5 comments about Boatowner's Mechanical & Electrical Manual: How to Maintain, Repair, and Improve Your Boat's Essential Systems.

1. This is the second Nigel Calder book I own, and I am even more impressed. I am an ASA-certified instructor qualified to teach through bareboat chartering and coastal navigation. I have sailed on all sorts of boats, have owned a cruising style boat for six years, have heard boat owners and students complain about various problems, have read dozens of books, and through all of this have experienced so many mysteries related to corrosion, electrical problems, equipment problems, and issues with various boat systems. For the first time, I feel I have a single reference manual specific to boat systems that not only provides clear troubleshooting steps but goes beyond troubleshooting to clearly explain the mechanical and physical principles that demystify why things go wrong and how the troubelshooting steps systematically work through problems. The explanations are understandable, the instructions and safety tips are effective, and the diagrams and photos are valuable. It has already helped me deal with a grounding problem that was causing our main cirvruit breaker to trip!



2. No this is not a book for inland gas boats! This is a book for ocean going vessels. Both power and sail. I have cruised on a 28' Columbia (outboard) and a 41' Islander Freeport (perkins). It was a *must have* with the Cruising Handbook in 4 years of full time cruising. [...] Fairwinds!



3. I have a 1987 Catalina 30 sailboat with a diesel engine. I wish I had purchased a copy of this book six years ago when I bought my boat. I might have saved hundreds and maybe even thousands of dollars in yard bills by doing more of the work myself with the help of this book. I have the 2nd Edition published in 1995. I think it is well organized, well written, and I find the illustrations to be clear. A friend of mine purchased the 3rd Edition, which has updated information, particularly on electronics. However I am extremely satisfied with the 2nd Edition for my needs.



4. Green horn or old salt, this book is an absolute must have for those among us who take pride in having boat grime under our fingernails. Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual covers well everything that makes the power and sailboat tick. Even if a topic encountered is beyond the reader's skill or comfort level, the knowledge gained through study of this manual give a foundation for understanding and measuring basic standards of quality and workmanship when, Heaven Forbid, you must pay someone else to make things right with your boat. I highly recommend this book to anyone who's boat is more than a floating cocktail lounge.



5. Every boat owner who plans on doing work on their boat should have a copy of this book. You will be able to do the work correctly the first time and fix what was done before you. Just an incredible reference.

2 comments about Experimental Methods for Engineers (McGraw-Hill Mechanical Engineering).

1. I have reviewed several books in engineering experimentation to adopt one of them to my course. Among them, this book is most complete and provides lots of useful information nicely organized. One of the strengthes this book provides is the "recipe" for various enigneering experiments with excellent summary.



2. Much of the engineering curriculum is devoted to analytical techniques for solving particular problems, often derived mathematically from first principles. However, without grounding results within the physical realm, solutions may neglect factors that do not neatly fit into the assumptions used. Thus, measurement of phenomena are needed. But what constitutes a valid measurement? Holman provides an excellent introduction to this area in _Experimental_Methods_for_Engineers_, often an otherwise neglected field of study. Few parameters can be measured directly, and those that can must be compared to a standard that is ubiquitously available and repeatable. So Holman begins with standards and units. Analysis of measured data covers sources of error and uncertainty -- without these, the measurement cannot be used with confidence for the application intended.

   Subsequently, Holman introduces sensors in separate chapters for discrete physical phenomena. The first of these includes electrical sensors using known physical laws governing electro-magnetism. The next chapters cover displacement, pressure and fluid flowrate, followed by temperature and heat flux. Then forces, vibration, nuclear radiation and chemical traces are covered. _Experimental_Methods_ concludes with data acquisition and report writing descriptions. The treatment in each chapter is geared to the level of a competent engineering student. Although replete with equations, the terms are explained (unlike so many textbooks) and associated with quantified examples. Holman presents a useful overview of the instrumentation types and their limitations, together with how quantities may be derived from the values measured. A valuable addition in any technical library.

