Animated Engines - This one of those sites which shows how good the Internet can be. Matt Keveney, who put together this site, has done nothing less than to make easily understandable animations of how almost every engine there is works. Accompanying the animations are also very good explanations he has written about each phase of the engine's cycle. The animations of six types of internal combustion engines, ten types of steam engines and three types of Sterling engines cover almost every type of engine know. The complete cycle of each engine from fuel or pressure entering the piston or expansion chamber, firing, through expansion, expelling the exhaust fumes and then entry into a new cycle , are fully shown, with each step of the process being further illustrated in many cases by more animations. Some engines have as many as a ten animations to explain them. Some of the animations are utterly fascinating, such as the Gnome rotary Engine, where the entire engine, cylinders and block turn around the pistons and crankshaft. As backward as this may sound, they were a popular engine configuration during W.W.1. This site is about as crystal clear as you can get and whether you have any particular interest in engines or not, it is one of those rare sites that truly explains how things work. Rating: 10 out of 10 (7 March 2002) WTS
http://www.Keveney.com/Engines.html

A Sightseers Guide to Engineering - Are you looking for a way to make your vacation drive across the United States into a fun and educational experience? How about planning your route to include stops at engineering marvels? Thanks to A Sightseers Guide to Engineering, you can view a list of engineering sites in each state, or search by engineering discipline or site type. The site descriptions include a photograph, background information, fun tips, visitor information, a map and links to the site's website. Sponsored by the National Society of Engineers, this site contains places ranging from a retired inter-continental ballistic missile silo (Arizona), the tallest roller coaster in the world (Ohio), a roller skating museum (Nebraska), nuclear power stations (South Carolina), and a salt mine (Louisiana). Even if you are not planning a trip, why not check out what sites are located in your area for a fun weekend event? A little learning can be fun! (23 November 2001) CK
http://www.engineeringsights.org/

New York's World Trade Center: A Living Archive - In the year 2000, the author of this site, Eric Darton, published a book called Divided We Stand, A Biography of New York's World Trade Center. In Darton's own words, he had the idea that "[his] book would not assume the mantle of a "definitive" work. Rather, [his] goal was to create a useful, well-written and documented book that would also serve as the basis for a much broader exercise in cultural history writing - one that would push beyond the scope of an individual author." This Living Archive offers official account of the building, quotes from famous people about it, tall stories, and a selection of historical pictures of that area of New York, before, during and after the towers were built - particularly poignant now. (5 October 2001) KN
http://ericdarton.net/index.html

Collapse of the World Trade Center - The Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Sydney presents this page on the structural systems of the World Trade Centers and the reasons for collapse, in engineering terms. It's a small page, with a few html errors (the first picture has text running across the bottom, which makes it hard to read, for instance) but it's a good source of information for those curious to know why the buildings fell as they did, and you don't need to be an engineer yourself to follow the explanations. (4 October 2001) KN
http://www.civil.usyd.edu.au/wtc.htm

Gas Turbine Engine Collecting and Operating - If you're looking for a web site to rattle your dentures, this might be it. Ian Bennet's site is for those interested in collecting, building and operating gas turbines, as in jet engines. If the speakers on your computer are big enough, you can crank up one of Ian's sound links to a really gigantic turbine, and clear your building out in no time. The gas turbine , despite the relatively simple series of ideas behind it is a highly complex machine that requires intricate machining to manufacture its parts. The section on miniature turbines and home made turbines are particularly impressive and the pictures of the "Cri-Cri" the worlds smallest jet powered airplane (it is not much bigger than an office desk) are fascinating. Large commercial turbines are covered comprehensively, and the links are particularly good. As jet turbines power most of the world's commercial aircraft, this well document and photographed site is particularly worth looking at. (1 October 2001) WTS
http://www.gasturbine.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ne...