Product Description
Ontologies provide a common vocabulary of an area and define - with different levels of formality - the meaning of the terms and the relationships between them. Ontologies may be reused and shared across applications and groups Concepts in the ontology are usually organized in taxonomies and relations between concepts, properties of concepts, and axioms are typically used for representing the knowledge contained in ontologies. With the growth of information available, e.g. on the WWW, they are popularly applied in knowledge management, semantic web, natural language generation, enterprise modelling, knowledge-based systems, ontology-based brokers, e-commerce platforms and interoperability between systems. This book looks at questions such as: * What is an ontology? * What are the uses of ontologies? * What types of ontologies exist? What are the most well-known ones? * How do I select the best ontology for my application? * What are the principles for building an ontology? * What methodologies should I use to build my own ontology? Which techniques are appropriate for each step? * How do software tools support the process of building and using ontologies? * What language can I use to implement ontologies? * How can I integrate ontologies in a given language? The book presents the theoretical foundations of ontological engineering and covers the practical aspects of selecting and applying methodologies, tools and languages for building ontologies. The applications of ontologies are also illustrated with case studies taken from the areas of knowledge management, e-commerce and the semantic web. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

worthwhile
There is considerable confusion over what is, and is not, an ontology. Unfortunately, in defining an ontology, this book doesn't provide any negative examples, meaning that confusion will most likely persist. Hopefully this shortcoming will be addressed in a future edition. That said, the book is nevertheless a valuable contribution to the field.

Complicated, Boring, and Irrelevant
The subject matter is much too complex, does not follow a logical order, is a slow and arduous read, and is not practical.

This book was the subject of a book club where I and a small group of software engineers wanted to learn more about ontologies. Most of the members of the group had some experience with ontology languages. In each one-hour lunch session, we were not able to discuss more than 10 pages at a time due to the complexity of the writing and the subject matter. We finally gave up and none of us has finished the book. Although we read over half of the book before giving up, we gained no practical knowledge from it whatsoever.

how to automatically extract an ontology?
The book shows progress in how ontologies are defined from various data sets. The subject is a natural field of artificial intelligence, in attempting to automated this filling of an ontology. Various example ontologies are presented, along with the markup languages like RDF and OWL in which these are expressed. The progress is visible, inasmuch as just a few years ago, these languages were devised. Now we see non-trivial ontology constructions using them. Good.

A large portion of the book describes the acute problem of somehow extracting meaning in a programmatic manner from data. Because the manual making of an ontology simply does not seem to scale, given the realities of gigabyte databases. We see that there is a natural decomposition of the problem into a linguistic step and a conceptual step. The former is tied to a particular human language. The latter is the nut of the problem. Current methods look promising, but are certainly not the last word.

Excellent survey book on Ontology
The book is well organized in introducing the subject in a coherent manner and weaving in all important criteria of ontology together. I especially like to read the comparison of different languagees in light of knowlege represenation and knowlege reasoing.The book is great in terms of getting a broad view (survey) and is also great as a reference.In many pages, there is so much information packed in each sentences.Great book.

A good literature review of current developments
The word `ontology' is usually associated with philosophical speculation on the reality of things, and if one checks the literature on philosophy one will find a diverse number of opinions on this reality. Engineers and scientists typically view philosophical musings on any topic as being impractical, and indulging oneself in these musings will cause one to lose sight of the topic or problem at hand. Rather than simplify the problem and make it understandable, philosophy tends in most cases to complicate it by endless debate on definitions and the use of sophisticated rhetoric that seems to have no bearing on the problem at hand. The conceptual spaces generated by these debates can become gigantic and therefore unwieldy, thus making the problem appear more complex than it actually is.

In the information age however, ontology has become a word that has taken on enormous practical significance. Business and scientific research are both areas that have increasingly relied on information technology not only to organize information but also to analyze data and make accurate predictions. In addition, financial constraints have forced many businesses to automate most of their internal processes, and this automation has brought about its own unique challenges. This push to automation usually involves being able to differentiate one thing from another, or one collection of data from another, or one concept from another. Thus one needs to think about questions of ontology, and this (very practical) need has brought about the rise of the field of `ontological engineering', which is the topic of this book.

The authors have given a good general overview of the different approaches to the creation of ontologies. There are many of them, some of which seem "natural", while others seem more esoteric. The reader though will obtain an objective discussion of the ontologies that the authors chose to include in the book. Discussions of the ones that are not included can readily be found on the Internet.

Given the plethora of ontologies that have been invented, it would be of interest to the ontological engineer to find common ground between them. The re-use of a particular ontology may be stymied by the different ontological commitments it is adhering to or it's actual content. In order to use it, it must therefore be "re-engineered". The authors discuss this prospect in the book, and define `ontological re-engineering' as the process where a conceptual model of an implemented ontology is transformed into one that is more suitable. The code in which the ontology is written is first reverse engineered, and then the conceptual model is reorganized into the new one. The new conceptual model is then implemented.

Also discussed in the book, and of enormous practical interest, is the automation of the ontology building process. Called `ontology learning' by the authors, they discuss a few of the ways in which this could take place. One of these methods concerns ontology learning using a `corpus of texts', and involves being able to distinguish between the `linguistic' and `conceptual' levels. Knowledge at the linguistic level is described in linguistic terms, while at the conceptual level in terms of concepts and the relations between them. Ontology learning is thus dependent on how the linguistic structures are exemplified in the conceptual level. Relations at the conceptual level for example could be extracted from sequences of words in the text that conform to a certain pattern. Another method comes from data mining and involves the use of association rules to find relations between concepts. The authors discuss two well-known methods for ontology learning from texts. Both of these methods are interesting in that they can apparently learn in contexts or environments that are not domain-specific. Being able to learn over different domains is very important from the standpoint of the artificial intelligence community and these methods are a step in that direction. The processes of `alignment', `merging', and `cooperative construction' of ontologies that are discussed in the book are also of great interest in artificial intelligence, since they too will be of assistance in the attempt to design a machine that can reason over multiple domains.

