In the following pages it is my intention to give engineers on board
ship, who may be put in charge of electric lighting machinery without
having any electrical knowledge, some idea of the manner in which
electricity is produced by mechanical means; how it is converted into
light; what precautions must be used to keep the plant in order, and
what to do in the event of difficulties arising. I do not therefore aim
at producing a literary work, but shall try and explain everything in
the plainest language possible.