No comments about Sensory Evaluation of Food: Principles and Practices (Food Science Texts Series).

3 comments about Foundations of Materials Science and Engineering w/ Student CD-ROM.

1. This textbook was one the most commonly used textbooks in undergraduate materials science classes throughout the 1990s. Though old, and written at an introductory level, it is worth reading cover to cover. The book covers all the major material classes (metals, semiconductors, polymers, ionic materials, etc..), covers all the basic principles (diffusion, bonding, corrosion, crystal defects, etc...), and includes a lot of diagrams, tables, figures, and pictures.
   
   The text is easy enough to read for any engineering college student, and really only requires someone to have had freshmen chemistry and physics (mechanics and E&M). The chapters and sub-sections are well laid out, with sample problems and solutions for each section. Each chapter is followed with homework questions. All the pictures are in black and white, thereby keeping the printing costs and hence purchase price low. The figures themselves are easy enough to understand, and the basic rules of labeling data series, adding legends, providing units on chart axes, etc.. are followed.
   
   The principle drawbacks to this book are the numerous errors in the sample problems and solutions, and the homework problems and solutions. For a classroom setting, these errors end up requiring the instructor to do the problems him/herself, instead of just asking the students to find the answer at the back of the book. This might actually be a good thing, forcing instructors to devote more time to review the homework they assign, but that is another discussion. These errors are by and large fixed in the newer editions of this book, so I would not recommend buying this one.



2. This is an excellent book providing a clear, easy to understand, overview of the basic principles of material science and engineering. Covered are all the essential topics including the chemistry and physics behind the structure of metal, ceramic, polymer, composite and electronic materials. Also included are optical, magnetic and electrical properties of materials with relevance to optical fibers, superconductors, and semiconductors. This is a great book for a student's first exposure to material science or as a reference for practicing engineers. I personally found chapters covering the mechanical properties of metals and corrosion well presented and a useful workplace reference. The book provides great insight to real world applications, bridging the gap between theory and practice.



3. This text book was purchased for use with an Aerospace Engineering Materials class and was extremely useful, clear text.

3 comments about Fundamentals of Press Brake Tooling: The Basic Information You Need to Know in Order to Design and Form Good Parts.

1. I can't speak to the needs of industrial users, but for the small fabrication shop operator this book is an excellent resource. The writing is a good balance between technical info and practical, plain english descriptions of press brake tooling design and use.
   
   The first chapter is an overview of press brakes. That wasn't particularly useful to me. The rest of the book, however, is full of practical information. The design of dies is covered, along with considerations for forming different types of metals, and the causes/solutions for problems encountered while using a press brake.
   
   This book contains all the info I neded to design my own press brake attachment for my shop press, along with designing and using dies for various forming operations.



2. This book is the perfect combination of theory and real life applications for press brake operators. The engineering is well explained; not too simple, yet not above an operators head. Any operator who reads this book will become a press brake expert. Highly recommended for designers, engineers, and operators.



3. If you want to learn more about the safety, operation and theories behind fabrication. This book will help you out. As a Fabrication Supervisor here in Sturgis, Mi this book has assisted me in countless ways: when an employee says that they can not do it. With this book I make it happen.
   
   Lots of great insights even though some thoughts are outdated but still you need to know..

1 comments about Introductory Statistical Mechanics.

1. I recommend this book to anyone who is taking an undergraduate course in stat mech. I also recommend it to beginning GRADUATE students of stat mech. I used it for my own graduate coursework and I found it to be extremely helpful.

   This book provides a clean, uncluttered presentation of the principles of stat mech; does not lose sight of the physical reasons behind the mathematical manipulations; and most helpful of all, contains a good set of problems WITH SOLUTIONS! It has been more helpful to me in my graduate work than any graduate-level book!

   In a next edition, maybe the authors can include a gentle introduction to the new renormalization group theory of phase transitions, and also increase the number and depth of problems.

   If you plan on studying stat mech, get this book.

No comments about Handbook of Pulping and Papermaking, Second Edition.