The ontologies that are actually built are of course not unique. This results in a kind of semantic or cognitive relativism between the environments that might be built on different ontologies, even in the same domain. Merging and alignment both address this relativism, along with other techniques that are discussed in the book. The selection of the actual language that is used to create an ontology is also somewhat arbitrary. The authors devote a fair amount of space in the book to the different languages that have been used to build ontologies. Through an elementary example, they discuss eleven different languages, namely KIF, Ontolingua, LOOM, OCML, Flogic, SHOE, XOL, RDF(S), OIL, DAML+OIL, and OWL. The choice of a language is dictated by what one is seeking in terms of `expressiveness' and what kind of reasoning patterns are to be deployed when using the ontology. The authors point to a tradeoff between the expressive power of the language and the reasoning patterns that are attached to the language. The expressiveness of a language is directly proportional to the complexity of the reasoning patterns that are used.

Ontological engineering as it presently exists is still carried out by a human engineer. To create an ontology every time from scratch would be tedious, and so it is no surprise that tools were invented to make ontology creation more straightforward. Some of these tools are discussed in the book, such as KAON, OilEd, Ontolingua, OntoSaurus, Protege-2000, WebODE, and WebOnto, along with assessments as to their utility. The discussion is helpful for newcomers to ontological engineering who need guidance as to what direction to take. The automation of ontology building would of course be a major advance.To accomplish this however would require that the machine be able to simultaneously and recursively construct the knowledge base and reason over it effectively. This is a formidable challenge indeed. ... Read more

Product Description
The third edition of Engineering Mechanics: Statics written by nationally regarded authors Andrew Pytel and Jaan Kiusalaas, provides students with solid coverage of material without the overload of extraneous detail. The extensive teaching experience of the authorship team provides first-hand knowledge of the learning skill levels of today?s student which is reflected in the text through the pedagogy and the tying together of real world problems and examples with the fundamentals of Engineering Mechanics. Designed to teach students how to effectively analyze problems before plugging numbers into formulas, students benefit tremendously as they encounter real life problems that may not always fit into standard formulas. This book was designed with a rich, concise, two-color presentation and has a stand alone Study Guide which includes further problems, examples, and case studies. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Extreme in some cases, lacking in others
This is an excellent workbook.I refuse to call it a textbook, since it functions better as a source for homework problems (it fails there in some cases, too).There is little in explanation, in addition, the chapters follow a confusing order in which one chapter doesn't build on the chapter before.We like to cover the basics before talking about specific cases involving trusses, friction, and 3d equilibrium.This book does not do that.It likes to cover 2d first, then cover everything in 3d, including centroids, and center of mass/gravity at the end of the course.

Besides an inconsistant flow of material, a good 75% of the problems are not usable, either because they are too complicated at this level or are inappropriate for the material at hand.Thankfully, this book is designed so that every problem does not have to be solved by the student and still understand the material.

All problems in the application chapters are real-world, and the 25% that work, work well.They do the job, and as some student have put it, are enjoyable to work with.

It takes a caring engineering mechanics department and staff to get this book to work in the classroom.When it works, it's the best workbook available.If the students are set out on their own however, expect means in the high 50s.It's one of those books.

this book is very good for ours students
I study the book of pytel t think this book is very good for our study of statics. but we have a trouble to solve the problum. if we have the exact solution we can study more easily and speeding if you have any solutiondata give me the list of solutionthank you ps : past email hope ... Read more

Product Description
Competitive Engineering documents Tom Gilb's unique, ground-breaking approach to communicating management objectives and systems engineering requirements, clearly and unambiguously.

Competitive Engineering is a revelation for anyone involved in management and risk control. Already used by thousands of project managers and systems engineers around the world, this is a handbook for initiating, controlling and delivering complex projects on time and within budget. The Competitive Engineering methodology provides a practical set of tools and techniques that enable readers to effectively design, manage and deliver results in any complex organization - in engineering, industry, systems engineering, software, IT, the service sector and beyond.

Elegant, comprehensive and accessible, the Competitive Engineering methodology provides a practical set of tools and techniques that enable readers to effectively design, manage and deliver results in any complex organization - in engineering, industry, systems engineering, software, IT, the service sector and beyond.

* Provides detailed, practical and innovative coverage of key subjects including requirements specification, design evaluation, specification quality control and evolutionary project management
* Offers a complete, proven and meaningful 'end-to-end' process for specifying, evaluating, managing and delivering high quality solutions
* Tom Gilb's clients include HP, Intel, CitiGroup, IBM, Nokia and the US Department of Defense ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Looking For Requirements Development Examples
I was looking for a book on requirements development and found this book to be on topic, but not a bulls-eye.I would have liked more in-depth examples, as the provided ones just touched the surface.However, I did find the book thought provoking and thus a 4 star rating.

Specifically, I found the various requirement-development templates that were provided as a good means of collecting thoughts around requirement topics.In my attempts to apply the templates, they helped refine my thoughts as to the issues surrounding requirements development.

The book refers to the author's web site for further information and examples.I'd give that site a 2 ½ star rating, as the information there was rougher information than provided in the book.

I'd recommend this book for anyone contemplating requirement development.The reader is left to generate their own examples.

Packed with great info!
Planguage is a word and concept that combines Planning and LANGUAGE and is rooted in the author's experience since 1960. The core tenant of Competitive Engineering is that well structured specifications have a dramatic cost reduction over down-stream error correction. The defect prevention process (DPP) is used to clean up early stages specs, or preferably measure defects and motivate lower defect injection, in specifications and the attendant issues instead of relying solely on defect detection andcorrection once actual development has begun. Competitive Engineering provides focus and skills to dramatically increase how productive many of us have been in the past.

The centrality of quality specifications means significant gains for the broadest spectrum of stake-holders who stand to win with the System Of Interest (SOI). Take this specification as an example to clean up:

"The new system will use Foo language running on OS Bar and ensure top industry quality response time on web requests."

