1 comments about Home Workshop Silencers.

1. This book has only one piece of new information than his prior book
   the book states the safety in construction and tollerences important dims are given also but no new info. could have put this in prior book with less than 10 pages

1 comments about Global Environmental Change: An Atmospheric Perspective.

1. Whether you are entering a geophysical academic field or just interested in the process of global climate change and whether or not it is happeing, this book provides an excellent introduction to what is really going on in the atmosphere.
   Covering not only global warming, but also long term climate change (ice ages), El Nino Southern Oscillation, the ozone hole, and changes in the carbon cycle, this book uses less than 150 pages to provide the reader a strong grasp of how the atmosphere might be changing.
   What is missing from the book? Attention is focused only on the technical mechanisms of the role of the atmosphere in global climate change. The book does not address the role of human activites and hence is able to mostly maintain balance. Thus, it is a must read no matter which side of the global warming debate you stand on.

5 comments about Yacht Design Explained: A Sailor's Guide to the Principles and Practice of Design.

1. Clear and thorough explanations, lavishly illustrated and wide ranging in scope, put Killing and Hunter's book at the top of its field. "Yacht Design Explained" delivers an excellent mix of the technical with the practical. Killing's extremely readable, clearly understandable text "fairs" seamlessly with Douglas Hunter's outstanding two color drawings. This book covers a wide range of subjects from physics of design to the reasons that various designs work or fail. Attention is given to the history of competetive yachting. Competetive racer, day sailor, dabbler in yacht design, and curious reader alike will find this book a delight. "Yacht Design Explained" delivers and deserves to be a classic.



2. I'm an automotive designer who enjoys technical reading. Over the years I've subscribed to numerous boating publications and have purchased a handfull of books on sail power yacht design. This book is by far the best. It will answer many of your questions such as "why is a longer hull faster?", "why does 1.34 x the square root of the waterline length approximate max hull speed?". The book is well written and presents a short history of each design element i.e, sail configurations. The technical formulas are seperated in sidebar configuration for those who avoid math at all costs. If you are only going to buy one book on sail powered yacht design-this is the one.



3. May not be for professionals, however is a good help for the rest of us.



4. This book is clearly structured and explains yacht design clearly and to the point. Many illustrations and diagrams that explain yacht design for the rest of us. I know some professionals that work in yacht design and they were impressed too. Impressive amount of information covered in about 250 pages covering hull design, rudder, keel, rig, ballast, sails, performance predictions, tank testing and Americas Cup. I learned a lot and it is required reading for the ASA 108 certification (Offshore Passage making). Very impressive and worth every penny. Sail fast and understand why!



5. This may be the finest book on the general elements of yacht design that I have ever read. It is extremely readable and entertaining. It contains explanations of matters I have never seen in print before, such as NACA section for rudder and keel. Steve Killing uses real life examples such as the Albacore class dinghy and the C&C 35. It is not for the professional as several other books available here are...but it is very nearly as useful. Matters such as scantlings and constrution methods are better discussed in other books. However, the clarity of writing and an immensely enjoyable style make this book one that anyone interested in yacht design should not miss.

1 comments about Fundamentals of Atmospheric Modeling.