1 comments about Biomechanics: Principles and Applications.

1. Compiled and co-edited by Donald R. Peterson (University of Connecticut Health Center, Biodynamics Laboratory, farming, Connecticut) and Joseph D. Bronzino (recipient of the Millennium Award from IEEE/EMBS in 2000 and the Gaddard Award from Worcester Polytechnic Institute for Professional Achievement in June 2004), "Biomechanics: Principles And Applications" is a collection of twenty informed and informative articles on various aspects of, and researches into, the science of biomechanics. The contributors address everything from applications on system-level aspects of the human body (the musculoskeletal system, auditory system, lymphatic system, the cardiovascular system), to biological sub-systems (tissues, cells, molecules). Drawn from the third edition of the "Biomedical Engineering Handbook", these seminal articles introduce current methods and strategies for modeling cellular mechanices, present topics in biofluid mechanics, feature more than 140 illustrations and 60 tables, and provide a number of useful equations to assist in modeling biomechanical behaviors. A volume of truly impressive scholarship, "Biomechanics: Principles And Applications" should be a core acquisition selection for every academic library reference collection on the subject, as well as on the supplemental reading lists for students of Biomechanical Engineering.

No comments about The Acquisition & Divestiture of Petroleum Property: A Guide to the Tactics, Strategies and Processes Used by Successful Companies.

No comments about Introduction to Engineering and the Environment.

4 comments about An Introduction to Plato's Republic.

1. The Republic covers many subjects and it's not possible for someone to write a comprensive book on the Republic. Most of the book written on the Republic usually focus on few particular subjects (the most notable one is justice). An Introduction to Plato's Republic is one of the few exception. Julia Annas doesn't interpreted the Republic from one point of view. She presented the Republic as Plato intended.. In the others words, the Republic is not the book about Politic only; it is also the book of metaphysics, educations, morality. Every chapters are very thorough and extensive but simple enough to read..



2. This book is profoundly flawed. The author is oblivious to the implications of her admitted license. For instance, she uses the term 'moral' while admitting that it comes from a tradition post-dating Plato ('Introduction' p.11) and uses it to smear across distictions Plato himself found necessary. Professor Annas refuses to deal with the core concepts, as core concepts specific to Plato's time and place, and substitutes them playfully with her own modern day conceits. I quote: "I shall use 'morality' for the area of practical reasoning carried on by an agent which is concerned with the best way for a person to live." Why does she need to do this? If one was to say 'the best way to live' as Plato himself does, is that not sufficent? Does the reader/student really need a professor to explain that Plato really means 'morality'?. Baffling is why so much time is spent on non-Platonic terminology. To continually butcher 'The Republic' with these artificial terms, such as 'moral', 'values', 'society', and 'state' is to assume 'we' know more than 'they' did. This is a historical prejudice , and it does an injustice to the unsuspecting reader/student. Moreover, Professor Annas seems to be obtuse to the dramatic quality of the dialogue. An educated reader of this book cannot help but think this when the author stumbles across (454d-e) of 'The Republic'- quoting Socrates "the male begets, the female gives birth." Professor Annas then evaluates the statement, "This is an admirable argument as far as it goes; for Plato has removed any possibility of treating women as inferior as a class...but the argument suffers from being too generally stated" ( 'Plato's State', ch.7,p. 182 bottom). The author goes on to give her opinion on why it is too general- i.e: her considered views on the merits of a gender equality argument- which is fine and worth reading on it's own terms, if it was offered as such, but it is not offered as such. This is suppost to be a book on 'Plato's Republic', thus the title. Ask yourself- is that true? Is the only difference between men and women that men mount, or begat, and women bear, or give birth? That is what Plato and Socrates are asking? If the author of a commentary on 'The Republic' does not take that question seriously, and goes on to sum up her interpretation on the dramatic episode as: "Plato is confused." (p. 184), how can a reader take it seriously?