People in the field have seen specs like these. Hopefully you aren't writing them. There are what Gilb classifies as "Major defects" in this spec. Which web requests, the front page or all of them pulling from the various databases? Can the old system be incrementally upgraded instead of an entirely new development environment? Why use Foo and Bar if something else gets the job done better, faster, and with less resource utilization? Just how fast is "fast", anyway?

In Competitive Engineering you're told to get measureable quality requirements, record who requested that requirement, and exactly what "success" is defined as. That allows you to go back to the requester with notes such as "If we use OS Baz we'll get a 27% increase in CPU performance" and let them make a decision or escalate to the project funder. You're also encouraged to weed out "design constraints"; at least out of the mandatated and into the labelled area "Design Constraint". Wouldn't it be great if you got a specification that let you design the best you could without technical input from someone that can't use a web-browser?

See if you can understand my re-write of the above spec into Planguage.

Response Time on Front Page of Company Website.

Type:Performance Requirement
Version: 1.2
Status:Draft
Owner: F. Flintstone

Stakeholders: Marketing, Server Support, Corporate Intelligence, ,

Ambition: The front page of the corporate website should respond fast enough to keep the viewer's attention.

Description: Marketing research indicates the typical business website viewer makes an opinion on the website, and thus the company, within 20 seconds. Our corporate site pulls data from three different databases and a sizeable image library, taking an average of 26.87 seconds on a home DSL/Cable modem equivalent network. Marketing advantage can be gained if we can grab viewer attention noticibly faster than our two nearest competitors who average 23.43 and 26.09 seconds, respectively.

Vision:Enough accurate information provided quickly enough to keep the customer on our site.

Scale: Time, in Seconds, to a complete front page load on the equivalent of a 250K network connection.

Past [Front page, 1 Apr 07]: 26.87 seconds

Goal [1 November 07]: 19 seconds<- Marketing Director: BR

Stretch: 15 seconds

Wish:9 seconds

Design Constraint: Supportability <- Server Support Manager WFMust utilize .

Design Constraint: Security <- Corporate Intelligence BBMust meet .

------------------------ end of spec example --------------------

Probably the only thing that might confuse you about that specification is the use of text within "<...>". Planguage uses that to denote a "fuzzy requirement"; something that is defined but not with the concreteness you'd like. In this example, however, it would be relatively simple to query B. Rubble for the specific guidelines her team seeks to enforce. The use of fuzzy requirements also allows for change over time; more OS versions may become supported while others are obsolete.

When I read part of an electronic copy of the text I had a problem. My antiquated home printer could not print it and if I used the work printer I view the output as a possession of my employer. The book is written as part instruction, part reference manual; I bought my own copy because I know I'm going to use it for the next few years and several employers.

Excellent Systems Engineering Book
This is one the books which has caused a great impression on me. It helps to get away from high-level, gut-feeling, fuzzy goals and descriptions to very concrete targets, unambiguous requirements and rational decisions. This strikes a chord at the heart of systems design and architecture, which consists in maximizing a set of business goals with limited resources (time, budget, personnel). I highly recommend it.

It's a very good book.
Building software systems is not easy, this book can help you to do a better job.

Best Practices in Systems Engineering and Management
My interest in the topic of competitive engineering (CE) was piqued several years ago when I heard very favorable comments about Tom Gilb's tutorial on that subject at the INCOSE 2002 Symposium in Las Vegas.

The book's subtitle is "A Handbook for Systems Engineering, Requirements Engineering, and Software Engineering Using Planguage". The term "Planguage" is central to an understanding of the book. Planguage, which is derived from a union of "plan" and "language", is the methodology for implementing CE. Much of the book is devoted to describing the generalized processes, rules, and vocabulary of Planguage. Tom notes, "Planguage should be viewed as a powerful way to develop and implement strategies that will help your projects to deliver the required competitive results." Fundamentally, the book presents a new take on best practices in systems engineering and management.

The book is useful on several levels. For organizations without a formal or documented process, tailoring of Planguage would jump start the process at a high level of maturity. For organizations that have achieved CMMI level 3 status, Planguage by itself is not as useful. However, many of the ideas of CE-the Planguage methods-are worth considering for enhancement of existing organizational processes. Tom states that CE is "about technological management, risk control, and breakthrough improvement in complex business systems, projects, and processes." CE is a believable approach for delivering complex projects on time and within budget.

The book passed my value-added test, when I realized that I was photocopying several pages for future reference, to be part of my "toolkit" of helpful tips and techniques. I particularly enjoyed reading the 10 often witty, summary principles in each chapter. Two examples are:

* The Principle of `Storage of Wisdom':"If your people are not all experienced or geniuses, You need to store their hard-earned wisdom in your defined process. Capture wisdom for reuse, Fail to write it, that's abuse!"

* The Principle of `The early bird catches the worm':"Your customers will be happier with an early long-term stream of their priority improvements, than years of promises, culminating in late disaster."

About 30% of the book is the Planguage Concept Glossary, which Tom views as a central contribution of the book. I focused my attention on the other, more interesting, parts of the book, which describe the main CE/Planguage methods of Requirement Specification (RS), Design Engineering (DE), Impact Estimation (IE), Specification Quality Control (SQC), and Evolutionary Project Management (EVO, also known as Evo). RS describes an approach for identifying all types of requirements while avoiding ambiguity and also planning for change. Functional and performance requirements are distinguished. DE deals with identifying, choosing, and prioritizing the order in which design ideas are implemented and delivered. In conjunction with Evo, DE selects the design ideas most likely to provide a significant benefit for early delivery.

SQC is an eminently practical approach for evaluating the quality of any technical document via sampling measurements. An hour of SQC early in a project can save almost 10 hours of rework. SQC also provides a means to assess the success of process improvement efforts. IE provides a realistic method for evaluating-in quantitative terms-the effectiveness of designs in meeting both the requirements, especially critical performance attributes, and the resource budgets.

