Engineering Book Reviews
Shigley's Mechanical Engineering Design (Eighth Edition)
By: Richard G. Budynas and J. Keith Nisbett
My Review: This book has very good descriptions of the topics covered with extensive uses of mathematical formulas that both are easy to find and examples shown make it easier to understand how to use the formulae for your own personal projects or designs. There also tests at the end of each chapter. Ample amounts of diagrams and tables make it easy to understand the text. As well as material on mechanical elements the book also goes into material properties, failure, loading and its effects (such as stress, strain, deflection and stiffness). The book also touches on FEA and statistical considerations. In the book there are tables and figures for quick reference that are often hard to find online and not what you are looking for.
ISBN: 978-007-126896-7
Amazon link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shigleys-Mechanical-Engineering-Design-version/dp/0071268960/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327772647&sr=8-1
Materials Science For Engineers (Fifth Edition)
By: J.C. Anderson, K.D. Leaver, P.Leevers and R.D. Rawilings
My Review: The first few chapters cover the basics of chemistry and physics that are needed for later in the book. Gives a very clear and complete explanation of chemistry that is very easy to understand. Many chapters on material-types and also their mechanical properties. There is a lot of text which can get complicated especially if you haven't read the first 5 or so chapters, having more diagrams would have been nicer but the text allows you to easily visualise the subject at hand. Common important topics that are needed for engineering are very well described and take up sufficient pages however some topics that are not that common are cut short, such as pyroelectricity.There is a very wide range of topics in this book from the basics of the atom to lasers. The chapters and topics flow into each other seamlessly as you gain knowledge throughout the book. I would say that this is not the type of book that you can just pick up, look at a topic and understand it. You need to read the book throughout otherwise you keep going back and forth between the chapters. It is also unfortunate that there is not a glossary, this would have made topics faster to understand.
ISBN: 0-7487-6365-1
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Materials-Science-Engineers-J-C-Anderson/dp/0748763651/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327774278&sr=8-1
Higher Engineering Mathematics (Sixth Edition)
By: John Bird
My Review: A very good book in my opinion with 71 chapters in the book and an extra 5 online (free of course). Good value at about £25 with around 700 pages. Good number of diagrams and problems that are shown and also end of chapter tests. This book carries on very well from the A-level syllabus and has many of the chapters covered in A-levels. Shows general rules to solving problems that can be implemented for your own equations, just need to substitute a few values in and its really that simple. There are a few chapters that you have to learn first before you can jump to any point in the book and see how to solve your equation, but these are covered early on. I will say that this is more of a maths textbook and does not have actual 'engineering' examples in it, such as mechanical or physics examples to aid you as to when you may use the mathematics. The introduction to the chapters give the reader a very good understanding of what is coming up in the chapter and tells the basics.
ISBN: 978-1-8561-7767-2
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Higher-Engineering-Mathematics-CMath-FCollT/dp/185617767X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327775703&sr=1-1
Electronic and Electrical Engineering Principals and Practice (Third Edition)
By: Lionel Warnes
My Review: Starts from the basics and defines and explains the core electrical properties such as resistance, power, capacitance and etc...Gives good diagrams and formulas as you read, the text is often the explanation of the diagram or the results which is helpful as it cements a deeper understanding as well as the theory. There are very good tests at the end of each chapter to prove to yourself what you remembered. In the 29 chapters of this book I have never found something that is not there, although sometimes there is the need for further reading, this is helped with suggestions for other books. I wish I had this book earlier in the second year at university as all the topics I learnt are all very well described and outlined in the book and the examples would have saved a lot of time with coursework. This book does not assume any previous knowledge of electronics which I found useful as it enabled me to revise my A-level physics and remember what I did back then.
ISBN- 0-333-99040-4
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Electronic-Electrical-Engineering-Principles-Practice/dp/0333990404/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327777751&sr=1-1
By: Richard G. Budynas and J. Keith Nisbett
My Review: This book has very good descriptions of the topics covered with extensive uses of mathematical formulas that both are easy to find and examples shown make it easier to understand how to use the formulae for your own personal projects or designs. There also tests at the end of each chapter. Ample amounts of diagrams and tables make it easy to understand the text. As well as material on mechanical elements the book also goes into material properties, failure, loading and its effects (such as stress, strain, deflection and stiffness). The book also touches on FEA and statistical considerations. In the book there are tables and figures for quick reference that are often hard to find online and not what you are looking for.