1. This is Mr. Jacobson's latest update to his unique text on the mathematical modeling of the atmosphere. I think it would be impossible to fully utilize this book if you have not already mastered college level physics, organic chemistry, calculus, both ordinary and partial differential equations, and numerical analysis and have some knowledge of atmospheric science. There are plenty of computer projects spread throughout this book too, so I guess a further requirement would be familiarity with a programming language, preferably MATLAB. This book basically merges all of these fields together in order to develop numerical models of atmospheric behavior. In fact, it looks like it would be a tough read for anyone who is not a graduate student of both atmospheric science and mathematics. By cross-referencing this book's material with old textbooks I was able to get through chapter 5 OK, but I hit a wall when I got to the material on numerical solutions to partial differential equations in chapter six. My advice for scientists and engineers that need to know more about the atmosphere, meteorology, and the accompanying mathematics so that they can do some modeling but don't have the Ph.D. pedigree necessary to get the most out of this book might want to invest in two other particular volumes:
   1. "Meteorology Today : An Introduction to Weather, Climate, and the Environment" by Ahrens. It is well-written and easy to read. Plus, it splits the difference between science-fair style books written for high schoolers and terse texts that read like a Ph.D. thesis. Buy it used without the CD or Infotrak and save yourself some money though!
   2. "Meteorology for Scientists and Engineers : A Technical Companion Book to C. Donald Ahrens' Meteorology Today" by Stull. It provides the mathematical equations needed for a higher level of understanding of meteorology. The organization is mapped directly to the Ahrens book, and it contains detailed math and physics that expand upon concepts presented in Ahrens' text, as well as numerous solved problems.
   Amazon does not have the table of contents for the latest edition of Jacobson's book, so I show that here:
   1 Introduction
   2 Atmospheric structure, composition, and thermodynamics
   3 The continuity and thermodynamic energy equations
   4 The momentum equation in Cartesian & spherical coordinates
   5 Vertical-coordinate conversions
   6 Numerical solutions to partial differential equations
   7 Finite-differencing the equations of atmospheric dynamics
   8 Boundary-layer and surface processes
   9 Radiative energy transfer
   10 Gas-phase species, chemical reactions, and reaction rates
   11 Urban, free-tropospheric, and stratospheric chemistry
   12 Methods of solving chemical ODE's
   13 Particle components, size distributions, and size structures
   14 Aerosol emission and nucleation
   15 Coagulation
   16 Condensation, evaporation, deposition, and sublimation
   17 Chemical equilibrium and dissolution processes
   18 Cloud thermodynamics and dynamics
   19 Irreversible aqueous chemistry
   20 Sedimentation, dry deposition, and air-sea exchange
   21 Model design, application, and testing

5 comments about Taken for a Ride: Detroit's Big Three and the Politics of Air Pollution.

1. Very thorough and indisputable account of the damage the auto industry has done to our health and environment by colluding and fighting environmental regulations through the years and withholding cleaner technology. Based on actual congressional records, trial transcripts, local government transcripts and other documentation. It describes how the companies lied, colluded and in some cases were found guilty, but yet have been able to continue to pollute. It doesn't read like a novel and can get wordy, but it is eye opening. This should be reading 101 for those congress people who are only listening to the car industries side of the story.

   At the very end, the book also ponders the idea of litigation. Unlike tobacco, people don't have a choice in the air they breathe. I could see that some states might want to re-coup cost for asthma treatment and other illnesses created by the car industries smog.

   As a couple side notes: I have personally seen the Chairman of the Air resources board for California with this book in hand. Right now the Car companies are continuing to fight Zev(Zero Emission Vehicle) mandates in several states. The shame is their arguments today read like chapters from this book in which the quotes are from the 1960's. Remember when they told us that putting in air bags would kill the car industry? That was 1982.




2. Every objection I can raise about this book is a problem with the subject, not the text. Doyle covers a long, repetitive and monotonously depressing subject accurately and in ample detail -- the fact that it's so hard to get through is mostly because the history it covers was just that way -- long, repetitive and depressing, as the American automakers sandbag every attempt to get them to clean up their product lines for fifty years.

   Doyle writes clearly, and does ample research -- every tenuous claim is backed by multiple source citations, every statistic can be identified for its source. While the page count is very high, a significant chunk of the book is bibliographical material, supporting data, references, etc.

   The only thing I wanted more of in the book was technical detail; Doyle only does minimal explanation of how and why the technologies discussed in the book work.

   The book is not without bias -- nor does it claim to be; most of the praise quotations on the back are from environmental groups, for example. Doyle clearly believes the Big Three to be disingenous and obstructive, but he never degenerates into baser accusations of avarice or malice. He attempts to cover events inside the Big Three whenever they're relevant, which I especially appreciated.




