The Bicycle Story

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While telling the fascinating story of the evolution of the bicycle from its beginning as a crude beam on wheels to its present form of a highly efficient transportation and leisure vehicle, an attempt is made to show how the engineering designs evolved from humble beginnings. This process of evolution of design occurs sometimes slowly and at other times in leaps and bounds, each stage leading to an improved product.

The book utilizes a familiar machine to introduce some essential principles of engineering mechanisms: treadles, cranks, velocity ratio, transmission, gearing, antifriction bearings, triangulation of structures etc. It also attempts to give a glimpse of the science of bicycling through a discussion of force and power, wind resistance, braking and stability. As an additional feature, some interesting internet sites connected with the history and science of bicycling are listed for the enthusiasts.

The author, Vijay Gupta is Professor of Aerospace Engineering of Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He has an abiding interest in education and education technology. He has produced numerous education videos for the UGC’s Country- wide classroom. One of his videos, The Flying Machine, won the Best Production Award at the 6th National Video Film Festival in 1993. He has Authored a number of textbooks for engineering students and has contributed many general articles to popularise engineering concepts.