No comments about Dynamic Behavior of Materials.

5 comments about Roving Mars: Spirit, Opportunity, and the Exploration of the Red Planet.

1. Roving Mars is the "biography" of the Mars Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. It was written by the most appropriate of all persons -- Steve Squyeres, the "principal investigator" for the rover project. As Dr. Squyers was the principal investigator, the book is, by necessity, autobiogrpahical as well.
   
   Dr. Squyers does not over-dramatize, instead he meticulously, and clearly describes the many, many setbacks, problems, cost-overruns, delays, etc. involved in the Mars rover project. He showed tremendous patience in overcoming these obstacles. Others would have quit.
   
   Also, Dr. Squyers graciously and repeatedly gave his graditute to the skills and contributions of the other scientists and technicians involed in the project. In short, NASA not only hired the right scientist, but hired a scientist with good manners.
   
   For the lay reader, it was sometimes is difficult to follow what instrument is doing what and why on Mars, but if the book had been "dumded down" much would have been lost. My only criticism is that the ending was a little flat. The author tried for some drama and reflection, but the telling of the end of the story was weak.



2. this is a very informative book...it follows the lead scientist for the mars'rovers(which are incredible machines)before he became lead scientist.the difficulty of getting nasa to finance this mission while trying to keep key instruments from being cut from the mission is fasinating.we're talking years of failures to get his dream mission off the ground.we're talking years of frustrating drawbacks and budget cuts.i can partially sympathise with him...i'm just an amateurs' amateur.that is to say,i'm not good enough to be considered a real amateur.but that doesn't keep me from wondering what it would be like to work for nasa...can you imagine what it must be like to go to work every day and work with some of the greatest minds in america?all in all,this is a very good read.



3. I bought this book solely out of vanity, wanting to see my name in print at the back of the book among the thousands who worked on Spirit and Opportunity. Alas, I was among the handful that were omitted (no big surprise given my squiggly signature). I did however thoroughly enjoy every page. Steve is not only a great scientist but a talented writer, and has done an excellent job of illustrating the emotional roller coaster of building space hardware. Just as he learned about the blood sweat and tears that go into building the hardware, his book educates us on the challenges, setbacks and ultimate triumphs of getting a mission funded - and keeping it from getting cancelled. Steve keeps the reader on edge through every step of his nine year journey from pipedream to paydirt.



4. one of the best science stories I've ever heard!
   I am a astronomy aficionado and this story has made me be part of the MER team in my own way. I felt that I was in Mars and also in the JPL.
   I laughed at the witty comments of Steve and specially about the "WHAAAAT??!?!?"'s... and I cried so hard when Spirit landed... ha! I felt really overwhelmed.... I guess I can say that Steve Squyres made me feel like I was part of the story... Thank you for that!
   
   and I couldn't agree more... I also want boot prints over the wheel tracks!!!! :')



5. "We see it! We see it! We see it! We're in lock. We're in lock." - Voice of Entry, Descent, Landing Telecom, Cruise Mission Support Area, Jet Propulsion Lab, January 4, 2004 on acquiring signals from Spirit lander after its touchdown on Mars.
   
   On June 10 and July 7 of 2003, NASA and Pasadena's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) launched the twin Martian landers, Spirit and Opportunity respectively. They touched down on the Red Planet on January 4 and January 24 of 2004, the first mobile robotic explorers to do so since Pathfinder/Sojourner in 1997. ROVING MARS is their story as told by Steve Squyres.
   
   Squyres, a geologist by profession, was the Principal Investigator, i.e. science team leader, for the Spirit and Opportunity projects representing JPL. He recounts earlier years and unsuccessful attempts to get a lander proposal approved by NASA. Then, against the backdrop of NASA's latest failures at Mars exploration, Mars Polar Lander and Mars Climate Orbiter in 1998, Steve shares the anxiety, frustration, doubts and hard work involved in getting eventual conceptual approval for the 2003 missions, followed by the months of design, construction, testing failures and successes, nearly insurmountable problems, budget overruns, and final nail-biting reviews by NASA before the rovers could be encapsulated in their landers and placed atop their Delta II rockets at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station for their launches, which themselves involved maddening delays. Following relatively uneventful flights to Mars, Squyres again picks up the rovers' stories to describe their landings, deployment, and treks of discovery. The goal of the dual mission - to discover in Martian rocks evidence for a watery past.
   
