselves, this volume covers cargo handling and stowing, machinery, and coastal trades, as well as the owners, builders and crews.

Beer.

Have you always wanted to learn more about how roller coasters work? I’m not talking about the basic “roller coasters use gravity!” descriptions you’re used to. I’m talking about learning in-depth about the nitty gritty engineering details, like: How do roller coaster engineers know what size motor is needed to pull the train to the top of the lift hill and how much will it cost to operate it? What material are the wheels made out of and how does it affect the performance of the ride? What is the difference between LIM and LSM propulsion? How does the control system on a racing or dueling coaster time up the near collision moments perfectly every single time? All of these questions and more are answered in the latest edition of Coasters 101: An Engineer’s Guide to Roller Coaster Design. “I thought it was great. It was a good first look at roller coaster design. It also gave great information and details about roller coasters in general.” - Adrina from Goodreads “Thanks for writing a very good book. I could not put it down. Lot's of great information. I am a technology and engineering teacher and the information I found here is very helpful in trying to get students more excited about engineering.” -Amazon reviewer