Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Children's author needs expert advice

[Trent Mcnelly <trent@ktuu.com>]

I think everyone should remember that this is a fictional childrens  
book.  My interest in building my own sub was aroused 34 years ago  
when I was 12 and read "The Adventures of the Mad Scientists club" by  
Bertrand Brinley.  It's a great book and in it a group of young boys  
gets a hold of an old Japanese two man sub and re-builds it and dives  
in a local lake.  I now know that the project as outlined in the book  
is impossible, but it was fiction and got my interest going.  I don't  
think it's fair to say that the author is responsible for making sure  
what is written is actually possible.  It's a story and stories  
should push peoples imaginations beyond what is possible.  That's  
where new ideas and innovations come from!

My two cents worth!

Trent McNelly
Anchorage, Alaska


On Aug 13, 2008, at 4:06 PM, Jens Laland wrote:

> Hi Guys!
>
> I don't know if the following quote was meant to be a comment  
> similar to
> mine, or not...
>
> ** Most farms have wire welders and 55 gal barrels laying around.?
> **
> ** Maybe your kid exists in real life:
> ** http://ralph.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=598774
>
> ... but we just had a serious discussion on how PSUBS as a group  
> ought to
> behave in relation to unsafe (or plain suicidal) projects, and to what
> effects such involvement could have on the public, the authorities,  
> and
> any new wannabee-submariner, etc, etc.
>
> Yes, I am thinking about the industrious poor chinaman - and how his
> project was handled and commented upon in this forum.
>
> My concern is very much this:
>
> Could a children's book about an 8 to 12 year old boy building his own
> functional 1 atm. submarine become a similar irresponsible, hazardious
> 55-gallon type of project that PSUBS should rather not be  
> assosiated with?
>
> Or? If we are going to help Barbara she should first be told something
> about tank systems and stability, and that well before we prop her  
> mind
> full of "feasible" ideas.
>
> Maybe she could start reading the end of chapter 2 [page 19 thru to  
> page
> 29] of Marley F. Hay's book: "Secrets of the Submarine".
>
> Ref.: http://www.psubs.org/book.html#b16
>
> Barbara, if you have problem getting a copy, I would happily mail  
> over a
> scan of the said pages.
>
> Best regards,
> Jens Laland
>
>
>
>
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