Jet Engines

By Albert Jack

From the bestselling author of Red Herrings & White Elephants, Shaggy Dogs, Pop Goes the Weasel, What Caesar did for my Salad, They Laughed at Galileo and many more....

 

Introduction
 

Curiosity will eventually lead to innovation. Fortunately we are an imaginative species who does a lot of wondering. Way back to when man first learned to walk upright and began communicating with each other, by pointing and shouting, we can find the earliest examples. Somebody once thought, 'I know, we can move that heavy rock, or dead buffalo, by rolling it along on tree trunks because it is easier than dragging it over the ground.' 

 

This, of course, led to the wheel. It must have been around that time that some other clever soul worked out that if he held some meat over that hot fiery thing then it tasted better. It seems basic but it was innovation. Somebody somewhere decided to take the risk of burning their food down into ashes, as they knew the burning logs did, just to see if it tasted any better. 

 

But I bet there was someone else laughing at him and saying 'don't do that, it's a terrible idea,' (or whatever is was they would have said back then.) And that's innovation too. That's discovery and invention. 

 

We have been doing it ever since in one form or another and we have come a long way as a species thanks to people who take risks and ignore the advice of wiser ones. And that, in a nutshell, is what this book is all about.

 

This, then, is the story of Frank Whittle and how he overcame huge odds to make sure his vision would win a war and change the world forever, despite fierce opposition from Her Majesty's Royal Air Force.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Albert Jack Publishing
• Release date: Apr 22, 2021
• ISBN: 9781540150523

Book preview

Jet Engines

Great Inventions: The Story of Frank Whittle

(2021 eBook Edition)

Table of Contents

Title Page

Albert Jack | Albert Jack Publishing

‘If the world should blow itself up, the last audible voice would be that of an expert saying, ‘It can’t be done.’ – Peter Ustinov

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About the Author

Albert Jack

Albert Jack Publishing

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Jet Engines

Inventions: The Story of Frank Whittle

(2021 eBook Edition)

Extracted from They Laughed at Galileo

Copyright ©December 2015 Albert Jack

Cover Art: Albert Jack Publishing

Cover Design: Albert Jack Publishing

All rights are reserved to the author. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

This is a work of non-fiction

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About the Author

Albert Jack, is a writer and historian. His first book, Red Herrings and White Elephants explored the origins of well-known idioms and phrases and became an international bestseller in 2004.

It was serialised by the Sunday Times and remained in their bestseller list for sixteen straight months. He followed this up with a series of bestsellers including Shaggy Dogs and Black Sheep, Pop Goes the