   The reader will perhaps stand amazed that Spirit and Opportunity ever overcame multiple obstacles to get launched at all. There are two excellent sections of color photographs within the book, one of which images shows Squyres reaching for the sky in supreme exaltation as Spirit's deployment on Martian soil is confirmed by telemetry. Steve recalls that as one of the best moments of his life. And, when arriving at that point in the narrative recounting the tense moments of Spirit's landing, the (American) reader can perhaps be forgiven for letting out a yell of proud victory, "YES!" This was, after all, an American red, white and blue accomplishment told via the author's clear, informative and non-technical prose.
   
   The Spirit and Opportunity rovers had projected operational lifespans of 90 sols, each "sol" being a Martian day of 24 hours 39 minutes. By the end of the narrative in mid-September 2004, Spirit had reached 248 sols and Opportunity 227. Squyres expected the vehicles to die in months, perhaps a year at the outside, the buildup of dust on the rovers' energizing solar panels being the determining factor.
   
   If you go to JPL's website, you'll find that as of 2008 both Spirit and Opportunity, albeit somewhat worse for wear, are still operational on the Red Planet transmitting back pictures and data. Amidst all the planning and pre-mission speculation, nobody imagined that the rovers' solar panels would be cleaned by ... dust devils. You can't even get that service for your windshield at the gas station anymore.
   
   Despite its semi-technical nature, ROVING MARS was a book I couldn't put down, something I can't say about most of the trashy fiction novels I read. Honor to Squyres and his scientific and engineering team is due. (More than 4,000 names are listed at the end of the book.) At 59 jaded years, it makes me particularly proud to be a citizen of the US of A.

1 comments about Nanostructures and Nanomaterials: Synthesis, Properties & Applications.

1. This book is intended to give an overview to those entering the field on how to fabricate nanostructures and their underlying chemistry. The main focus is on the fundamentals such as synthes and fabrication and covers as large range of toptics: nanoparticles, nanowires, nanorods, thin films, and carbon nanotubes as well as a diverse range of patterning techniques (AFM, self-assembly through conventional lithographic techniques). The last chapter of about 20 pages on applications is a bit short and only gives a general feel. The book should be suitable to both advanced undergrads or grad. students in chemistry, material science, physics, and EE. I myself found it quite accessible for self-study. I especially, liked the first ~50 pags explaining the fundamental such as surface chemistry and excellent explanation of surface tension.

No comments about A Primer for Finite Elements in Elastic Structures.

1 comments about Corrosion Engineering (McGraw-Hill series in materials science and engineering).

1. I have got more than 10 books on corrosion. Based on my experience working 17 years in an oil refinery as a maintenance engineer, project engineer, and head of inspection, this book is the best among all and has been very useful to me. It is well written and well-organized on all types of corrosion you find in real life and work. It is easy to read and understand and contains just all information you need to understand the mechanisms of corrosion you find in your plant equipment and can lead you the effective way to combat your corrosion problems. The price of this book is so low compared to other books I own, but it is the most valuable book on corrosion I have. This is just the only one you really need on corrosion!

2 comments about Ultrasonic Testing of Materials.

1. i seen this book atlast and i know that is about ultrasonic testing and it is a compelet refrence in ut matter.



2. Krautkramer are well established NDT equipment manufacturers and one would expect this book to cover pretty much all aspects of the science. Fact is, this book is a lot more, it is The NDT Bible. The 4th edition is based on the 5th German edition published in 1986. Updated reports on electronic instrumentation is included over previous editions including new applications in nuclear and space industries.
   
