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The growth in air mobility, rising fuel prices and ambitious targets in emission reduction are some of the driving factors behind research towards more efficient aircraft. The purpose of this paper is to assess the application of a blended wing body (BWB) aircraft configuration with turbo-electric distributed propulsion in the military sector and to highlight the potential benefits that could be achieved for long-range and heavy payload applications.

Mission performance has been simulated using a point-mass approach and an engine performance code (TURBOMATCH) for the propulsion system. Payload-range charts were created to compare the performance of a BWB aircraft with various different fuels against the existing Boeing 777-200LR as a baseline.

When using kerosene, an increase in payload of 42 per cent was achieved but the use of liquefied natural gas enabled a 50 per cent payload increase over a design range of 7,500 NM. When liquid hydrogen (LH2) is used, the range may be limited to about 3,000 NM by the volume available for this low-density fuel, but the payload at this range could be increased by 137 per cent to 127,000 kg.

The results presented to estimate the extent to which the efficiency of military operations could be improved by making fewer trips to transport high-density and irregular cargo items and indicate how well the proposed alternatives would compare with present military aircraft. There are no existing NATO aircraft with such extended payload and range capacities. This paper, therefore, explores the potential of BWB aircraft with turbo-electric distributed propulsion as effective military transports.

“The organisation of any library depends on the men and women who work there. They have a very important job. They are the indispensable middle‐men of culture and science, and in opening this library we ought to remember that its success will depend on them as much as on what is in it.”—The Duke of Edinburgh, opening the Scottish Central Library on November 5th, 1953.

HIS holidays over, before the individual and strenuous winter work of his library begins, the wise librarian concentrates for a few weeks on the Annual Meeting of the Library Association. This year the event is of unusual character and of great interest. Fifty years of public service on the part of devoted workers are to be commemorated, and there could be no more fitting place for the commemoration than Edinburgh. It is a special meeting, too, in that for the first time for many years the Library Association gathering will take a really international complexion. If some too exacting critics are forward to say that we have invited a very large number of foreign guests to come to hear themselves talk, we may reply that we want to hear them. There is a higher significance in the occasion than may appear on the surface—for an effort is to be made in the direction of international co‐operation. In spite of the excellent work of the various international schools, we are still insular. Now that the seas are open and a trip to America costs little more than one to (say) Italy, we hope that the way grows clearer to an almost universal co‐working amongst libraries. It is overdue. May our overseas guests find a real atmosphere of welcome, hospitality and friendship amongst us this memorable September!

THREE hundred years ago, on January 28th, 1613, the death occurred of Sir Thomas Bodley, whose name is immortalized in the library that he restored and which bears his name. Oxford's famous library, though originally founded by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, owes its establishment to Thomas Bodley, who was born at Exeter in 1545.

IT is curious to note how many more books are written for boys than for girls. Considering the growing number of women writers, it might be expected that girls' books would predominate. It may be that women writers are canny enough to write with their eye on the boy reader knowing that while a totally feminine story will not attract boys, girls often read their brothers' books. Most of the children's classics appeal to both sexes—Peter Pan, Pinocchio, A Christmas Carol, Hans Brinker, The Wind in the Willows, and The Bastable Children, for example. Even the classics of adventure such as Treasure Island, and Robinson Crusoe, have their female devotees and therefore stand a greater chance of survival than books like Little Women, the Katy series, and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. With the development of the “family story” popularised by E. Nesbit, there seems to have been a decline in the school story—at least among boys. Either they prefer natural tales of boys and girls together at home, or on holiday, or realistic adventures. A. S. Tring keeps a foot in all three camps, so to speak, with his tale of out‐of‐school activities, adventures and feuds between two day schools. His story entitled The Old Gang (O.U.P., 7/6) is told by the hero himself, in a racy style, and is amusingly illustrated by John Camp. Of the realistic adventure type is The Missing Legatee, by Wilfrid Robertson (O.U.P., 7/6), and it has its setting in the wilds of the Zambesi where the author himself has made expeditions, exploring and big game hunting. It satisfies the boy's demand for plenty of action and at the same time conforms to a good stylistic standard. Another tale of a search undertaken at great risk is David Gammon's Against the Golden Gods (Lutterworth, 5/‐) in which a seventeen year old boy goes out among the head hunters of Papua to rescue his captive father. Fog in the Channel, by Percy Woodcock (Nelson, 7/6) relates stirring adventures by sea, beginning with a collision in the fog when two schoolboys board a mysterious vessel supposed to be on secret service.

This paper reconsiders the criticisms of the most influential theory of the rise of the large corporations, and to see how these criticisms can be met without entirely abandoning the basic elements of the theory.

This problem is approached by first analyzing the weaknesses inherent in Chandler's theory as presented in The Visible Hand, and then by reworking elements of the theory by relying on data generated by other historical accounts.

The author found that the theory could be salvaged by reordering the evolution of managerial practices based on a variety of historical studies, many not considered by Chandler, but even some of his own earlier work. Given these changes in historical order, vital managerial reforms can be placed sufficiently early that organizational techniques existed to solve the problems and exploit the opportunities that Chandler identifies as creating the pressures necessary to generate the large industrial corporation, thus responding to one class of criticism. My approach can also incorporate other factors that critics see as missing in Chandler's account.

What is new in this paper is that it reconciles Chandler's analysis with those of his critics by re‐examining and correcting some of his assumptions. The result is a theory of corporate evolution that is less global but more realistic. Economic and business historians as well as sociologists of organizations will find this reassessment valuable.

Blake is relatively well-known, but who was J M Robertson? What's his connection with George Spencer-Brown? And how exactly did J M Robertson influence George Spencer-Brown?

George Spencer-Brown (1923–2016) is the author (among other works) of the undeservedly little-known book, Laws of Form (1969/2011), which was a key inspiration for Niklas Luhmann (1927–1998). But what inspired George Spencer-Brown? This paper explores two key influences on George Spencer-Brown and his work: the English poet and artist, William Blake (1757–1827) and the Scottish rationalist, politician and author, J M Robertson (1856–1933).

The paper points to a broken link between George Spencer-Brown's work and Niklas Luhmann's.

These questions are explored from two perspectives: first, George Spencer-Brown's works and their debt to (1) Blake's work, from which he quotes in a number of instances and to (2) J M Robertson's (in particular, the latter's Letters on Reasoning (1905) and Rationalism (1912)); second, my personal connection to Spencer-Brown, who mentored me through Laws of Form and with whom I developed a close friendship involving regular weekly telephone conversations for the greater part of the last four years of Spencer-Brown's life. I share anecdotes and stories that connect George Spencer-Brown and J M Robertson that span George Spencer-Brown's lifetime – from his school days to his dying days. Both Blake's and Robertson's influences are relevant to Spencer-Brown's view of morality. The paper looks at specific connections between Blake's work and J M Robertson's on the one hand and George Spencer-Brown's on the other.