The Adjustable Spanner is the product of thirty years' collecting and original research, fired by Ron Geesin's acquisition of the SLIK adjustable spanner that hung in his father's garage. At the core of this book is a concise history of this much-maligned tool. Serious and comical observations parallel its chequered life, from its bent beginnings in the blacksmith's shop to over-designed and lovingly engineered treasures from the small Birmingham machinist. Around this core are discussions and findings about components and construction on the practical side, and patents, registered designs and trade marks on the design protection side. Emerging from history, we take a closer look at uses and especially abuses, immerse ourselves in an analysis of types and styles, and dive deeply into the histories of the inventors and makers. You will be amazed at the engineering diversity required to produce these most fanciful but essential supports to the Industrial Revolution.

The Adjustable Spanner Volume II gathers together revelatory information arising from Ron Geesin's first book, and combines it with further detailed analysis of manufacturers and biographical details of inventors. Described with warmth, detailed knowledge and a dash of humour, and set against the backdrop of parallel developments of the Industrial Revolution, this book brings the enthusiast up to date with continued attempts at design improvements to this iconic absurdity. Celebrating the global influence of Richard Clyburn's transverse rack and worm design which set the modern standard for adjustable spanners and concluding with an overview of how the adjustable spanner is now manufactured and used worldwide, this book will be an invaluable asset to bookshelves of both the collector and the industrial historian.

By the late 1960s, popular British prog-rock outfit Pink Floyd were experiencing a creative voltage drop, so they turned to composer Ron Geesin for help in writing their next album.The Flaming Cow offers a rare insight into the brilliant but often fraught collaboration between the band and Geesin, the result of which became known as Atom Heart Mother - the title track from the Floyd's first UK number one album. From the time drummer Nick Mason visited Geesin's damp basement flat in Notting Hill, to the last game of golf between bassist Roger Waters and Geesin, this book is an unflinching account about how one of Pink Floyd's most celebrated compositions came to life. Alongside unpublished photographs from the Abbey Road recording sessions (the only ones taken) and the subsequent performances in London and Paris, Geesin goes on to describe how the title was chosen, why he was not credited on the record, how he left Hyde Park in tears, and why the group did not much like the work. The Flaming Cow rose again, firstly in France, then in London in 2008. After 40 years Atom Heart Mother remains a much-loved record, and The Flaming Cow explores its new-found cult status that has led to it being studied for the French Baccalaureat.