No comments about Hands-On Exercise Manual for LabVIEW Programming, Data Acquisition and Analysis (National Instruments Virtual Instrumentation Series).

4 comments about Aerosol Technology: Properties, Behavior, and Measurement of Airborne Particles (Wiley-Interscience).

1. How is the aerosol from hair spray related to a carbonated drink or a sponge? It all has to do with what is finely dispersed and what medium suspends this dispersion. With these provoking thoughts, William C. Hinds leads us into the partculars of suspended particles: aerosols. Dr. Hinds has accomplished an amazing feat here. Understanding this complicated field requires familiarity with at least one year of college calculus. With an eloquent writing style laced with differentials and derivations, he describes the various phenomena of aerosols, including particle settling speed, respirability, light scattering, dust explosions, and much more. His description of aerosol measurement techniques is interesting and detailed. (You would be surprised at how complicated are the physics of filtration!) What is truly special, however, is his ability to effectively describe in words what the equations are saying. You can grasp a feel for the phenomena described even if some of the differentials leave you stumped. With problems (and their answers--NOT solutions!) at the end of each chapter, this is an ideal text for graduate students in public health, engineering, industrial hygiene, or toxicology. Professionals working in these fields, however, will find the book a valuable reference. The text is filled with helpful tables and figures, and the more rigorous proofs of important formulas are presented in appendices. References end each chapter.

   Already 15 years old, the book remains a benchmark. Oh--and the sponge? The disperse phase is air, the suspending medium is solid. Hmm.




2. Excellent guide to particle behaviour...I am involved in research where an indepth understanding of aerosol behavior is a must in electrostatic powder coating and separation. This is an excellent resource and should be a part of your professional collection.



3. As the New Testament is to Christians and the Torah is to Jews, this work is the essential literature to understanding aerosols and aerosol technology. You enter as a novice with human explanations of terms, proceed through most of the mundate and requisite statistics, and then are allowed to explode through the fascination that is aerosols. Through comprehensive, yet comprehensable language, this is the first and only way to understand what has previously been an elusive and disperse knowledge. Each edition incorporates current tech and thought. A best, first.



4. This is a very good book on aerosols. It is easy to understand and the review problems are fair an understandable.

5 comments about This Old Boat.

1. I don't know where to begin thanking Casey and recommending him at the same time. A feeble attempt follows:

   This is the MOST valuable of my 80 or 90 boatbuilding books, hands-down. It doesn't matter what construction material you are using, or what your level of expertise. At the very least, it is a fun, witty, and motivating book. Even if you come out of it with no more knowledge than when you started (I guarantee that will not happen), it will give you the necessary wisdom and motivation to stay the course. It was the first 'boat building' book I ever purchased, and it alone motivated me to stop dreaming about a boat, and to start building/rebuilding one. And it was to this book I turned whenever a project was frustrating (this is almost daily, for the uninitiated--and he explains this, too). It was also the book I used as a primary reference, and it served me very well in the rebuilding of two medium-sized boats. It has since served me equally well in the building of boats from plans, though you will need more than he offers for this (that does not mean instead of this, but in addition to his book, another will be necessary).

   Whether you are going to build a boat from scratch, or you are going to refurbish an older boat (he makes a hard sell), this book MUST be read. If you have only one book on your shelf pertaining to the construction/reconstruction/maintenance, this should be it. You will never forget it, and you will recommend it to others as strongly as I am to you. Your boat will feel naked without it.




2. I found that the book lacked certain basic information. for example: when restoring an old boat, one must typically contend with transporting the boat (perhaps mention of trailer, and cradle designs), or de-masting and storage, removing the multi-layers of antifoulant paint, correct the grazing of the gelcoat. For the interiour, one may decide to substitute teak for mahogany, white oak, etc, but there is no mention of altenate woods for cabinetry and interior work. For the deck anti-skid, how can you mold parts of the missing anti-skid, if you dont want to use threadmaster M. I just found the book a little bit less than basic.



