Excerpt from Appleton's Cyclopaedia of Drawing, Designed as a Text-Book for the Mechanic, Architect, Engineer, and Surveyor: Comprising Geometrical Projection, Mechanical, Architectural, and Topographical Drawing, Perspective and IsometryIn astronomical calculations every decimal may have its importance. It is not so in those of the mechanical or architectural designer, solutions by graphics are sufficient for their purpose, and, simpler than mathematical calculations, they are thus less liable to error, it is a very good practice to use one as a check on the other. It is to be remarked that inaccuracy in facts, and carelessness in observation, are not eliminated from an equation by closeness of calculation, and when factors are not established within the limits of units it is useless to extend the results to many places of decimals. It is of the utmost importance to know at first well the object and pur poses of the design, the stresses to which its parts are to be subjected, and the strength and endurance of the materials of which it is to be composed. In establishing rules for ourselves, be sure of the facts, and that there are enough of them for a general application. Rules are necessary, but their application and usefulness depend largely on the experience of the user, and life must be a record of applications and effects. It is comparatively easy to make a work strong enough, but to unite economy with propor tion is difficult.The first edition of this work was suggested by The Engineer and Machinist's Drawing Book of Messrs. Blackie Son, 1855, from which, with the consent of the publishers, much of the text and illustrations were taken. Since then, in the many editions, it has been the aim to keep up with mechanical progress, and matter has been drawn from all sources. Credit, as far as possible, has been given to mechanics for their designs and to experimenters for their results.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.