Gale Force 10: THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF ADMIRAL BEAUFORT - 1774-1857.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.[Complete number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1.] FINE/FINE.No owner inscrptn,and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,ncrisp, clean,matt,pale blue background with colour illustrations illustrated d/wj,with black and reddish-brown lettering; with negligible shelf- wear and creasing to edge and corners - no major nicks or tears present. Both head+foot of spine/backstrip of dw/dj minimally bumped with reciprocal creasing - a tiny,tiny snick to foot of same.Both top+fore-edges slightly aged/toned - as usual/normal - but generally bright and clean; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners - appears unread?Bright,crisp, clean,sharp-cornered,publisher's original plain navy blue cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked silver gilt letters to spine/backstrip and immaculate b/w map illustrated endpapers.Horizontal accidental tear (3/16ths") to pp163/4 edge and a tinier horizontal snick to pp187/8 page's edge too - basically,just a couple of the few faults the book has.Described hard but fairly and honestly - nowhere as bad as it reads or would seem! UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,vi-xiipp+1-340pp [paginated] includes author's note,acknowledgements, prologue,13 chapters,8pp contemporary b/w+colour reproductions in one block, between pp164/5,other b/w illus/diagrams etc.,interspersed throughout the text and the book,appendices(4),endnotes,a select bibliography and an index; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,and contents list/table.
Few who hear the shipping forecast,with its familiar sequence of numbers denoting the expected force of the wind,know what lies behind the man who gave the world the Beaufort Scale.Yet the scale that immortalised Admiral Beaufort's name is just a small part of his full and fascinating life.His early career in the Navy runs the gamut of a Hornblower novel - shipwreck,prizes and near-death through drowning and wounds.Self-taught in the midshipman's berth,he rose to serve on the council of the Royal Society.
During his 26-year tenure as Hydrographer to the Navy,Beaufort was also recognised as 'the authorised organ of scientific communication in England'.It was the high noon of British hydrography,where his surveyors charted the world's seas,such as the voyage of the 'Beagle' that was to bring about Darwin's radical theory of evolution.'As safe as an Admiralty Chart' became a byword for their accuracy under his direction.
This fascinating biography of Rear-Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort (1774- 1857) shows a rich and varied life,from the world of adventure,scientific and antiquarian discovery,to polar exploration, meteorology,astronomy, cryptography and literature.Bestselling author Nicholas Courtney has drawn on Beaufort's original letters and journals,the official naval and hydrographic records,and the many learned societies of which he was a member,to reveal the public and private life of a 19thC hero.
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