ISBN: 978-007-126896-7
Amazon link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shigleys-Mechanical-Engineering-Design-version/dp/0071268960/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327772647&sr=8-1
Materials Science For Engineers (Fifth Edition)
By: J.C. Anderson, K.D. Leaver, P.Leevers and R.D. Rawilings
My Review: The first few chapters cover the basics of chemistry and physics that are needed for later in the book. Gives a very clear and complete explanation of chemistry that is very easy to understand. Many chapters on material-types and also their mechanical properties. There is a lot of text which can get complicated especially if you haven't read the first 5 or so chapters, having more diagrams would have been nicer but the text allows you to easily visualise the subject at hand. Common important topics that are needed for engineering are very well described and take up sufficient pages however some topics that are not that common are cut short, such as pyroelectricity.There is a very wide range of topics in this book from the basics of the atom to lasers. The chapters and topics flow into each other seamlessly as you gain knowledge throughout the book. I would say that this is not the type of book that you can just pick up, look at a topic and understand it. You need to read the book throughout otherwise you keep going back and forth between the chapters. It is also unfortunate that there is not a glossary, this would have made topics faster to understand.
ISBN: 0-7487-6365-1
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Materials-Science-Engineers-J-C-Anderson/dp/0748763651/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327774278&sr=8-1
Higher Engineering Mathematics (Sixth Edition)
By: John Bird
My Review: A very good book in my opinion with 71 chapters in the book and an extra 5 online (free of course). Good value at about £25 with around 700 pages. Good number of diagrams and problems that are shown and also end of chapter tests. This book carries on very well from the A-level syllabus and has many of the chapters covered in A-levels. Shows general rules to solving problems that can be implemented for your own equations, just need to substitute a few values in and its really that simple. There are a few chapters that you have to learn first before you can jump to any point in the book and see how to solve your equation, but these are covered early on. I will say that this is more of a maths textbook and does not have actual 'engineering' examples in it, such as mechanical or physics examples to aid you as to when you may use the mathematics. The introduction to the chapters give the reader a very good understanding of what is coming up in the chapter and tells the basics.
ISBN: 978-1-8561-7767-2
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Higher-Engineering-Mathematics-CMath-FCollT/dp/185617767X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327775703&sr=1-1
Electronic and Electrical Engineering Principals and Practice (Third Edition)
By: Lionel Warnes
My Review: Starts from the basics and defines and explains the core electrical properties such as resistance, power, capacitance and etc...Gives good diagrams and formulas as you read, the text is often the explanation of the diagram or the results which is helpful as it cements a deeper understanding as well as the theory. There are very good tests at the end of each chapter to prove to yourself what you remembered. In the 29 chapters of this book I have never found something that is not there, although sometimes there is the need for further reading, this is helped with suggestions for other books. I wish I had this book earlier in the second year at university as all the topics I learnt are all very well described and outlined in the book and the examples would have saved a lot of time with coursework. This book does not assume any previous knowledge of electronics which I found useful as it enabled me to revise my A-level physics and remember what I did back then.
ISBN- 0-333-99040-4
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Electronic-Electrical-Engineering-Principles-Practice/dp/0333990404/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327777751&sr=1-1
Windows 7 Programs To Make You More Productive
Dexpot *****
This program enables windows to have multiple workspaces or desktops from 2 up to 20. This program is highly configurable you can have a variety of keyboard and mouse short cuts. Can organise different workspaces for different activities or if you just want to be able to quickly switch between or view other programs. There many other features such as turning windows to a specified transparency or clicking on the title bars to complete an action of your choice. It is not as smooth as Mac or Linux workspaces but still is very good. Out of all the free workspaces applications this has the most number of features. Also has extras I suggest enabling 'Dexgrid' and 'Taskbar Pager.'
Link: http://dexpot.de/
Price: Free
F.lux ***
This turns the blue hue of your screen to the red end of the spectrum. This helps when you are working at your computer before you go to bed as blue light from the screen tricks your brain into thinking that it is daytime, so it will take you longer to get to sleep. The disadvantage of this program is that it starts to turn the screen red just after sunset wherever you are in the world so you cannot tailor it to whenever you go to bed. It is also not good if you are working on a project that needs colour accuracy such as Photoshop. I cant really measure how much this has helped me as I cant really compare the time it takes to get to sleep with f.lux turned on or off.
Link: http://stereopsis.com/flux/
Price: Free