2 comments about Continuum Mechanics (Dover Books on Physics).

1. simply put...this is a great book to have around to help you around the odds and ends of continuum mechanics. It explains things nice and concisely. It is a good addition to your library.



2. This is an excellent primer and introduction to continuum mechanics. I use it quite frequently for just quickly looking up concepts and equations that I can't remember off the top of my head.

3 comments about Mechanics of Composite Materials.

1. I came across this book while doing research on micromechanics of particulate composites for my PhD work. It is an excellent book for reference. It describes the work of various reseacher in a very simple, straight-forward fashion.



2. I came across this book while doing research on micromechanics of particulate composites for my PhD work. It is an excellent book for reference. It describes the work of various reseacher in a very simple, straight-forward fashion. Someday I would like to own it but at this point cannot afford the price.



3. Buy this book if you are doing research in micromechanics of composites. Cheap, interesting... like everything from Dover!

4 comments about Hypersonic and High Temperature Gas Dynamics (AIAA Education) (Aiaa Education Series).

1. I just finished reading an old edition, whihc is late 80's and it's incredible, I can't wait to get this new edition. If you like aerodynamics and are interested in space re-entry vehicles, for sure you should have this book in your personal library.



2. This book in conjunction with Anderson's "Modern Compressible Flow with Historical Perspective" will give you and excellent fundamental background in high temp gas dynamics. I think the third section alone of this book (which introduces stastical mechanics, kinetic theory, chemically reacting flows, equilibrium and nonequilibrium flows) is worth the price.



3. While this description refers to an out of print edition by McGraw-Hill, the book has been republished by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) with the ISBN 156347459X.



4. Even though the expected date of arrival was 5 or 6 weeks ahead, it was shipped less than one week after the request and it arrived to Europe (from US) next week. So the total waiting time was 2 weeks instead of the 5 or 6 weeks it anticipated. I'm happy with he conditions the book arrived, so it was my first purchase in Amazon and I am definetely satisfied.

4 comments about Fluid Power with Applications (6th Edition).

1. I would like to request an instructors copy for possible use in our fluid power program at Spokane Community College.



2. Where is the new edition? It is already out but you don`t have it



3. Good book to start leaning abt fliud powe



4. I am a an engineering student with a gpa of 3.93 (73 hours). I have found this to be one of the least helpfull books I have ever used. The examples worked are at such a low complexity level, that they do almost no good for solving the problems at the end of the chapters. There are entire concepts that are missing explanation and you can only hope that you will have a good enough proffesor to explain during lecture. I do not have that luxury, mine will only go over the illustrated examples in the book.

5 comments about Analytical Mechanics.

1. Quite possibly the worst physics text ever. DO NOT READ THIS BOOK IF YOU WANT TO LEARN MECHANICS. It seems too advanced for the average undergrad who has just completed a lower division physics series and not advanced enough for advanced undergrads and grads. "Classical Dyamics of Particles and Systems" by Marion and Thorton is probably more suitable for the average undergrad and "Classical Mechanics" by Goldstein is a much better advanced text. Hand and Finch does not have enough examples and some problems actually have no solution!



2. As the authors point out in their preface, this book was developed as part of a classroom course - one where students would have ongoing email discussions with one another and with a teaching assistant throughout the course. As a result, many important ideas are presented in the form of "email questions", which the book leaves unanswered. Students are supposed to think about them on their own, then verify their answers by emailing the TA. Similarly, none of the chapter exercises have any answers, nor is there a student answer guide available.
   
   While this is an interesting pedagogical approach, it severely limits the value of this book as a general physics text. In fact, outside the exact instructor-based class format used by the authors, the book is relatively useless.
   
   As alternatives, I'd recommend Fowles & Cassiday (at the easy end of the spectrum), or for the more ambitious, just jump into Goldstein. Either of those volumes, plus a good problem book, will teach you far more physics than Hand & Free.



3. Good material may be found in Goldstein,Taylor,Corinaldesi.Try
   those ones.



4. I just spent the past semester taking the course using this book at Purdue University. It was a horrible experience, the explanations in the book are poorly written and poorly constructed. There are no examples in the book, which instead chooses to lecture endlessly on about mathematics in a way that is entirely aphysical, reducing learning from this book to often be the same as taking engineering -- endlessly memorizing equations and how to apply them. I got a B in the class in the end, but only because I used Marion & Thornton's book in parallel.
   
   The entire semester, the professor said "I know, this book sucks. Sorry guys." So its not just me. Any professors looking at assigning this book, steer way clear. And a tip for the future: Any book that prints only in paperback can't be that good.



