Hawkins Electrical Guide v. 03

Hawkins Electrical Guide Volume 3 is the third in Nehemiah Hawkins’s ten-volume practical electrical engineering handbook series, first published in 1914. The volume extends the technical coverage into alternating current systems, which were rapidly displacing direct current as the standard form of American electrical distribution in the years before the First World War.

AC electrical work required different theoretical understanding and different practical techniques from the earlier DC systems. Volume 3 covers AC theory, transformers, polyphase systems, the various forms of AC machinery, and the practical wiring and installation methods that AC distribution required. The treatment is aimed at working electricians rather than at engineering students.

Nehemiah Hawkins (1845-1928) produced the Electrical Guide series to fill a gap in American technical education at a moment when the country was electrifying rapidly and trained electricians were in short supply. The books became standard references in American electrical work for several decades.