3. If people ever wondered why so many people dont buy American anymore, let this book be a testament. Routinely the Big Three are dragged kicking and screaming into the most minute and painless regulations. The book can become somewhat pedantic, and sometimes the author jumps time periods suddently. But overall it stands as one of the most scathing indictments of some of the most consitently immoral institutions that routinely place profits above public health. Maybe if car companies took the more than one hundred million dollars a year on lobbyists that they spend into developing better engines we'd be better off. Moreover the book expertly shows how the corporate world and that of Washington are intertwined; sometimes butting heads and sometimes working alongside each other to kill progressive initiatives. The book can be so extremely detailed at points that it becomes painful, and the numerous abbreviations do not help. Luckily the author supplies a glossary and a timeline. OVerall, a worthy read for those who would like to see what "Americas" car companies have done and are up to today. (If you can call them that).



4. "Since the end of World War II, the American automobile industry has had numerous opportunities to capture the economic and environmental high ground of building better cars and trucks. Yet at least once a decade over the last fifty years, Detroit's best and brightest missed the mark. GM, Ford, and Chrysler repeatedly missed economic opportunity, missing becoming technological leaders, and missed the change to cast their products and companies into an entirely different political light."
   
   "Detroit failed to pick up the mantle of automotive leadership not because GM, Ford, or Chrysler lacked ability or technology, but rather, because they were too comfortable to change, were reluctant to take risks, refused to innovate, and lacked meaningful competition to make them perform any differently." During the golden years, 1950 through 1960s, GM, Ford, Chrysler accounted for 95 percent of the vehicles sold.
   
   Japan became the world's largets automaker in 1980 after Americans discovered these foreign imports were fuel efficient and high quality. The Japanese cars were a product of solving problems associated directly with engine design and driveline technology. Japanese engines were built from the "ground up" using home grown engineers capable of thinking about tough fuel efficiency issues. Quality improved and processes streamlined. The Japanese used time without waste and implement robotic automation giving them time to learn how to manage the technology.
   
   "The modern era of front-wheel drive automobiles began in the 1950s in Europe. British Motor Corporation built ... the Morris Mini, a small car that utilized a fuel-efficient transverse engine - a sideways-mounted engine place over a front-wheel drive system." Front wheel drive was more fuel efficient, space saving, and reduced weight by eliminating the drive shaft, large rear axle, and rear suspension. Front wheel drive vehicles were quieter, smoother, and offered better handling. "These cars did not enter production line until April 1979, as America entered the second energy crisis."
   
   An another key technology relevant to fuel efficiency and emissions is fuel injection. In 1954, Mercedes Benz 300 SL proved fuel injection was better; having taken the technology from the airplane technology. "A fuel injector, by comparison is more elegant and more efficient, spraying the fuel more precisely direction into each cylinder." "After the energy shocks of the 1970s, Detroit began working on fuel injection." "Even into the 1990s, Detroit was still diverting precious engine R&D into power, not fuel economy." The EPA reported that 0 to 60 acceleration, since 1986, is up 19 percent, average weight up 20 percent. Fuel economy, meanwhile, fell by 7 percent." Quality costs, in 1992, GM spent $3 billion on warranty repairs, or about $829 a vehicle in the US."
   
   "The Big three had said in order to pass the ULEV standard, cars would have to burn an ultra-clean fuel, like natural gas, which would boost the cost of cars by $2,000 or more compared to gasoline models." "Honda, however, had certified it Accord with no such caveat. Honda met the ULEV standard by adding $200 to $300 in new emission hardware - essentially a beefed up catalytic converter moved closer to the engine so it would heat up faster. Honda also became the first automaker to begin selling gasoline-powered cars under the LEV standard in October 1995," Honda has spent 100 million in advertising to promote cleaner car brand. Honda desired a cleaner engine and working on ways to cut pollution emitted. In 1971, the "Compound Vortex Controlled Combustion engine", CVCC gave Honda the capable to satisfy US Clearn Air Act emission standards. Soichiro Honda said, "At our company, let us try to clean up the exhaust gases inside the engine itself without relaying on catalytic converters." and that is exact what CVCC does. What the engine did was essential burn the fuel twice, pre-burn a portion of the fuel in a smaller chamber followed by a second burn within the cylinder. "It prolonged the burning of the gasoline air mixture, burning out more of the impurities." The N-600 came in at 42 miles per gallon and the Honda civic followed. In 1977, Honda civic CVCC was ranked first in fuel economy of all models by the EPA. Honda CRX-HF was the first vehicle to break the 50 mpg barrier. Politician, Senator Richard Bryan opposed a 4 percent mileage improvement for CAFÉ, saying, "We do not believe consumers are ready to accept such a big change in vehicle size and performance, especially when accompanied by prices increase which are inevitable." Crazy talk. Detroit counter back that the fuel efficient engines would only work in small vehicles. "If Honda would introduce in the mid-size Accord an engine that showed an improvement of 6 miles per gallon, or about 20 percent, in EPA tests, that would really get my attention as an engineer" says David Cole.
   GM's geo mater built by Suzuki for GM was the highest mileage car sold in the US, rated at 53 city and 58 highway. "Yet as tighter CAFÉ standards in the US market seemed increasingly less likely given the continued blockage in Congress, Honda quietly backed away from some of its most fuel-efficient models." In 1995 Honda pulled its 56 mpg Civic VX from the market and GM back away from its high mileage metro.
   