Evo focuses on early, frequent delivery of project results via a series of high-value, small evolutionary steps. An ideal Evo approach would divide the project into a series of cycles. Each cycle would consume 2-5% of the total financial budget and 2-5% of the total project time-while delivering some measurable, required results to the stakeholders. The next cycle is selected to deliver the best stakeholder value for its cost (highest ratio of value to cost, or highest ratio of performance to cost). Although an ideal approach can't always be realized, Tom provides some convincing examples to argue that there is always a solution to making a project evolutionary (small steps with critical deliveries first).

Perseverance pays off with Competitive Engineering. The book is not a quick read, which Tom acknowledges. You have to carefully study some of the pages to understand the concepts being presented. The reward occurs when you glean the nuggets of wisdom from the numerous practical examples, case studies, and Planguage examples. Tom's way of presenting the CE concepts makes the book a useful addition to the systems engineer's library.
... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in the fall of 1983, Braja M. Das' Seventh Edition of PRINCIPLES OF FOUNDATION ENGINEERING continues to maintain the careful balance of current research and practical field applications that has made it the leading text in foundation engineering courses. Featuring a wealth of worked-out examples and figures that help students with theory and problem-solving skills, the book introduces civil engineering students to the fundamental concepts and application of foundation analysis design. Throughout, Das emphasizes the judgment needed to properly apply the theories and analysis to the evaluation of soils and foundation design as well as the need for field experience. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Honest Seller
These guys sent me the book in the exact shape that they said it was in. It didnt come until the very last allowable day for it to arrive, but I guess that is nothing to complain about because no promises were broken.

Foundations Textbook
This book is a great text on foundations.There are a few typos in the book.

Foundation Engineering by Das 7th edition
This book came to me in perfect physical condition so no complaints with that process.My complaint lies within the content of the book.I have noticed that there are way to many mistakes in the book. Especially in the problems at the end of each chapter and the answers they give in the back of the book. You can never trust the answer they put in the back of the book because on several occations I have found the answer to be wrong.Not only that, the graphical representations and charts are way to cluttered and appear to have several examples in one figure.All of the graphs need grid lines because they are all difficult to read.

Boring
The book is only a mix of equations whith no explanations. I rather prefer the classical soil mechanics books where the topic is better explained.

Careful Balance Of Current Research And Practical Field
"..... this book maintains the CAREFUL BALANCE OF CURRENT RESEARCH AND PRACTICAL FIELD applications that has made it a leading text in foundation engineering courses throughout the country and internationally....."
[from the book of the back cover] ... Read more

Product Description
The first book that explains why managing engineering is more difficult, more demanding and more important than managing any other human activity in modern society. It explains how, by adhering to the principles taught by Peter F. Drucker in his landmark book "The Practice of Management", managers can exploit the full potentials of their peoples’ talents and of changing technologies, methods and markets. It brings together the whole range of methods used by the world's best performing engineering companies, including research, design, development, testing, production and maintenance. The philosophy and methods for achieving excellence in quality and reliability are fully described. The book offers fresh insights into a wide range of current engineering management issues, including education, MBA training, quality and safety standards and the roles of institutions, cultures and governments in engineering. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Engineering Management- A Philosophy
The work starts out with a history of engineering management and then moves on toward what is and can go wrong with the management process.It emphasizes the roles of engineers from entry level, on to senior level and then to management where management gets little training in that skill, yet is asked to manage nonetheless.

Among many tasks managers should mentor and train junior managers and because of many pressures, i.e., time to market, downsizing, etc. there is little time allowed for this activity.Engineers often do not get the benefits of their senior colleagues.This management weakness falls on all forms of engineering from design to manufacturing.

The work advises that managers should understand what is working and what is not and to develop the new tools to better run an engineering department. ... Read more

Product Description

This text covers the basic techniques and applications of engineering economy for all disciplines in the engineering profession.

The writing style emphasizes brief, crisp coverage of the principle or technique discussed in order to reduce the time taken to present and grasp the essentials.

The objective of the text is to explain and demonstrate the principles and techniques of engineering economic analysis as applied in different fields of engineering.This brief text includes coverage of multiple attribute evaluation for instructors who want to include non-economic dimensions in alternative evaluation and the discussion of risk considerations in the appendix, compared to Blanks comprehensive text, where these topics are discussed in two unique chapters. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

On time
Was sent very quikly and the book i needed.In good condition and sent on time.

it's so so
I used this book for one of my engineering classes. They have good questions, but their description is kind of confusing. Overall, it's a good textbook to use.

Easy to understand book for beginner
This is my first economic class I took in my MS. This book helps a lot to explain the complicated thing and make it easy to understand. The example and the questions are helpful.

Textbook
This book does not explain the concepts very well.The questions at the end of each chapter are difficult to follow based on what was covered in the chapter. ... Read more

Product Description
Rizzoni's Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering provides a solid overview of the electrical engineering discipline that is especially geared toward the many non-electrical engineering students who take this course. The book was developed to fit the growing trend of the Intro to EE course morphing into a briefer, less comprehensive course.

