The document discusses the design of gear boxes. It provides an overview of different types of gear boxes including sliding mesh, multi-speed, constant mesh, and variable speed gear boxes. It explains that gear box speeds are typically arranged in geometric progression to minimize speed loss and number of gears while providing a wide range of speeds. The document then discusses requirements for an effective gear box design and provides examples of calculating progression ratios, selecting spindle speeds, and designing a nine speed gear box with a speed range of 180-1800 RPM including developing the ray diagram, kinematic layout, and calculating gear teeth numbers.