   Honda Insight was a "pumped up three cylinder 1.0 liter direct-injection gasoline engine, an ultra capacitor capable of storing and delivering electric power faster than a battery, a continuously variable transmission, regenerative braking, and other features. This Honda prototype achieved a 70 miles per gallon fuel economy."
   
   1997, Honda unveiled its 2.3 liter, four cylinder Honda Accord ULEV engine, Honda added high-tech variable valve timing, new computer controls, and a new dual function catalytic converter. The Honda ZLEV registered reduced smog producing hydrocarbons 0.004 grams/mile verse .04 g/mile and .25 g/mile for average car.
   
   1998, Honda unveiled a two-sea, lightweight aluminum vehicle meeting California ULEV standard. The new hybrid had a small small three-cylinder ICE, nickel metal hydride battery, and capable of 600 miles per tank full. The car weighted 1,700 pounds with an EPA mileage of 61 mpg city and 70 mpg highway.



5. L.A. began to experience smog in 1942; by 1950 a California Institute of Technology professor had laboratory results proving that autos and refineries were the main culprits. Bit oil's response was to hire Stanford Research Institute to research (dispute) his findings. As public opinion intensified, oil companies then tried to shift the blame to autos.
   
   The auto industry then resisted, insisting on definitive proof. In 1957 when this was provided, they then insisted smog was a problem peculiar to the L.A. area. By 1963, even this was well refuted.
   
   And on and on it goes - any improvement in smog, safety, or fuel economy was fiercely resisted on the basis of high costs - even though initial significant improvements cost as little as $10 (the PCV valve) or less (retarding the spark - known since the Model T). Meanwhile, Detroit was wasting untold billions through inefficient production practices, when compared with the Toyota Production System.
   
   Bottom Line: I suspect the auto industry has contributed far more to America's fuelishness etc. than we'll ever know.

2 comments about America Town: Building the Outposts of Empire.

1. As an American who has been affiliated with a few overseas military installations, I hoped that this book would deal with the sociocultural aspects of plopping thousands of middleclass Americans down in a different country and then tailoring their environment to make it seem as though they are still in Virginia or Illinois. America Town exceeded my expectations, as it provided a lot of new information that helped me to better understand some of the experiences I had in Asia, Western Europe, and The Med.
   I would say that this is a "niche" book, so if you are not curious about how the US designs its overseas military bases or have not lived on one, then you might find this either unbelievable or boring.
   Given our current controversial empire building in the Mideast, however, the way this book provides a history of how nations have always designed their occupations and then connects it to America would also appeal to anyone interested in geo-politics.



2. This book has missed the mark. What is written is not factual. For example, it is stated the LPP was signed after a tank incident when in fact it was signed 3 months before that accident. It is stated that China occupied Korea from 1639 to 1895, while the Mongols occupied Korea once and Japan occupied Korea twice China never occupied Korea. Another thing for example he talks interchangeably about Okinawa and Japan, while they are not one in the same. He talks about the US and its hold on Okinawa but never criticizes that Japan occupies Okinawa. It is indeed a separate nation and nationality from Japan. Many other issues stated as facts are wrong or inaccurate.
   