The hallmark feature of this text is its liberal use of practical applications to illustrate important principles. The applications come from every field of engineering and feature exciting technologies. The appeal to non-engineering students are the special features such as Focus on Methodology sections and Make the Connections sidebars. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

WOST BOOK EVER USED IN EE
THIS BOOK IS SIMPLY THE WORST BOOK I HAVE EVER USED. NO EXPLANATION OF THE MATERIAL AND THE MINIMUM EXAMPLE PROBLEMS JUST DON'T MAKE ANY SENSE. WASTED MY MONEY ON THIS ONE. THE AUTHOR NEEDS TO STOP WRITING ANY MORE BOOKS, HE OBVIOUSLYIS GARBAGE. WILL NEVER BUY ANY TEXTS FROM THIS AUTHOR. I TOTALLY DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS BOOK FOR ANY LEVEL ELECTRICAL ENGINEER.

best fundamentals text
This is the most intuitive and well organized text on the subject i have ever reviewed.The online resources that accompany this book are well worth the price alone.I found that this edition is much more comprehenive and uptodate than any previous edition.I am glad to see that Mc Graw Hill has added so much work to keep up with developments in science. ... Read more

Product Description
The starting point in the formulation of any numerical problem is to take an intuitive idea about the problem in question and to translate it into precise mathematical language. This book provides step-by-step descriptions of how to formulate numerical problems so that they can be solved by existing software. It examines various types of numerical problems and develops techniques for solving them. A number of engineering case studies are used to illustrate in detail the formulation process. The case studies motivate the development of efficient algorithms that involve, in some cases, transformation of the problem from its initial formulation into a more tractable form. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

An excellent Book on Optimization
This book covers a complete set of important aspects in applied optimization. It can be of great value to beginners as well seasoned optimization practitioners. I find the formulation of the problems comprehensive and very useful. The mathematical notation is clear and easy to follow and the presentation is excellent including the figures which assist the reader in gaining further insights of the algorithms and the presented problems. It covers simple optimization problems for illustration purposes to explain fundamental concepts as well as useful "real world" enginnering problems for readers who are interested in actual problems.

In a nutshell, I strongly recommend this book to everyone who is interesting in the magic of optimization.

Solid book on optimization but wordy
Applied Optimization, first edition, Cambridge University Press, 2006

This review is based on my fondness for the practical side things.

I feel that the title is somewhat misleading. When I read the words "Applied Optimization" I expected there to be several worked out examples of "real" problems, perhaps with many figures and illustrations explaining them.
However, the author mainly works with a few select quadratic problems. These problems are carried over from the first chapters to the last ones, and in doing so they are solved by all the methods explained in the book. This is actually one of the strong points of the book, since the selection of quadratic problems on two variables makes it possible to graph the contour sets and graphically look at the solution. However, I don't consider this to be "applied" enough; it is basically studying the same problem, or small variations of it, from different angles.

It does include "real" problems, like least-cost production, and optimal power flow, but I find the description of these poor. It's impossible to understand these problems without knowing the theory beforehand. Therefore, the author should avoid explaining the problems and focus only on the optimization aspects.

In an attempt to be explicative, the book is too wordy for my taste; sometimes a lot is being said without any real progress being made. For instance, the author clarifies that "Q" in power systems is not the same "Q" as in "LQ" or "QR" factorizations. The Kirchhoff laws of electric circuits are explained *with words*, instead of the more natural approach of using circuit diagrams and a few equations, like any book on circuit analysis would do. The explaining and proving of theorems is also a waste of space for a book under the "applied" banner.

The first three parts seem like a lot of introductory material (definitions, theorems, linear equations, Newton-Raphson, basic minimization), while the more interesting material (constrained minimization, Lagrange multipliers, interior-point algorithms, real problems) is in the last two parts.

The book is nearly 750 pages long, but it also includes appendices (mathematical background, definitions, proofs) that can be downloaded from the editor's website. In contrast, some books on optimization are 600 pages or less long, appendices included.

The bibliography section at the end of the book is pretty complete. The author constantly cites his references and you can take a look at the books mentioned there if this one does not satisfy you.

As for the layout, it is a beautiful book typeset in LaTeX. It has consistent mathematical notation and crisp clean figures made in Matlab. The only weird thing to note is that for some reason the sectional headings are centered instead of aligned to the left.

In summary:
In order for the book to be an introductory text (1) it should be less verbose, (2) it should be more concise, and (3) it should present more worked out examples.
In order for the book to be an advanced text (1) it should be less verbose, and (2) it should cover more material in the same number of pages.

"Optimization" and "Art of Optimization"
The book covers the most important topics in applied optimization. The main focus of this book is how to formulate and transform optimization problems so that they can be solved by well-developed software. This aim has been achieved magnificently and skillfully.

The most important problem in applied optimization, I believe, is problem formulation, that is to translate the intuitive ideas into rigorous mathematics. The book has done an excellent job in explaining the process of formulating an optimization problem. It provides step-by-step descriptions that are very helpful and useful. A lot of good examples and exercises are illustrated, which can be used as templates to formulate many real engineering problems with minor revisions.

The second major issue in applied optimization is to reformulate an original optimization problem to its standard form, so that it can be directly solved by known software. This part is tough because it involves a lot of mathematics. But the author succeeds to solve it in a magic way. Many abstract and complicated definitions and algorithms are visualized by beautiful and meaningful figures. The author also tries to avoid the unnecessary mathematics.Many theorems and proofs are deliberately rewritten to ease the understanding of this part.

Applied optimization has two sides: science and art. Most of the books in this field focus on the science side, but not so satisfactory in the art side. The book has done a very good job in balancing both sides. You can expect to obtain both "optimization" and "the art of optimization" from this book.

(Written by Chengtao Wen)

Helps you understand...
I came across this book recently when I was researching pricing mechanisms in deregulated electricity markets.Most of the books on optimization and numerical methods that I have studied focused on constructing algorithms for arbitrarily defined problems. Most of the time, the logic and the rationale are buried beneath the intimidating mathematical equations. This is one of such books where the authors do not shy from using elementary examples and simple English language to clarify fundamental concepts. Nowhere did I come across such easy-to-follow explanations supported by case-studies and examples as it was done in this book.


It would not take a genius to realize that in the real world constrained by time and computational power the perfect method is most often beyond the reach. Our world revolves around the so called "second best solutions". The "art" in optimization are formulation and approximation. For those of you, who intend to formulate, construct and solve optimization problems presented by the world around you (not just understand the theory), this book is a great asset. I know I benefited from it greatly.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Best used for target practice
This book has lots of practice problems to solve. But no answers to any of them. There are very few examples for the student to work through and the concepts are introduced very poorly. I found the reading confusing and tedious with little explanation. Instead, it jumps, almost imediately, into equations without explaining what the section is about. Many hours of my time was wasted that didn't need to be due to this book and it probably cost me two letter grades. I haven't decided whether I will sell this book or just take it to a field and shoot it.

