5 comments about Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning Analysis and Design.

1. This book is a good source for determining all the design needs for HVAC systems from calculating the heating /cooling load to duct design and fan selection which is essential to assure an economical, energy-efficient, maintainable and flex design that will only not be technically adequate but also meet the user within the allocated budget. I consider this book a key to get in the HVAC industry and a reference for HVAC study courses.



2. This is an excellent HVAC text. The concepts are clearly explained and well developed. The references in the book are current with ASHRAE standards which is of utmost utility and importance. The minor drawback from the text is the simplicity of the examples; fortunately the excellent explanation and development of the concepts by the authors helps in overcoming this small flaw. Excellent book overall. I highly recommend it.



3. This book is equal in quality of content to edition 5 except that the version of edition 6 being sold here does not contain the CD normally included with this textbook. The publisher's web site states "New to this edition (edition 6) is the inclusion of additional realistic, interactive and in-depth examples on CD". This CD would also contain the software that was included with edition 5. According to the publisher's tech support however, the version of edition 6 being sold by Amazon.com is for use under the guidance of an instructor where apparently the material on the CD would not be needed. If this book is for personal use I recommend a version that includes the CD.



4. I am holding beside me a 6th edition with the CD in the back of the book. The 6th edition DOES include a CD, unlike what the previous review wrote. I had to write this so others are not mislead. Maybe some books people are selling don't include it -- what to do? Just ask the seller if their book has a CD with it. Mine does, and others do too.



5. By far the worst text book I've ever had to use. Riddled with errors. Poor and incomplete explanations of complex subject matter. Examples and problems often with errors. Does lead the student into intense studying of content, if only to understand exactly what authors are saying and whether it is correct or not. Included software worthless except for limited use in solving problems in text.
   
   This book should be offered free to India, Japan, and China to give us an edge over their HVAC engineerng expertise.

No comments about Schaum's Outline of Fluid Mechanics (Schaum's Outlines).

5 comments about Student's Solutions Manual for Thermodynamics, Statistical Thermodynamics, & Kinetics.

1. Thomas Engel's Physical Chemistry is a book full of mistakes as well as stupid problems... The Quantum chemistry part is horribly explained(about 10 chapters). Which makes me think... perhaps the author can not explain the material because he does not understand it. Engel take some more quantum classes or repeat them, and then write a book about a subject you have not mastered. I want my money back.



2. I've used half of the book now. The layout is not very organized. I found the graphical representations useful.
   
   ok, 2nd semester in work. I'd prefer to downgrade this rating to negative 5 if I could. This book has turned into a major disaster. It is so riddled with errors...the derivations are never right. Everytime something doesn't work out right it's because the book is wrong. flat out.
   
   This book gets my strongest disapproval possible. Buying this book is throwing away your money. Thanks engel. Thanks for all those hours lost trying to figure out what mistake I had make working out the derivations in this book only to find the book was wrong all along.
   
   I'm still a little bitter about the false advertising when I got it...re: spartan software student copy that wasn't included.



3. A modern, clear, and extensive physical chemistry text. It does break tradition with the heavyweights in the field (Atkins, McQuarrie), but does so for good reason: there aren't enough computational background or computer computation applications in the others. Those books do a great job with the theory and mathematics, but this book show's you how to use that mathematics to really understand chemistry. It focuses heavily computational chemistry with actual software and the Spartan Quantum chemistry software that book's authors use is very inexpensive if you buy the student version. As a bonus, this book is the most colorful and well laid-out and edited one available today.



4. I used this book for my pchem courses and found it to be completely worthless. While it does focus on computational crap that's not very important the first time around. The quantum chapters are pretty poorly done, and well the thermo stuff is just boring. All in all, I found this text to be useless. The derivations include many errors, and often are presented before the text introduces what they're trying to derive thereby further confusing you. You're better off not buying this book, unless you need for class, and buying one of the more used books like Levine's or Macquarrie's.



5. Let me begin by saying - I love chemistry. I love math. I'm a total nerd. But this book turned me off to both. Taking a year of physical chemistry is hard - but this book makes it even harder. This is the first year my professors have used this book, and I think it will be their last.
   
   The key points aren't covered in detail. The math is overly complicated, and the problems don't hit the right points. I don't have a lot of P.Chem textbook knowledge, but there has to be something better out there.
   
   I wouldn't recommend the text at all - but if you buy it, you ABSOLUTELY need the solutions manual.

5 comments about Engineering Vibration (3rd Edition).

1. I am currently teaching the introductory course in Mechanical Vibrations at California State University, Fullerton, and chose Dr. Inman's book after evaluating several different texts. The material is well organized, there are numerous practical examples, and the book is easy to read. The book contains substantial material on nonlinear vibrations, and numerical solutions, items that are of immense practical importance. Methods of solution are covered in three different software packages, MathCAD, MATLAB and Mathematica, which, when combined with the quantity of homework problems, allows the Instructor to tailor the class to his or her own preferences.