   The author never lived at any of these places and could never know what it's truly like to be a local citizen or a US citizen stationed there. Finally I thought that the author might have some ideas as to how to fix the problems that he mentioned but he doesn't. It's just 300 pages of how the US has treated other countries so poorly. If I didn't know better, I would think he was paid by some Korean and Japanese citizens to write the book.

3 comments about Frame, Stem & Keel Repair (The Woodenboat Series).

1. For anyone contemplating buying an old (or newer) wooden boat, this book should be required reading. It provides the basic understanding of how wooden boats are constructed and details repair and restoration of the heart of the wooden boat. The book is written for both the novice and experienced boat owner.



2. For those of us who are not professional wooden boat builders this is an excellent book. Assuming that each boat repair we would make has a number of variables that are possible, including time and budget restraints, then this book is an invaluable collection of articles by professionals contemplating and then making those same repairs. I also purchased and referenced heavily while making repairs the Planking and Fastening book as well and highly recommend a thorough reading of both before you begin your repairs. Good luck!



3. I have used the Woodenboat Series publications in conjunction with woodworking and boat building seminars, and find they compliment the course work well and usually provide additional information. I am not experienced enough to use these manuals without a seminar presentation, but I think experienced boat builders could use these as stand-alone instruction.

2 comments about Complete Guide To Outboard Engines.

1. This book provides a good overview over HOW an outboard works. However, if you don't have a good grasp of technical terms and an engine manual, much of the learning in this book is hard to use. Detailed diagrams and a longer list of defined terms would make this book a 5-star effort.



2. This is a very readable book and would be usefull to anyone that owns a two stroke engine of any kind. Theory and "how these things actually work" are both explained in a very easy to understand fasion. I enjoyed this book very much and will add it to my reference library. I was already familiar with four stroke engines and learned a lot from this book. I purchased this book because I bought two stroke outboard for my boat. I then purchased the Mercury Marine technical manual for my motor. Fleming's book was the perfect prerequisite to the Mercury manual because it provides the theoretical background that makes the Mercury manual meaningful.

1 comments about An Introduction to Atmospheric Radiation, Volume 84, Second Edition (International Geophysics).

1. Good book for both undergrads and grads. also helpful as a reference book for researchers.

3 comments about Preliminary Design of Boats and Ships.

1. Cy Hamlin is a designer with a broad range of designs to his credit - from the Hudson river sloop Clearwater to the Controversy series which he co-designed with Farnham Butler. In Preliminary Design of Boats and Ships he has written a very clear and sensibly organized treatise on his approach to the design process.

   In addition to his work as a designer Cy Hamlin has taught design to students at the Landing School of Boatbuilding and Design for many years. The text has been informed by this experience. The basic terminology, physics, mathematics, construction details, and aesthetics relating to boat design are described with enough detail and clarity that any one with a pencil, ruler, calculator and clean sheet of paper can create a preliminary design in which all the basic parameters of the boat are defined.

   This is a great reference book for amateur designers, design students, and curious boat owners.




2. This book is mainly written for the general people who have no any basic ideal in ship hydrodynamics.



3. This book is filled with the 'rules of thumb' a boat or ship designer uses to create a new design. The idea is to develop the design to the point where it will function at all levels. The 'rules of thumb' are clearly developed and include the significance of each one. The book takes you through the design process, balancing each feature against others until a complete preliminary design emerges.
   
   The next step in the design process, though not covered by the book, would be detailed design. This is where serious mathematics, hydrodynamics and so forth would be used. Cyrus Hamlin does not go into these more advanced aspects of boat and ship design. Besides the physics and math being beyond most folks, many hundreds of pages would be needed for even a cursory review of detail design, so this is a good thing.
   
   I am a Professional Yacht Designer and a Naval Architect and refer to this book fairly regularly. I also recommend it to customers and associates who are interested in yacht design. They usually find the book informative and helpful. It does a very good job of explaining the inter-related aspect of design and allows one to quickly realize what is practical and what is not.