Page 213 - J. C. Turner - History and Science of Knots

202 History and Science of Knots

findings of different workers that it seems to me necessary to get more reliable
data before advancing too many or too detailed hypotheses to explain the
findings. The data should be obtained from tests in which the experimental
conditions are carefully described, so that others may repeat the work exactly;
and an adequate number of replicates are made, so that confidence limits may
be calculated. The position and nature of the final break should be described.
Without all this, the data have minimal meaning.

Acknowledgements

I thank Tim Lamble and Roy Belshaw for their helpful comments on a
draft of this paper.

References
1. Alpine Club Special Committee, `Report on rope, axes and alpen-
stocks', Alpine Journal 1 (1864) 321.
2. Alpine Club Special Committee, `Report on equipment for moun-
taineers', Alpine Journal 16 (1892) Supplement.
3. Anon. `Manila rope fastenings', Engineering Record, 70 (1914) 706.
4. Arova-Lenzberg AG, `How old is your rope?' Off Belay No. 20 (1975)
16.
5. C. W. Ashley, The Ashley Book of Knots (Doubleday Doran, New York,
1944).
6. R. Baillie, `The Side Figure Eight Knot for rapelling', Explore Magazine
Technical Series, No. 2 (1980s).
7. S. Barnes, Anglers' Knots in Gut and Nylon. (Cornish, Birmingham,
1951).
8. C. Benk and G. Bran, Edelrid Guide to Mountaineering Ropes (Edelrid,
Isny, 1980).
9. P. W. Blandford, `A better mousetrap', Knotting Matters No. 37 (1991)
4.
10. British Mountaineering Council, Ropes (BMC, Manchester, 1991).
11. G. Budworth, The Knot Book (Kingswood, Elliott Right Way Books,
1983)
12. N. Cannon, `Air voyagers', Climbing No. 88, (1985) 54.
13. R. Chisnall, (ed) Rock Climbing Safety Manual (Ontario Rock Climbing
Association, 1985).
14. R. Chisnall, `Sheetbends"oblique versus direct"', Knotting Matters No.
38 (1992) 5.
15. R. Chisnall, `A few notes on testing knot strength and security', Knot-
ting Matters submitted 1994.