   Contents:
   Part-A/Physical Principles of ultrasonic testing of materials: 1. Ultrasonic waves in free space, 2. Plane sound waves at boundaries, 3. Geometrical acoustics, 4. Wave physics of the sound field, 5. Echo from and Shadow of an obstacle in the sound field, 6. Attenuation of ultrasonic waves in solids, 7. Piezo-electric methods of generation and reception of ultrasonic waves, 8. Other methods for transmitting and receiving ultrasound, Part-B/Methods and instruments used for the ultrasonic testing of materials: 9. Historical survey of developments, 10. The pulse-echo method; design and performance of a pulse-echo flaw detector, 11. Transit-time methods, 12.The Shahow-method, 13. Imaging and methods of reconstruction, 14. Sound emission analysis (SEA), Part-C/General Testing Technique: 15. Coupling, 16. Interference effects of boundaries, complex sound paths and screen patterns, 17. Testing with ultrasonic waves radiated obliquely to the surface, 18. interference from external high-frequency and ultrasonic sources, 19. Detection and classification of defects, 20. Organization of testing; staff and training problems, 21. Testing installations and evaluation of test results, Part-D/Special Test Problems: 22. Workpieces for general mechanical construction, 23. Railway engineering items, 24. Plate and strip, 25. semi-finished products rod, bar, billet and wire, 26. Pipes, tubes and cylinders, 27. Castings, 28. Welded-joints, 29. Testing of other types of joint and compound structures, 30. Nuclear Power-Plants, 31. Metallic materials and their specific problems for ultrasonic testing 32. Testing problems of non-metallic specimens, 33. Utrasonic testing by determination of material properties, 34. Standards.
   
   The book is appendixed with a splendid reference of books, publications, (1752 in total!!) and supplemental references (another 191!!!), handy formulae for reflection and transmission coefficients. Written at a level which should make it accessible to readers with some knowledge of technical mathematics presenting tricks and observations from 30 years field experience.
   
   Even though the Krautkramer name has become synonymous to NDT the book is courteously dedicated "to the pioneers of UTM, S.Ja.Sokolov (UdSSR), Floyd A. Firestone (USA), Donald O.Sproule (England)".
   
   Cornerstone publication for engineering disciplines as Mechanical, Marine, Civil, or even Food Engineers (I never thought UTM could be used even on measuring fat on livestock animals!!).

1 comments about Principles and Prevention of Corrosion.

1. This textbook was my senior level undergraduate text on corrosion. I would classify it as average. The writing is somewhat ambiguous in spots. This was reinforced as I read it a second time in preparation for PhD qualifying exams.

   Problems with it:
   1. Inconsistent notation. Many reaction potentials are subscripted as a anodic, but the Nernst equation immediately following is written for the cathodic form of the rxn.
   2. The treatment of the Nernst equation is lacking in detail, particularly in regard to the choice of reference states. The notion of reaction affinity is not mentioned.
   3. Mixed potential theory is introduced without a clear description/justification for writing all reactions in their cathodic form. I found this confusing on the first time through.
   4. In the section on high temperature oxidation, a standard defect notation, like Kroger-Vink, is not used.
   5. I found the descriptions of some of the methods for measuring overpotentials less than clear.

   The author is apparently now deceased, so it is doubtful the book will be updated. If you are a teacher looking for a corrosion book, I would suggest looking elsewhere.

No comments about Nanostructured Materials for Solar Energy Conversion.

4 comments about Electronic Structure: Basic Theory and Practical Methods.

1. This book was recommended to me to help me in my research, and has turned out to be one of the best recommendations I have ever received. This is a great book; by far the best I have come across on the topic of computing the properties of condensed phase materials by quantum mechanical simulations. Here are the reasons why.

   1. The chapters are well laid out and one chapter flows neatly to the next.

   2. The math is kept to a minimum; the author makes a point of communicating important principles and ideas in concise sentences without resorting to derivations. This is ideal for engineers like me; who by training do not know that much math as compared to physicists who specialize in the solid state.