   Additionally, I am also a practicing engineer, currently employed by a manufacturer of vibration exciters, and have found the material on vibration testing to be accurate and informative. This makes the book valuable as a reference, as well as a textbook.




2. I think that it is a great textbook, which gives students a good balance between the theory and practice, with the nice emphasis of computer capabilities in the area of vibration. I like it very much and I am sure that many students in this country would share my opinion.



3. This book is terrible! It is wrought with errors and is not a wise pick for a textbook. I've checked out the 7 pages of errata that are related to this book and still find major errors that they have overlooked. This book looks like some hack of a professor threw together some half-@$$ed notes.



4. This text is very colored by the authors way of thinking. If you think like the author it may be good for you. If not, then it is very difficult to understand. Important information needed to understand the subject is missing from the book. Nothing is tied together and each new section is a new problem to deal with. Rao's book is much better; any other book would probably be much better.



5. This book is a good book for those who are interested in a beginning study or a reference for basic formulation. It has fantastic didactic and good exercises. So it's very good for undergraduate students. Following it's references may lead one to a bright specialization.

5 comments about Fundamentals of Engineering Thermodynamics.

1. Difficult to find information in the text, though it does have alot of useful stuff. The tables at the back are great.



2. This text is just so clear, well written, and organized that words are hard to find. Work patiently through the first six chapters, and the rest is a true pleasure. The perfect structure of the examples and of the text itself provides the perfect tool both for learning thermodynamics and for getting B's and A's.
   All engineering textbook writers should take notice of this book. (By the way, Cengel, although decent, is an average text compared to this one.)



3. Great book, my professor for this class lacked a Ph.D and the ability to teach, so I was on my own for the most part. I nearly pulled an A in the course. On a technical note, they aren't so clear on/or make a few minor errors, be careful with the P-h diagrams.



4. I'm currently using this book for my undergraduate thermo course and this is my first class (and first book) on thermodynamics. That said, I must I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I'll agree that there's plenty of examples which are helpful and there's plenty of rigor in explaining many concepts.
   
   On the other hand, I will also say that I was completely lost several times when reading the book. I definitely agree with the other review that complained about this book's wordiness. In an introductory text such as this, I'm a firm believer that you shouldn't string together long, run-on sentences with nothing but definition terms (where you have to lookup virtually each word in the sentence from other chapters). I've also noticed that many intro texts *fail to succinctly and clearly explain completely new terms and concepts in easy-to-understand words and real-world examples*, and this is no exception!
   
   Central summary pages including main formulas (and page numbers for alternative forms of the main formulas) would be helpful for students instead of constantly flipping through the chapters looking for something specific formula.
   
   Also, the back of the book solutions severely lack any sort of real form (most books give either all odd or even solutions) and the problems themselves often require complex assumptions that first-year thermo students such as myself aren't going to think of right off-the-bat. Starting point hints would be a BIG help.
   
   All that said, I'd say that while this is a pretty good, detailed book, good luck if you're an engineering undergrad taking a thermo class for the first time with this book. You'll probably benefit from lectures more than from this book.



5. A good text for undergrad study of thermodynamics. Alot of tables for common binary fluids. Clear and easy to understand. Emphasizes cycle analysis.

5 comments about Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems.

1. I really like this book a lot. I never went to class for both quarters of my upper-division undergraduate mechanics class, and instead read Thornton and Marion religiously. I've heard friends express their dislike for it, but I think it is very clear and provides excellent perspective and insight. It is very mathematically rigorous, which I appreciate but others may not. The proofs given are typically very readable, although I often skipped over the sort of "obvious" things that the book shows in exquisite detail. Lots of great sections and topics, much interesting material covered, in addition to the basics. Highly recommended.



2. I use this text in my spring sophomore-level mechanics class. There are no perfect texts for this level, but this is the best one out there. The book does assume that you either have a solid base of mathematics or are willing to learn during the course. That's typical in a physics class; you learn mathematics while learning physics, and so its a good introduction to the style of more advanced physics classes. While the chapter on nonlinearity doesn't fit well with the other chapters, and I wish Lagrangian's were moved later in the text, its still a better choice then most other texts for most students. Less mathematically prepared students could use Taylor's text, for example, and more mathematically prepared students should use Goldstein and landau, but this book aims at the middle of lower division physics majors.



3. Pros: Great reference text. The examples are clear and there are generally a lot of them. The notation is generally very readable.
   