3. You're familiar of course with the numerous lists of necessary books to have aboard your boat. Boat Owner's comes to mind by Nigel Calder as one. HOWEVER, I believe you will find more useful information within the 408 pages. Also, it's book size (won't be a pain to store aboard) will be welcome.
   
   The boring stuff (he tells you how to prioritize) -- some may need to hear/see safety first, and structure/bilge pumps et al. I could understand the reasoning but it wasn't real useful to me. His organizational check-lists will help folks actually plan chronology and FINISH the jobs.
   
   The best part though was the step by step, well-illustrated how-to's. Everything I could want/need to know was covered, including how to read my electric meter, how much insulation the refrigerator needs, how much heat loss to expect in various sized boxes, how to plan for power needs, and a logic as to what we really need/can use/and WILL WORK aboard.
   
   It's not a be-all/end-all book but it's very very good and well worth space aboard. You'll still need your shop books (for your engine, head, pumps, etc.) but with this gem you'll understand the why as well as the how to do repairs.
   
   Even canvas repair is covered. Don't tell anyone, but it's not genius material. You can do it yourself and save big bucks. Mostly though, it's a book of instructions for repairs/improvements and "gosh, that'd be nice" type of things. If you don't know already, you'll learn step-by-step how to Fiberglas, how to make sails, how to fix wiring, WHEN TO HIRE EXPERTS, and more.
   
   Even at retail price $35, it's well worth it, though of course I'd suggest saving $$ and buying used.



4. This book is entertaining to read and really is an eye opener as to what you're getting yourself into re wooden boats. Really is a prmer on the topic or Wooden Boats 101 - when you are done reading it you'll know your up to the task or not.



5. Covers everything from dings to diesels. A must read for apprentice boatsmiths. This reading gives you the confidence and knowledge to fix up & repair most every defect in your used boat.

5 comments about Voyaging Under Power.

1. Although I have never ventured beyond the horizon -- fish for blues out to 25 miles offshore--- I have been fascinated with the modern equivalents of Homer's fabled voyager. This book brings Homer's world-travelling explorer into the 21st century. Make no mistake, this is not a tale of imaginary voyages, but an eminently practical guide for those who would cross oceans
   in engine powered craft to experience exotic and beautiful vistas. Of course you need upwards of half a million bucks to spend on a world-cruising seaworthy vessel. Beebe never envisioned the exorbitant cost of the trawler market when he designed his original passagemaker. He did lay out some very methodical formulae and building guides for follow-up vessels. The epitome of the lessons from
   the first edition were realized by Jim Leishman, author/editor of the revised edition. His Nordhavn 46, and better, his Nordhavn 62, design are the fulfillment of Beebe's directives.
   Unlike another reviewer, I did not find that his revisions smacked of a Nordhavn commercial. He included many other contemporary builders' designs and was fair in his assessments of these boats. All in all, the book is THE bible of offshore and trans-oceanic power cruising. The practical aspects of buying and fitting out a vessel, provisioning it for the voyage, and navigating in mid-ocean as well as in shoal waters, are set out in a lively and clear manner.



2. This book is a great reference in trawler boats and crossing ocean reference. I really recomend this book for someone who is envolve in boat building, trawlering and voayge over oceans;



3. Beebe is the grandaddy of long range power boating. Once he retired from the navy, he had it in his mind to pack up his wife and some friends and see the world in a small boat. When he originally planned this, he had intended to sail, but he came to realize that a round-bottom hull, combined with a small diesel engine was actually *more* economical than attempting to sail long distance. Sailcloth deteriorates faster than you can burn the equivalent of diesel fuel in an efficient motorboat. This book contains many interesting technical graphs and suchlike from which a builder can design a craft capable of world travel. It also goes over essential equipment, layout and other things a squid like me would never think of. The modern revisions, unfortunately, reflect a slightly different philosophy from the original: with a heavier emphasis on buying fat, expensive turnkey systems with elaborate onboard electrical systems (electric air conditioning, electric hot and cold runnig water, electric winches, electric blah blah blah). Trawler Yachts, basically: the guy who did the rewrite of the original book (written in the 1960s) operates the Nordhaven company, which makes such $700k pleasure boats.