   3. Important ideas are clarified up front. Many texts will lead the reader through long and windy paths of proofs and logic before arriving at the conclusion; thereby losing their reader in the process. Not here; important points are stated clearly at the beginning and at the end of each section.

   4. Compare, contrast, and context. There are many ideas, models, approximations, and theorems that have been developed in the past century related to electronic structure. Many of these are closely related to each other in their inspiration, derivation, practice, and/or applications. This book makes the connections between the different concepts. For a non-expert reading through the electronic structure literature, terms like APW, OPW, PAW, LAPW, LMTO, etc... can be quite confusing if not placed within an overriding context. This book provides that context.

   5. Good use of appendices. Electronic structure is a lot like politics; most practicioners in either field did not receive formal educations in the subject, but instead got into it under the apprenticeship of other people. This is reflected by a lot of literature by those who succeeded in the field; most of it good in showing of the authors' achievements, but generally useless in preparing the next generation of practicioners. For electronic structure, this is manifested by the many books that require prior knowledge of quantum, thermo, crystallography, mat sci, etc.. In effect, these books were written by experts to be read by other experts. Not this book. Basic ideas are kept in the text; and specific proofs and derivations are kept in the appendices. The result is a text that is much easier to read than most others.

   6. The book is concept driven; not application driven. Most texts in materials simulations are actually a compilation of chapters written independently by multiple authors. Each chapter might be given a general title; but the text will be bias towards the research of its authors. For example, a chapter on surface calculations might focus entirely on adsorption, or relaxation/reconstruction, or optical properties; but surely not touching all these subjects. This book does not do this; each chapter is driven by basic concepts, and one concept leads to the next.

   In all, this is a great textbook and a handy reference book. I highly recommend it.




2. Although the topics the book embrasses are current and essential for practising chemists, physisists and materials scientists the pedagogic care with which it explains some of the topics is poor.
   
   The author makes the assumption that the reader is familiarized with the heavy mathematical formalism and notation which is commonplace in specialized physics articles but fails to remember that graduate students that don't have a physics background, and come from other schools of thought such as chemistry, biochemistry or materials science, might be target readers.
   
   For instance the book's introduction to Hartree-Fock theory must be the most complicated I've ever seen with constant recourse to Dirac's delta function (without even revealing its presence, stating simply that it should be there). The link between DFT and statistical thermodynamics although interesting is not essential for the heart of the discussion. Some classic program applications like Siesta are presented but you get the feeling that it's just for show off.
   
   All in all if you're a physicist with some years of experience in the field of planewave computation you might find the book interesting.
   
   Otherwise if you're a beginner like me forget it! The book by Efthimios Kaxiras (Atomic and Electronic Structure of Solids) is more revealing and pedagogic and supplies every detail in the mathematical formalism. Some physicists with a more chemical sensitivity such as Harrison, chemists such as Roald Hoffmann, Jeremy Burdett or Michael Springborg or materials scientists like Adrian Sutton or David Pettifor are better suited for the novice.



3. As a graduate student attempting to learn density functional theory and its use in computer programmes, I have found this book to be an excellent addition to my library. Well structured and written.



4. I like this book and would recommend it to any beginner into density functional theory. It explains all the modern electronic structure techniques in a rather simple language. Its much more easier and quicker than going into hundreds of papers and not knowing where to start.
   
   The biggest issue with this book is a rather poor organisational structure to the book. That's why I've given it a 4/5 rating. There are some concepts that have been easily thrown in at the end, into the appendices.. and having to turn pages too frequently can be annoying.
   
   But the good work has been done & I'd ask Mr Martin to re-organise the content.
   
   This book has the potential to be a classic.

1 comments about Handbook of Radiation Effects.

1. This text details nearly everything one need to know for a basic understanding of radiation effects on electronic components and systems. Lots of very useful tables and graphs that are needed nearly daily by the radiation experts as well as the beginners in the field. Andy & Len have done a great job putting all this information in a very understandable format. A must reference/test for everyone in the Space Radiation business. Dr. Michael K. Gauthier, ICS RADIATION TECHNOLOGIES, INC.