My 'History of Fireworks'. the secret is out!

The Niagara Pen Centre has broken the story! My new book A History of Fireworks (Reaktion) is out soon

https://niagarapencentre.com/shop/product/a-history-of-fireworks-from-their-origins-to-the-present-day-by-john-withington-hardcover-indigo-chapters-coles-d0178e

Here's the entry from the Reaktion Books Catalogue:

'An illumination of the glittering history of fireworks.

This book illuminates the glittering history of fireworks, from their mysterious beginnings to the dazzling big-budget displays of today. It describes how they enthralled the world’s royal courts and became a sensation across the British Empire. There are stories of innovations like ‘living fireworks’, fiercely fought international competitions and the technology behind modern showpieces viewed by millions. Practitioners say fireworks are an art, and they have inspired artists from Shakespeare, Handel, Dickens and Whistler to Katy Perry. But Withington also covers fireworks’ practical uses – rescues at sea, attempts to control the weather – while not ignoring their dangers, accidents or efforts to make them safer.'

https://reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/a-history-of-fireworks-from-their-origins-to-the-present-day

It's available to pre-order from Reaktion or Amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/History-Fireworks-Their-Origins-Present/dp/1789149355/ref=sr_1_1?crid=UIQ11WLZQF26&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.UEgHBJlm_91fK-mAriMpMOlSoYy9UW-eulUOn8hPWjk.xi0IPx71A6KxHRAcW6lmq4D8EhiPLwiTXIWq0sgdTyo&dib_tag=se&keywords=withington+fireworks&qid=1718801514&s=books&sprefix=withington+fireworks%2Cstripbooks%2C68&sr=1-1

Train crashes and safety improvements

We still do not know what caused this week’s German train crash in Bavaria, in which 10 people died. The trains collided head-on on a stretch of single line track, but safety precautions introduced after another fatal accident in 2011 should have made this impossible.

As a German train approaches a red signal, an alarm is supposed to go off in the driver’s cab, and if he fails to stop, the brakes are supposed to go on automatically. Since the crash, there has been speculation that a signal controller may have turned off the automatic system, or even that someone else may have sabotaged it.

Rail crashes have often provided the spur for safety innovations. So in 1989, five people were killed at Purley in South London when one train ran into the back of another after going through a red light, even though the driver’s cab was fitted with an alarm that sounded when the train was approaching the danger signal.

After that, a system called ATP (Automatic Train Protection) was introduced to apply the brakes automatically if the driver ignored a red light. But that did not prevent a crash between a passenger and a goods train at Southall in West London in 1997 (see picture) in which seven people died. Neither the alarm system nor the ATP were working. For more, see London's Disasters.

China's coal mines - getting less dangerous

For a long time China has had the unenviable record of running the world's most dangerous coal mines, but at least things are not as bad as they used to be. Last year the total number of miners killed fell below 1,000 for the first time. 931 is still a lot, but it is many fewer than the 7,000 recorded in 2002.

China produces about half of the worlds's coal, and the director of the State Administration of Work Safety acknowledged it still faces 'grave and complicated challenges in coal mine work safety.'  

Safety campaigns and better monitoring of methane gas have played their part in reducing the death toll, though perhaps the most important factor has been the closing of small mines which often had the worst records.

But there is concern that the number of casualties may be under-reported. Any accident that kills more than 30 miners automatically becomes the subject of a government inquiry. Last year, 14 managers and officials in Jilin province were gaoled for concealing the deaths of 8 miners so that the death toll in an accident in 2013 appeared to be 28 not 36.

See also my posts of Feb 22, March 10 and 19 Nov, 2009, and 16 Jan and 14 April, 2010.