4. Very interesting especially from a technical standpoint. A little dry at times and I would have liked a little more personal experience sections. However, I am not finished with it yet, other problems having erupted.



5. This book is a good read even if you are not venturing far. The update has been well done although has come in for some flak from the purists. It gives a snapshot into how far technolgy has come in the 40 or so years since Beebe started writing.

3 comments about Arms and Armor: A Pictorial Archive from Nineteenth-Century Sources (Dover Pictorial Archive Series).

1. I publish newsletters for a non-profit organization that re-creates the Middle Ages to educate people about history - the Society for Creative Anachronism. "Arms & Armor" has been an invaluable resource to handsomely illustrate the pages of my newsletters. Dover's copyright on this book allows the use of 10 images per project - which is very generous, considering some other clip art books only allow 4 or 5 per project. Furthermore, the country and century from which the images were cultivated is listed at the bottom of every page. This is immensely helpful for using these images in education. When one of our members writes an article about 16th century German horse armor, I can find an exact image to match his/her description in the article. There is a wide variety of images to choose from, including sketches of helmets, swords, axes, full suits of armor, shields, battle scenes and armor accoutremonts. I have owned this book for three years, and I use it with almost every newsletter issue I publish. I consider it an essential resource for SCA newsletter illustration.



2. I consider myself fairly picky about the quality of the images I use in my work. These clipart pictures are truly exceptional! Every single image, even the small helmet shots, are of an exceptionally high level of detail. You sometimes feel like the item is right in front of you. At this price, you would not expect the subtle shadings and hatching to be present in the art or print of the book, but they are there, giving the art a sense of depth that I have not found in other publications (even those in full color). This book provides well over 750 high quality clipart images. There are a very few images that are of a far lower detail, and hence, quality level. But that can be excused by the overwhelming achievement of the artist who produced the overall work of this book. For those looking to verbally depict armor or weapons, the value of this book cannot be over stated - it will inspire page after page with its high level of detail and the obvious inspiration of the smiths of history.



3. The pictures are indeed good quality and there are lots of them. I think it should be made clear, however, that this is only a book of pictures. There are no captions or explanations of any sort. You will surely see something in here that catches your eye, but will have little idea what it was called or where it was from. On many pages there is a country and time period, but most of the time, there are multiple countries listed with no distinction as to which image relates to the respective country. I was also disappointed in the almost complete lack of images of ancient Roman arms and armor. Middle ages to Renaissance is covered quite well, even some of ancient Greece, but Rome (arguably the greatest military force of all history) goes under-represented with only two small pictures from the Roman republic or empire.

5 comments about Modern Exterior Ballistics: The Launch and Flight Dynamics of Symmetric Projectiles.

1. This is ballistician's dream book. It describes all of the introductory and some advanced material pertaining to modern ballistics in wonderful detail, and the example problems are useful and illustrative. There is a wealth of information, such as drag coefficients and functions, form factors, and a beautiful derivation of the MPM yaw of repose that do not appear anywhere else in my experience. The experimental and computer generated plots are beautiful and informative.

   Unfortunately, the book is also full of typographical and other errors, such as having the wrong variable in a place in several equations, having variables simply missing from equations or from an explanation in the text, having the wrong headings in some of the tables, repeating figure numbers on different figures, or even having multiple missing words in some explanatory paragraphs that make the sentences into hard to interpret giberish. Some of the citations,for instance in Chapter 9, do not appear in the Bibliography at all (Chapter 9 has references numbered up to 16 in the text, but only 10 appear in the Bibiolgraphy).

   The bottom line: This is a GREAT BOOK if you are mathematically sound and don't mind deriving some of the equations yourself, and if you know enough to catch the errors and make the corrections. Don't get me wrong... I like the book a lot. It is well worth its price. Just be aware that you will have to work a little harder than usual to read and understand it.

   [...]