TO ALL INSTRUCTORS: DO NOT USE THIS BOOK!!!!!

Find another book to reference
At first glance this text appears to be comprehensive and informative. But if you are an instructor looking at this text for a class, please take the time to read the first three chapters completely, and then do the problems at the end. The text is often too generalized, and the examples are not helpful. Too little time is spent developing the basic concepts, and the advanced concepts are presented matter of factly.The problems do not have solutions, and are difficult to solve, leaving you with more questions than comfort. Example problems were typically very easy to solve, and problems were more complex, and often misleading. The preface states no prior knowledge of electronics or electrical theory are required....I wonder who wrote the preface. I have extensive practice in simple circuit analysis, Thevenin, Norton, Superposition, and Source Transformation. This text confused issues rather than supported them.The subjects were written in such a modular framework, that the relationships between theories were missed.I found previous texts on circuits and other information to use as references.

Pretty bad
This book is absolutely not recommended for self-instruction.Without answers, how can one know if you're doing the problems right?If there is a solution manual, it should come with the book.

Not a book for beginners
The book would be completely deserving of a 5 star rating if there would have been answers to chapter questions in the back of the book.A few samples are worked out in the book, but the lack of a significant number ofproblems with solutions(or answers) leaves the reader unsure of progress. This book is definitely not recommended for self-instruction or for use asan introductory college text. ... Read more

Product Description

Software product line engineering has proven to be the methodology for developing a diversity of software products and software intensive systems at lower costs, in shorter time, and with higher quality. In this book, Pohl and his co-authors present a framework for software product line engineering which they have developed based on their academic as well as industrial experience gained in projects over the last eight years. They do not only detail the technical aspect of the development, but also an integrated view of the business, organisation and process aspects are given. In addition, they explicitly point out the key differences of software product line engineering compared to traditional single software system development, as the need for two distinct development processes for domain and application engineering respectively, or the need to define and manage variability.

Customer Reviews (2)

Good introduction to product line engineering
This book gives a good introduction to product line engineering (PLE). It highlights many of the problems and possibilities with PLE. The orthogonal variability model gives a "clean" view of variation points and variants.

The book is on a too high level for me and it does not go deeper into the subject of PLE. The orthogonal variability model works with the simple examples in the book but in real life applications it will soon be very hard to realize the model.

I can still recommend this book to anyone that wants a good introduction to PLE.

For the classroom only...
This book is an excellent classroom book, but not practical for PLE in the field.It does an excellent job of laying out a framework for a PLE process and it does an excellent job of teaching variability.The main problem with the book is that it uses the Orthogonal Variability Model to trace the variability in the project's artifacts, and there are no tools to support an Orthogonal Variability Model.It is a perfect way to teach variability, and the Orthogonal Variability Model works well in a text book context, but would not be practical on a real project.

The book makes reference to SEGOS-VM Tool, which is being developed to support the authors Orthogonal Variability Model, but it is no where to be found on the web.

So I would suggest this book only if you are interested in becoming "book smart" about PLE, it does do an excellent job of teaching the topic, but it's process holds little value for real projects.
... Read more

Product Description
This text presents a balanced treatment of environmental engineering by combining engineering concepts with the importance of environmental ethics. This third edition highlights sustainable development and emphasizes the need for engineers to become even more environmentally responsible during this time of increasing awareness of environmental concerns. The authors challenge students with problems that require not only a technical solution but a thorough consideration of its ethical ramifications. The text also provides comprehensive exposure to all types of environmental problems, including ecosystem dynamics, wastewater treatment, and air pollution control. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Very Pleased
I received the book well before I was told I was going to, the book is in great condition and i couldn't be any happier about the whole process!

Different from other textbooks
The way the book is laid out is quite nice. The information is useful, interesting, and presented in a down to earth and logical fashion. The homework problems are definitely a departure from the norm, as they leave a lot of blanks for the reader to fill in, which also means that there is no right answer to many of the problems. Because of this, there are no answers in the back of the book to compare your work with. For example, there is a question that simply asks "how much beer is consumed in the US per day?", no other information or assumptions are provided so you have to come up with a creative and realistic way to answer the question. This is consistent with the nature of environmental engineering, being that there usually aren't any right or wrong answers, so long as you can defend your work/opinion. At first I did not like the book, but after using it for a semester I really like the freedom to be creative in my analysis. This book is printed in black an white, which is a GREAT. They don't have to coat the pages in that funky clay treatment that you have to do for color printing, so the book is about a third the weight of a comparable color textbook, and the size is very convenient. My one complaint is that I think that the price is unreasonable, and that's why it is a 4 star book. Great content, but too big a price tag.

Good
My husband buy this book for his study and he always buy in amazon and he recommended 100% ... Read more