   
   Cons: The price. As with almost any physics text, this one is most easily understood if you can compare it to another book of the same level (might I recommend Taylor?) However, the price of this book makes that impractical at best.
   
   This book is a good text. It is one of the first books that physics students encounter after their introductory courses which makes for a very challenging semester. I think that may be why it has recieved so many poor reviews. . .



4. I used this book as a physics undergrad in the mid '90s. Like so many others on this site, my copy of M&T split in half before the semester was even half over. I'd sure love my $80 back plus interest...
   
   I thought some of the later chapters were quite good -- particularly the one on Lagrangian dynamics -- but the first few chapters didn't strike me as particularly well written. More than a decade later, I can still recall a problem in Chapter 2 that wasn't even remotely covered anywhere in the chapter itself. It somehow managed to survive to the 4th edition, and I'd be willing to bet it's in the 5th as well.
   
   There were lots of things I liked about Marion and Thornton, but generally speaking, if students are expected to plunk down this kind of money for texts on fairly venerable topics, the content should be QA-tested, and the book itself should be reasonably well-constructed.



5. They just sent me a CD, not a book. I wanted to have a hard copy!!!! The .pdf file is not worth for the price I paid for.

5 comments about Engineering Mechanics: Dynamics and Student Study Pack with FBD Package (11th Edition).

1. When I first ordered this the delivery date said january 8th (order 12/28) when I checked again a few days later I was very upset to see that the date had changed to the 10th. I was on winter break and need this book for the 9th which was the day I was heading back to school. It ended up arriving even before the 8th which mad me very happy but I just wasn't happy about how amazon changes the dates all time. I know there isn't much they can do if it is in transit but if that is the case they should assume later dates instead of changing it everytime the date is approaching.
   
   Product was in condition promised.



2. I just received this book now(half way through the semester). I am impressed with it. I got sick of using the book required for the class and started looking for alternatives. Where the required book has a few 1/4 page example problems, this book has 2-4 full page examples per section and about 3-4 sections per chapter. It explains things logically and is fairly easy to understand. It also came with the FBD book that has chapter notes for quick reference. This is the third dynamics book I have purchased so far and also the best. I would recommend this book.



3. This book is useless. If you already know the material it may suffice, but you could do better. If you are going to try to learn dynamics using this book, good luck. The author's examples leave out key steps, and his notation is very unorthodox, making his examples a waste of paper.



4. I used Hibbeler's books in statics and dynamics and found them both to be great. He teaches through heavy use of examples with plenty of them gone through in an exceeding amount of detail. He then finishes each section with a bunch more, most of them having the answers in the back, but not being worked out. The actual text of the book is quite short and uses dense, heavy math that was often used to prove the existence and viability of the formulas. This was usually not needed as most of the time the formulas make intuitive sense once you work through some examples. Yet if ever they dont, the proofs are available to convince you. I suggest if you arent buying this for a class (and why would you be reading a review if you were) that you get a previous edition. There are very few changes and the older ones are a whole lot cheaper. Cheers.



5. Hibbeler is one of my personal favorites when it comes to engineering textbooks. This book provides many great examples with explicit solution processes, giving you more than enough direction to complete the problems for each chapter. I've got Statics and Dynamics from Hibbeler, and there's no way I'm selling these gems back, they're staying in my personal collection.
   
   Buy the book!

5 comments about Thermal Physics (2nd Edition).

1. Huge content. Good book with extra information but dont deal with it if you are not taking the assigned course.



2. This is quite possibly the worst physics book I have had to use during my entire undergraduate career (and it doesn't help that my professor is pretty bad also). I am on chapter 14 and I can safely say that I know nothing about statistical/thermal physics. Like many other reviewers have said, this book is simply an exercise in reading equations. Very few times does Kittel actually explain why or what he is doing. He doesn't group important information together and, even when there is an important equation, he doesn't highlight it in anyway (yet he'll make sure to outline a completely useless formula for some small principle). He goes through the math, but doesn't explain how he goes from one step to the next half the time. The problems, in addition to the bad text, did not help me understand what I read at all. It is simply a long chore of manipulating equations to get the one Kittel wants. If your school uses this book, I would suggest shopping around for some supplemental reading.



3. In taking a second undergraduate course in thermodynamics, I had to suffer through this book on top of a terrible professor. The explanations are decent in and of themselves, but the book's cohesiveness (i.e. how it interlinks seemingly separate topics, as all physics texts should) is awful. For example, Ch. 8 on heat engines does not even attempt to make a connection with the simple systems exchanging heat or particles that were talked about previously. It just dives right in and leaves the reader guessing. Maybe this is obvious to Kittel and Kroemer, but the answer is certainly not obvious to me. Also, there are way too many applications that only serve to confuse the reader even more. The problems only serve as practice in mathematics.
   
