It is my ambition in writing this book to bring tribology to the study of control of machines with friction. Tribology, from the greek for study of rubbing, is the discipline that concerns itself with friction, wear and lubrication. Tribology spans a great range of disciplines, from surface physics to lubrication chemistry and engineering, and comprises investigators in diverse specialities. The English language tribology literature now grows at a rate of some 700 articles per year. But for all of this activity, in the three years that I have been concerned with the control of machines with friction, I have but once met a fellow controls engineer who was aware that the field existed, this including many who were concerned with friction. In this vein I must confess that, before undertaking these investigations, I too was unaware that an active discipline of friction existed. The experience stands out as a mark of the specialization of our time. Within tribology, experimental and theoretical understanding of friction in lubricated machines is well developed. The controls engineer's interest is in dynamics, which is not the central interest of the tribologist. The tribologist is more often concerned with wear, with respect to which there has been enormous progress - witness the many mechanisms which we buy today that are lubricated once only, and that at the factory. Though a secondary interest, frictional dynamics are note forgotten by tribology.

It is my ambition in writing this book to bring tribology to the study of control of machines with friction. Tribology, from the greek for study of rubbing, is the discipline that concerns itself with friction, wear and lubrication. Tribology spans a great range of disciplines, from surface physics to lubrication chemistry and engineering, and comprises investigators in diverse specialities. The English language tribology literature now grows at a rate of some 700 articles per year. But for all of this activity, in the three years that I have been concerned with the control of machines with friction, I have but once met a fellow controls engineer who was aware that the field existed, this including many who were concerned with friction. In this vein I must confess that, before undertaking these investigations, I too was unaware that an active discipline of friction existed. The experience stands out as a mark of the specialization of our time. Within tribology, experimental and theoretical understanding of friction in lubricated machines is well developed. The controls engineer's interest is in dynamics, which is not the central interest of the tribologist. The tribologist is more often concerned with wear, with respect to which there has been enormous progress - witness the many mechanisms which we buy today that are lubricated once only, and that at the factory. Though a secondary interest, frictional dynamics are note forgotten by tribology.

These are the true adventures of a National Geographic filmmaker - as seen through the bottom of a shot glass. The Exotic Booze Club is a wild, humorous ride, and the only memoir ever to reveal the secrets behind big-budget expedition filmmaking. When author, Brian Armstrong, was seven-years old, some bare-breasted tribeswomen commanded his attention. They gazed back at him from the pages of an old yellow-bordered magazine collected by his Uncle Ian. But it wasn't just the breasts. Vivid pictures of far-off jungles, exotic wildlife, and intrepid explorers also enthralled Brian. One cousin remembers him declaring, "That's what I'm going to do when I grow up." 25 years later that dream came true - or was it a nightmare? As a seat-of-the-pants expedition filmmaker, Brian found himself traveling from one death-defying adventure to another - coping with snake bites, tornadoes, volcanoes, acid lakes, malaria, monsoons, armed rebels, enormous crocodiles, and even a helicopter crash. Time and time again he asked himself the same three questions: "How did I get here?" "How do I get out of here?" And most importantly, "what's to drink?" Against his prestigious employer's strict anti-alcohol policy, this irreverent rule breaker started the Exotic Booze Club to help unwind. Filmmakers and explorers would return to Armstrong's office with strange liquors to share, wild stories of daring exploits, and yes, sometimes pictures of naked tribeswomen. This book is the true story from behind-the-scenes of Armstrong's most dramatic films - framed by the life and death of the one-and-only Exotic Booze Club.

This is a short collection of original poetry by Brian Armstrong with artwork by Sophie Byrne.