Product Description
Nearly every aspect of daily life in the Mediterranean world and Europe during the florescence of the Greek and Roman cultures is relevant to the topics of engineering and technology. This volume highlights both the accomplishments of the ancient societies and the remaining research problems, and stimulates further progress in the history of ancient technology. The subject matter of the book is the technological framework of the Greek and Roman cultures from ca. 800 B.C. through ca. A.D. 500 in the circum-Mediterranean world and Northern Europe. Each chapter discusses a technology or family of technologies from an analytical rather than descriptive point of view, providing a critical summation of our present knowledge of the Greek and Roman accomplishments in the technology concerned and the evolution of their technical capabilities over the chronological period. Each presentation reviews the issues and recent contributions, and defines the capacities and accomplishments of the technology in the context of the society that used it, the available "technological shelf," and the resources consumed. These studies introduce and synthesize the results of excavation or specialized studies. The chapters are organized in sections progressing from sources (written and representational) to primary (e.g., mining, metallurgy, agriculture) and secondary (e.g., woodworking, glass production, food preparation, textile production and leather-working) production, to technologies of social organization and interaction (e.g., roads, bridges, ships, harbors, warfare and fortification), and finally to studies of general social issues (e.g., writing, timekeeping, measurement, scientific instruments, attitudes toward technology and innovation) and the relevance of ethnographic methods to the study of classical technology. The unrivalled breadth and depth of this volume make it the definitive reference work for students and academics across the spectrum of classical studies. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Expensive, but Comprehensive
This book is expensive, but it represents the state-of-the-art in Roman technical studies. It does not necessarily supplant older works, such as KD White's 'Greek and Roman Technology' or Brown and Strong's 'Roman Crafts' but it certainly casts them in a different light - especially with the new information regarding Roman industrial capability, and new outlooks on classical attitudes towards technology. The various contributors are well respected in their fields, and the massive amounts of citation will keep you busy for months on any particular subject.

Although it is very comprehensive, it does not cover every aspect of classical technology, and I would HIGHLY recommend you pick up Humphrey, Oleson, and Sherwood's 'Greek and Roman Technology: A Sourcebook' as a companion. Also, keep in mind that this book does not deal with specific nuts and bolts of technologies: you will not find discussions of how much a Roman wagon weighed, efficiencies of harness techniques, mining yields, and other such data points.

If you have an interest in technology and industry in the classical world and want a book you can crack open to any page and go "Wow, I didn't know that!", get this.

Definitive?
In most ways this is an Oxford book of the kind I have come to love: well designed and printed, handsomely bound, and chock-full of information. (Opening it at random, I see that goat hair was of minor commercial value but in some places was used in making tents and sacks.) The scope includes practically all aspects of applied knowledge in the Greek and Roman worlds, from mining to publishing. Even warfare is given a brief treatment.

Clearly this volume must supplant older and lesser works like those of White and Landels as the first place to turn for the current state of knowledge in this field.

I have a couple of gripes, though. First, the copyediting is not quite up to Oxford standards: a mistake like "has lead to" makes me cringe, and at times the text inclines to excessive polysyllabicism.

Second, the editor has chosen to use in-line references instead of footnotes, on the grounds that this enables a "smoother presentation." But there's nothing smooth about prose that's riddled with parenthetic references. In places, such as the middle of p. 4, it's almost impossible even to parse the text. Stop the madness!

Indeed, the proliferation of scholars' names in the inline references, together with an approach that emphasizes the current state of study as much as the subject itself, makes the book seem an exercise in mutual gratification at times.

However, there's no denying the scholarly credentials of the authors, and this book will take a place among the great Oxford reference works for the classical period. ... Read more

Product Description
The Mechanical Engineer's Handbook was developed and written specifically to fill a need for mechanical engineers and mechanical engineering students throughout the world. With over 1000 pages, 550 illustrations, and 26 tables the Mechanical Engineer's Handbook is very comprehensive, yet affordable, compact, and durable. The Handbook covers all major areas of mechanical engineering with succinct coverage of the definitions, formulas, examples, theory, proofs, and explanations of all principle subject areas. The Handbook is an essential, practical companion for all mechanical engineering students with core coverage of nearly all relevant courses included. Also, anyone preparing for the engineering licensing examinations will find this handbook to be an invaluable aid. Useful analytical techniques provide the student and practicing engineer with powerful tools for mechanical design.

This book is designed to be a portable reference with a depth of coverage not found in "pocketbooks" of formulas and definitions and without the verbosity, high price, and excessive size of the huge encyclopedic handbooks. If an engineer needs a quick reference for a wide array of information, yet does not have a full library of textbooks or does not want to spend the extra time and effort necessary to search and carry a six pound handbook, this book is for them.

* Covers all major areas of mechanical engineering with succinct coverage of the definitions, formulae, examples, theory, proofs and explanations of all principle subject areas

* Boasts over 1000 pages, 550 illustrations, and 26 tables

* Is comprehensive, yet affordable, compact, and durable with strong 'flexible' binding

* Possesses a true handbook 'feel' in size and design with a full colour cover, thumb index, cross-references and useful printed endpapers ... Read more

Product Description
This revised edition of the bestselling Practice of Reservoir Engineering has been written for those in the oil industry requiring a working knowledge of how the complex subject of hydrocarbon reservoir engineering can be applied in the field in a practical manner.Containing additions and corrections to the first edition, the book is a simple statement of how to do the job and is particularly suitable for reservoir/production engineers as well as those associated with hydrocarbon recovery.

This practical book approaches the basic limitations of reservoir engineering with the basic tenet of science: Occam's Razor, which applies to reservoir engineering to a greater extent than for most physical sciences - if there are two ways to account for a physical phenomenon, it is the simpler that is the more useful.Therefore, simplicity is the theme of this volume.

Reservoir and production engineers, geoscientists, petrophysicists, and those involved in the management of oil and gas fields will want this edition.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Definitely the best
Dake really were in his best moment to known something and wrote down, here you can find out the state of the art, even now at 2007 of how to do the things in reservoir engineering, planning, following, just read it, you do not loose nothing, always win.

Reservoir Engineering
This is a book which teaches an Engineer how to practice reservoir engineering in the oil and gas field.

A Workable Handbook
Most books on Reservoir Engineering are very university-Academic oriented and its up to us field engineers to decide wether such theories are workable or not in actual practice.
The Practice is a book that might be ranked as a handbook for applicable usage, especially offshore where economics dictates most decision making.

A Goldmine of a Book
One of the few true "must read" books in the field.

Mr. Dake's book is unique -- reading it is like working side-by-side with an exceptionally intelligent, erudite, experienced engineer.Despite the author's wry conversational style, this is not a light volume that can be absorbed by speed-reading.The author is sharing decades worth of real-world experience, and it merits close study.