3. What is wonderful about this study by Julia Annas is the personal tone of her writing; her profound knowledge of ancient Greek philosophy and Plato is constantly confronted with her own views as a modern philosopher of our times, at times she admires Plato and at others she is shocked by his extremism. The only other study written this clearly is Nicholas Whites' "A Companion to Plato's Repbulic."
   The only thing I miss is a discussion of the literary, theatrical aspect of the text, the question being: are all of Socrates' views in the Republic really Plato's own? Is not Socrates a mask, an actor for Plato? Julia Annas automatically ascribes Socrates' views to Plato in her study. But this is of course an option that is possible, although not shared by all scholars.



4. This book grew out of Annas' experience of teaching Plato's Republic to students in a course that's all about evaluating Plato's arguments for their philosophical merit. She aims for this goal so single-mindedly as to deprive herself from providing to her audience any further profits a book on Plato's Republic may provide - profits such as, fuel the reader's sheer enjoyment of reading Plato, or learn at a more accurate level what Plato's views were.
   
   For instance, this book makes a case for Plato being a mysogynist (women-hater) and favoring dictatorship of the (almost) worst kind. Unless you happen to favor those views yourself, this won't add much to making Plato an enjoyable read for you. What's worse, however, is that the book doesn't actually spend sufficient time arguing for those interpretations, let alone addressing countervailing ones. And on that level it achieves the very opposite of what it set out to do, namely make people engage critically with a set text.
   
   You see, the idea might have been to make people read Annas so as to engage with Plato critically. The problem however is that people who aren't critically minded to begin with won't start to become so simply by being told - a point Plato's Socrates was fully aware of but this book (apparently) isn't. Rather, what I repeatedly find in student essays on the Republic is that they swallow Annas's claims, enjoy the short lived pleasure of scoring cheap points in the game called "acing your exam essay", without ever engaging critically with either Annas or (for that matter) Plato.
   
   To see what a vast difference an author can make to encourage readers to engage with his book critically, have a look at Burnyeat's "Theaetetus", a fine work on many levels, and an outstanding example of what writing on Plato can be without being mindless praise.
   
   Personally I'm glad there are more rewarding books to recommend to students of Plato's Republic these days, and if you're interested at all, I suggest you have a look at the multi-authored "Cambridge Companion to Plato's Republic" (2007) and "Blackwell Guide to Plato's Republic" (2006).

5 comments about Mechanical Metallurgy.

1. Metallurgy is one of the oldest established branches of materials science, and science in general. Yet many of the underlying principles, such as dislocation theory and plasticity, have only been explored within the last 100 years or so. As such, there is a wealth of information in metallurgy that one could learn. This book by G. Dieter is one of the better books to use to learn about metallurgy. Coming in at 800 pages even, this book is a thorough study of the principles behind mechanical metallurgy and is appropriate for both students in the field and practicing engineers. The book provides complete mathematical treatments of numerous subjects within mechanical metallurgy, including crystallography of defects, thermodynamics of plastic flow, kinetics, etc... The book is somewhat old-fashioned in that it leaves out more modern topics such as the use of computer simulations in metallurgy. Because of this, the book does not deserve 5 stars. But due to its breadth and coverage of other topics, it deserves 4 out of 5 stars.



2. Good Undergraduate metallurgy books are hard to find, this one's an essential for any forging class and any metallurgist's bookshelf.



3. If you are a Mechanical, Materials, or Industrial Engineer, you will need this book somewhere down the road. I am currently in graduate studies, and virtually every professor in those three faculties has a well used copy. It is well written and very complete. I shopped around looking for a used copy, but most of them are used so often they're almost worn out.



4. This book is a good one on metallurgy. It's loaded as it taps into several references. It's discourse is simple to the beginner and a good summary to the pro. I see it on the shelves of some academics I visit.



5. This book brings very important principles of metallurgy and moreover usefull concepts to design products based on the worthy knowledge presented. Particularly the chapters about Fatigue, Fracture and Stresses Calculations in my opinion are of such importance to design robust products. The author is very didatic which makes the reading pleasant, of easy learning and application.