2. Certainly McCoy's book , Modern Exterior Ballistics, is the result of years of work at the Army's Ballistic Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Grounds. The book contains some excellent shadowgraphs of projectiles in flight. The historical background is alone worth the price of the book. The hard core computational capability of the modern desk top computer has been over shadowed by its use as an internet station, word processor, game platform etc. Nevertheless, most of the approximations given in this book are easily side stepped by a "brute force" integration of the equations of motion be readily and easily achieved with such software as MATLAB or TrueBasic and I am sure with C++ if that is your choice. The important point here is that most of the approximations given in McCoy's book are methods that for the most part have been entirely superseded by the capability of readily available computer languages. To employ such methods makes no greater analytical demands of the reader than, say, to follow and use the analytical approximations such as the approximation for flat trajectory. McCoy does make some concession to computer analysis with a BASIC program for projectile drag. However, on the whole the book is not quite modern, but more suited to computational conditions as existed in 1975. Unfortunately, with the passing of Dr. McCoy, the task of brings this otherwise good book up to 21 century standards would have to done by others.



3. This is a great book, but full of typos and edition errors of all types.
   The errata ( you can find it in Internet ) is 20 pages long.
   The book, as it stands now, is of very limited use.
   Better wait the Dover edition.



4. As a ballastician, I must say that this book is a MUST HAVE for any professional in the field of exterior ballistics or the enthusiast with some knowledge of basic physics and high level mathematics. McCoy was a world renowned expert in the field of exterior ballistics throughout his 30 year career with the US Army Ballistic Research Lab (BRL) - this comes through in the pages of this book without a doubt. There are many excellent examples taken from McCoy's (and others) work with the BRL. All should take note, the book has many small typos peppered throughout both the text and figures. The errata pages can be printed off of several well maintained websites which can be found by searching on the title of the book.



5. McCoy's book is phenomenal if you seek the essentially pure theory and mathematical characterization of "real," differential equation-based ballistics. The book starts with the simplest form of ballistics calculations, the basic parabolic gravity-only point-mass trajectory everyone encounters in a basic physics course, and then slowly works up from there, all the way to the full six-degrees-of-freedom model (three positional dimensions of motion plus the three rotational dimensions of the spinning, wobbling projectile,) accounting for gravity, frontal air resistance, crosswinds, lifting forces, forces due to the projectile shape, Coriolis force (the consequence of Earth's rotation,) and even rocket forces if the "projectile" is actually a self-powered one. McCoy goes into the simplifications one can make to compute with only a point-mass projectile model (no rotational motion) and I most liked this approach for my own uses. He divides the work into chapters, with each new one adding a level of generality to the model(s) involved. This organization makes it very easy for the reader to choose the level of complexity and accuracy most desired. I was very impressed with McCoy's development of envelope curves, those being the curves of absolute flight limits of a projectile, giving the total interior region that a fired projectile could possibly hit.
   
   This book provides an immense background of everything needed to develop your own ballistics programs and could even provide enough material to do some original research in the field, but I would definitely contend that this book isn't for everyone. In particular, you need to have a very strong mathematics background, including linear algebra and differential equations, and one would do best with some numerical analysis background as well. McCoy does give some detail about various numerical methods one could use to advantage when doing the calculations with a computer, but not quite enough to actually get you started if you weren't already significantly familiar with standard single-step Runge-Kutta and multi-step differential equation solvers. Further, this book does contain a lot of typos and small errors buried deep in the equations, so you need to be able to follow the development well enough to catch them. Essentially, you need to be able to understand the methods used in higher math quite well, use McCoy's initial modeling, and then re-derive his equations on your own, with his derivations as guidance. Also, I think the typesetting of equations is done poorly in general, so it is often somewhat difficult to read them and keep his notations straight.
   
