Boats, boffins and bowlines

"Many of us know about our modern sailing pioneers - Dame Ellen MacArthur, Sir Francis Chichester, Ben Ainslie, Clare Francis and the challengers of the America's Cup - but what about those unsung heroes and heroines who invented the mechanisms and technology that enable sailors and boatsmen to speed across the oceans and navigate more safely? This book reveals the extraordinary stories behind the apparatus that many take for granted but would not now be without." "From cloud classification and the screw propeller to the radio telephone and the measurement of wind speeds, from the sextant to the lifebelt, here is a collection of stories of the intrepid and ingenious that will inspire and intrigue all sailors."--Jacket.