5. Analytical Mechanics by Hand and Finch is more like Analytical S*#! Sandwich by two awful textbook writers. I didn't mind the fact that there were so few examples throughout the text, or the lack of answers to problems in the back. I think that actually encourages creative thinking and builds problem solving skills, provided the rest of the book is written clearly enough to help students build a strong concept base. This book however, is not clearly written and ends up either frustrating the students or boring them to tears, or both... usually both.
   I would suggest picking up a book with a little bit of personality, and possibly using this one for the challenging problems, once you feel confident with the material.

2 comments about Mechanics in the Earth and Environmental Sciences.

1. Are you a geoscientist or a student in geosciences? Did you have quite some physics and mathematics during high school and/or college, but never fully understood how earth sciences really connect with them? Are you sometimes annoyed by the difficulty to understand some papers loaded with equations in your professional literature? If the answers to these questions are "yes", than this book can be a very useful one for you, regardless if you are a structural geologist, sedimentologist, hydrogeologist or petroleum geologist. The mathemathical background which you need for the book is only introductory calculus. And, as most books or papers written or co-authored by G.V. Middleton, it is well written, and, despite the not-so-easy subjects, it is easy to follow and understand. You will find a review of elementary mechanics, chapters about dimensional analysis, stress, pressure and buoyancy, flow through porous media, strain, elasticity, viscous fluids, flow of natural materials, turbulence and thermal convection. Of a special value for me were (and still are) the suggested readings, which pick a few good references from a sea of titles, for me an unfamiliar list which made it always problematic to choose the best/right readings. This book can be used as a great textbook and teaching material for upper level undergrads or beginner level graduate students in the earth and environmental sciences.



2. Spending too much money on textbooks this semester? Purchase this text and you'll actually read and utilize it. The authors are concerned with teaching the material, NOT showing the reader how smart they are. That's what counts, LEARNING.

5 comments about Problems and Solutions on Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics (Major American Universities Ph.D. Qualifying Questions and Solutions).

1. The entire series is my savior. Each volume covers the material needed in the junior/senior level of physics. It truly has an emense selection of problems. I found that nearly all of my homework/exams were either exactly the same or merely a slight variation from one contained. I also have yet to find a single error, not even a sign error. One important thing is that it does need to be a supplement, as formulas are sometimes used without explicit reference to why. In general the reasons need to be found in an assigned text. My only gripe (and it is minor) is with the index...the index does not, in general, lead one to a relevent problem. For example, uses of Biot/Savart to solve this problem or that... The reason this is not a serious problem is that each topic has so many variations on the method/technique that it is simple enough to find at least a couple that are completely relevent. (given you know which section to look in)



2. All of these books titled "Problems and Solutions on (subject): Major American Universities Ph.D. Qualifying Questions and Solutions" are invaluable tools for a physics graduate student, in my experience.

   One criticism: The index for this particular book is nonexistent. I am writing my own in my copy of the book.

   If you are a student in physics, I suggest that you get your hands on these books.




3. it is a good book..
   though most of the problems solved are on the same pattern...



4. The books in this series are a valuable resource for studying for PhD screening/comprehensive exams. Working through practice problems is, in my opinion, the best way to prepare for these tests. This book covers a wide range of topics, so you can find the section on whatever your thermodynamic weakness is and really work it out. Not every equation in the solutions is motivated, but working through and puzzling over the derivations is in itself extremely helpful.



5. I liked the book. I think that it helps to review
   the subject and test how much you studied. You also
   can learn some tricks. I recomend.

No comments about A Brief Introduction to Fluid Mechanics.

3 comments about Solutions Manual for Introduction to Modern Statistical Mechanics.

1. Don't get your hopes up too much. Not all of the problems are solved. The problems that are solved are solved OK but not always in the best way. Still, I'd buy this book all over again, since "Intro to stat mech" by Chandler is pretty cheap to begin with. Just think of it as paying for 1 book.



2. This book is really one of the better book on statistical physics. It is short and concise but it is impressive the amount of physics discussed in this book!
   And the presentation is really modern.



3. This manual provides solutions to select problems only. I recommend the internet over buying this manual; you'll find more solutions there. Even Chandler recommends using other sources at the beginning of the text book.

3 comments about Elements of Gas Dynamics.

1. The book arrived quickly and I found the book the way it was described



2. This book is really good. However, I don't recommend it for an undergraduate level student. Equations are sometimes proven by saying, "after some manipulation." As a reference or a graduate text however, this book is very nice to have around. It is small and the chapters are well labeled.



3. I used this book during an undergraduate research project in the UK in 1971 on gas discharge from a resonance tube and found it provided the heart and soul of the topic. While slightly challenging for a senior undergraduate student it inspires motivation to persevere with the theoretical foundations and analytical techniques leading to full enrichment in understanding the topic. Even though my graduate degrees focussed on space robotic dynamics and control I still fervently revere Liepman and Roshko's book as a lifetime refernce companion on gas dynamics.