   This book is well worth its price, and the knowledge contained in it is probably nearly unavailable anywhere else these days. Ballistics is an old, but very technical and complicated field, and few people study it extensively any more, so I think it has become somewhat extinct in academic circles. This is unfortunate, for it is magnificent and rewarding, and McCoy's book is an opus dedicated to preserving this wonderful field of hard-won knowledge. The study of precise ballistics modeling and trajectory prediction was the first "big" problem that spawned the development of the digital computer, and the first true calculus problem ever solved by any mathematician was the shape-of-minimum-resistance ballistics problem, solved by Sir Issac Newton. McCoy's book is a grand survey of mid-20th century ballistics knowledge, complete with graphs, photographs, high-speed shadowgraphs from the ranges at Aberdeen Proving Ground, and references to the original authors and studies done by the military and other technical institutions.
   
   You will not regret the purchase of this book, especially if you want to understand the real theory and know how to calculate real ballistics trajectories for all kinds of projectiles at various speeds, not just watered-down, oversimplified, inaccurate, textbook-friendly versions of them. I'm even considering buying myself a second copy, just to be sure I will always have a mint-condition copy available!

No comments about Modern Military Aircraft (Aviation Factfile, The).

5 comments about How to Build Wooden Boats: With 16 Small-Boat Designs.

1. Normally you would have to pay 100.00$ each for good boat plans. Here are 16 for under 10.00$ Here is the rare step hydroplane. Here is the centerboard daysailor. Mahogany lake boats?, choose from 4 or more. Enjoy.



2. This book is full of plans that you couldn't find for a better price anywhere else!!! It is a great beginners reference for design, as well as information and knowledge. This is a MUST for everyone collection!!



3. I enjoyed the book and agree with the reviewer who said it is a must for anyone's collections. The book is not, however, what, from the title and the reviews, I believed it would be. This is not a practical guide for novice boat builders.

   This how-to guide is an unabridged republication of a book originally published in 1934. Much of the advice is dated. Sixteen horsepower outboards are no longer suitable for racing boats. To build a stream box, it is no longer practical to look for an old "stove boiler" (whatever that is) abandoned on a vacant lot. The author never mentions power tools. And the section on legal requirements for a new boat bears a publisher's footnote indicating that the information has not been updated in 65 years and may no longer be right. The author also assumes that the reader already has extensive knowledge about boats. For example, it seems that almost every board and plank on a boat has a unique name to boat builders, and the author uses those terms throughout the book, but nowhere does he provide a diagram of a boat with all of the various parts labeled.

   I enjoyed reading this book the same way that I enjoy reading old newspapers: as a snapshot of the past and as a work that occasionally provides new insights. I imagine that an experienced boat builder could find much in the book that is useful, and at a bargain price. This is not, however, a practical how-to guide, at least not for novices.




4. As others have noted, this book is actually a reprint of an old collection of plans. The techniques used in construction are very traditional; no plywood, epoxy or synthetic bedding compunds found here. It's not a beginner's book, either, although a careful craftsman could probably build the first one or two boats with a little thought.

   But even if you never built any of these boats-- and I suspect most who buy the book fall into this category-- this volume is still a wonderful addition to the bookshelf. I bought my copy before I knew anything about boat construction, and the more I learn, the more I enjoy casually thumbing through it. At the price, it's a bargain; I'd recommend it to anyone with an interest in boat design, or traditional construction, or who just likes looking at boat plans.




5. No, you won't become an accomplished boat builder simply by picking up this little book, or any other for that matter. Respect this beauty for it's glimpse at tradition provided by an underappreciated master of a dying trade.

   This book includes lines and offsets for 16 boats. Good boats. Where can one find plans for a stunning example of a 125 class step hydro, or a well proportioned little full keel sloop for the paltry sum of the cover price of this book? Only getting started? Check out the pram, the punt, or the skiffs.

   Monk's designs are relevant even in these days of design software and chopper guns. If you are an aspiring boatbuilder, this book can help you to learn respect for the old timers and their ways. If you're an accomplished boat builder in search of a worthwhile project, this book provides many. All of these designs are adaptable to current methods and materials by the experienced builder.

   A wonderful design compilation. Get a different book to learn how to sharpen those shiny new chisels. Enjoy.