The remarkable scientific advances made by the Parsons family of Birr, Co Offaly, are detailed in a new book, From Galaxies to Turbines - Science, Technology and the Parsons Family.
The book was written by Emeritus Professor W. Garret Scaife of Trinity College Dublin and is published by the Institute of Physics. It highlights the work of William Parsons, the 3rd Earl of Rosse, who built the Leviathan, the great telescope at Birr Castle, and the separate achievements of his son Charles, who developed a highly efficient turbine that revolutionised steam power.
Scaife's book provides a popular and highly readable account of the contributions made by these two great Irishmen, and the book includes many rare period photographs. William's giant 6-ft reflecting telescope was the largest in the world for decades until the 200 - in reflector was installed on Mount Wilson, California, in 1917. The world's greatest astronomers came to Birr to observe the heavens and William used the Leviathan to identify the spiral shapes of what we know today as galaxies.
Charles was an engineer and inventor who introduced a new design for the steam turbine, greatly improving its efficiency and power output and, in turn, bringing about its rapid introduction for sea transport.
The giant engines of the ill-fated Titanic included Parsons steam turbines, and the principles he developed are still used in the creation of electricity today.
The book's author, Prof Scaife, pioneered the new engineering curriculum at Trinity College in the 1960s and is a world authority on the Parsons family. From Galaxies to Turbines contains 552 pages and 134 period photographs and illustrations. It costs £35 and should reach book shops later this week.