   A good physics text should be clear and mathematically rigourous but at the same time it should give much intuition. This book did nothing but confuse me.



4. This is the worst book I have ever purchased (and the Solid State Physics as well -also by Kittel). The books have no solved examples. I am using these books in my Solid State Physics class, and have to do very hard homework and exam problems, yet I have no examples in the books. This has been a nightmare. I do not recomend these books to anybody. I believe, even if you ask Kittel, he would not know how he derived half of his formulas.



5. The book itself is a classic and generations of good physicists have studied from this book, so I'm not going to review the book itself. What I did not like one bit was the poor paper quality. The pages are so thin that print from the next page is clearly visible. The last three pages (one blank and two printed with constants, non critical) had been glued together. I'm not going to return the book because if I do, it'll waste paper as they'll throw my current copy away, but if I'm paying $122 for a book, I'd expect atleast decent publishing if not stellar publishing.

5 comments about Engineering Mechanics - Statics and Dynamics (11th Edition).

1. Although I never took either class, I would rate this a relatively good statics and dynamics book. This is not the type of book where you can "skim" through pages and learn the topics. It might be a tough read, but I still give it a high rating.



2. I have mixed reviews about this text. When going through the earlier material on statics and the first part of mechanics, I found the book to be difficult to learn from. Part of this was because my school didn't teach linear algebra until later, for some strange reason, making it difficult to figure out the cross & dot products presented early on. Eventually, when I was taking a course using the later chapters, I found the book much more helpful, because I had the mathematical background to handle it, and even though the material was at a higher level, I understood it better than the earlier material. So, in short, this book is okay, just make sure you're good at math before getting it.



3. this is the book required in my engineering mechanics class and its a pretty good book. has alot of examples and solutions to some of the practice problems. alot better deal than buying the two books separately even though this book is rather large it turns out its a good bit cheaper than buying them separately



4. I should preface this by saying that I am not a mechanical engineer. There may be important conventions for mechanical engineers illustrated in this book, but that I would not know.
   
   It is better to think of this book not as a textbook but as a set of problems with some solutions. The "text" of this textbook is so poorly written that it is better treated as pointers to sections of your math or physics books you may need to review. The material and problems is not difficult, just poorly explained.
   
   The author is sloppy with notation throughout the book, particularly the section on dynamics. It is not unusual for new notation to be introduced -- unexplained -- in an example or problem.
   
   On that point, most books of this type contain answers to the odd numbered problems. This book is no different (and contains answers to some even ones as well) but is particularly fanatical about keeping this section's page count down. It is common for textbooks to avoid printing a graph for a problem that requires one and instead just list the equation. This book takes that one step farther and sometimes omits the equation in favor of a handful of arbitrary points. This is particularly ridiculous because (like most recent textbooks) the "text" is obstructed by an irrelevant parade of pictures and colored boxes (complete with drop shadows!).
   
   My understand is that this series is infamous for containing many errors. The 9th edition had an egregious error in the first chapter on the SI system, for example. I noticed few outright errors (and on a second look most of those were just sloppiness) in this edition, but be warned.
   
   Between the poor text, gratuitous drop-shadows, and general lack of care for the reader this book looks like it was printed for no reason other than killing the secondary market for the 10th edition.



5. I had to order this book for my Statics and Dynamics class at the University of Michigan. The book is decent but is nothing special. There are a great deal of practice problems and a sufficient amount of examples. The information is pretty clear but I feel it could be described in a better manner than made things easier to comprehend.

5 comments about An Introduction to Fluid Dynamics.

1. I used Batchelor several years ago for an introductory course in fluid dynamics for physic students, and found it generally satisfactory. It is probably the best available overall introduction. The negative review from the Berkeley student reflects more upon the student than upon the book, in my opinion.



2. If you get through this text, you are on your way to fluid dynamics mastery. It covers much more than most engineering students will need (or care to) know. It is an important text, but should be a complementary study aid.



3. This book introduces lots of stuffs. I will consider it
   as reference purpose. Not that good for learning, especially
   for beginners. If one has another book as textbook already,
   with this book, he can have more comprehensive thinkings
   about fluid dynamics. It's a good book right on from
   textbooks to special-purposed books.



4. Good introduction of many ideas in fluid mechanics. Good for reference, but it is not a good book for learning the subject. If in fact you happen to have a solid math background you may find it very boring but still has many references to more useful sources.



5. This is the best book on fluid dynamics. But it is actually not an "introductory" level book, so the beginners are not advised to start from this book. Moreover, it may not even be an appropriate TEXTBOOK for some intermediate-level (graduate) fluid dynamics courses (but indeed an excellent book for interested readers).
   
   This book is for those who determine to work on fluid dynamics and those who require a relatively high level in theory.