For example, after all the thick volumes that have been written on oil well testing, who would expect that there could be anything left to say?Yet Dake's approach to well testing is eye-opening, and will certainly influence this engineer's approach to designing & interpreting well tests.

Experienced engineers may find themselves wanting to argue with some of the author's opinions & recommendations, but they will conclude that the time they invested in studying this book was well spent.

A grand legacy
This book is all that one would expect from Dake, and more. The long awaited update bridges the gaps left as technology has moved on since the original publication. Unfortunately Laurie is no longer with us and this publication is one of many fitting and lasting legacies. ... Read more

Product Description
Designed for the general engineering student, Introduction to Engineering Materials, Second Edition focuses on materials basics and provides a solid foundation for the non-materials major to understand the properties and limitations of materials. Easy to read and understand, it teaches the beginning engineer what to look for in a particular material, offers examples of materials usage, and presents a balanced view of theory and science alongside the practical and technical applications of material science.

Completely revised and updated, this second edition describes the fundamental science needed to classify and choose materials based on the limitations of their properties in terms of temperature, strength, ductility, corrosion, and physical behavior. The authors emphasize materials processing, selection, and property measurement methods, and take a comparative look at the mechanical properties of various classes of materials. Chapters include discussions of atomic structure and bonds, imperfections in crystalline materials, ceramics, polymers, composites, electronic materials, environmental degradation, materials selection, optical materials, and semiconductor processing. Filled with case studies to bring industrial applications into perspective with the material being discussed, the text also includes a pictorial approach to illustrate the fabrication of a composite. 

Consolidating relevant topics into a logical teaching sequence, Introduction to Engineering Materials, Second Edition provides a concise source of useful information that can be easily translated to the working environment and prepares the new engineer to make educated materials selections in future industrial applications. ... Read more

Product Description
The book is conveniently divided into two major sections. The first, an introduction to engineering, begins with a description and breakdown of the enginering profession. Material concerning most disciplines in engineering is included in this section. Engineering design is also introduced in this section, providing an opportunity to investigate the "essence of engineering" in a holistic manner. The second major section, processing engineering data, includes the essentials required in preparing for any engineering curriculum. It covers, for example, problem-solving procedures(including solving open-ended problems), engineering estimations, dimensions, and units (including both customary and SI units). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Solid Foundation for Engineers and Designers
I actually ended up reading this book after getting my master's degree in aerospace engineering, and even after a few years of work in industry. This was because my first crack at doing real aircraft structural design work put me completely in over my head, and this book was the first step of getting a handle on everything. In retrospect I'm completely aghast that in six years and two degrees of engineering schooling, nothing like this was taught at my particular school (which shall go un-named for it's own sake), yet it is required for the freshman year at U of Iowa.

Engineers are tasked with developing systems that produce value in a nutshell. The way you configure and define that system, iteratively dealing with the bigger parts first and sequentially working your way down to defining the smallest details last, is engineering design. This book explains the whole philosophy behind design, and how to do it. It's essentially a decision-making process, that can actually carry over into practically anything you do in life so even non-technical people could probably benefit from this book. Politicians, policy wonks / analysts, and people who debate politics in particular could have much more meaningful and productive discussions if they actually employed a design framework. (Maybe they do, but I haven't seen much evidence of it . . .)

This book lays out a ten step process of design that is iterative. Meaning you can always (and actually will have to do so many, many times) go back and repeat steps. Although these ten steps are not written in stone, and I would highly recommend any engineer / designer to develop their own steps, they are an excellent guide to improving the quality and reducing the difficulty of design work.

It ends up schools (at least mine) only really teach analysis, which was just one of the ten steps. This is one of the most laborious, most important, and, critically, easily taught so that's probably why schools concentrate on it. But they'll do their students a huge dis-service if they don't even tell the students about the other steps! Once you read the steps they sound pretty obvious / intuitive, but this doesn't mean people will know about them and apply them unless they're introduced to them first.

I would also recommend that any engineer get a good book on systems engineering if they want to understand design in a more comprehensive sense. Blanchard in particular has some good books. My school taught systems engineering as an elective that you were practically dissuaded from taking, and only offered to grad students. Instead it should be a required course that's offered before students take their capstone senior year design courses.

Teacher & Engineer
It is a must read for a freshment engineering student.If you can get a copy, it will be a good reference for your entire engineering study. ... Read more

Product Description
This book covers a broad range of topics for an introductory course in Environmental Engineering, as well as courses related to engineering design, sustainable development, and environmental policy. Through applications in different engineering domains, students develop the fundamental skills and insights needed to recognize and address environmental problem solving opportunities. ... Read more

Product Description
Testing is usually the most expensive, time-consuming and difficult activity during the development of engineering products and systems. Development testing must be performed to ensure that designs meet requirements for performance, safety, durability, reliability, statutory aspects, etc. Most manufactured items must be tested to ensure that they are correctly made. However, much of the testing that is performed in industry is based upon traditions, standards and procedures that do not provide the optimum balance of assurance versus cost and time. There is often pressure to reduce testing because of the high costs involved, without appreciation of the effects on performance, reliability. etc. Misperceptions are commonplace, particularly the idea that tests should not stress products in excess of their operating levels.
The main reason for this situation seems to be that engineers have not developed a consistent philosophy and methodology for testing. Testing is seldom taught as part of engineering curricula, and there are no books on the subject. Specialist areas are taught, for example fatigue testing to mechanical engineers and digital device testing to electronics engineers. However, a wide range is untaught, particularly multidisciplinary and systems aspects. Testing is not just an engineering issue. Because of the importance and magnitude of the economic and business aspects testing is an issue for management. Testing is perceived as a high cost activity, when it should be considered as a value-adding process.
The objective of this book is, therefore, to propose a philosophy of engineering test and to describe the necessary technologies and methods that will provide a foundation for all plans, methods and decisions related to testing of engineered products and systems. The book will help those who must manage and conduct this most difficult and uncertain task. It will also provide a text which can be used as the basis for teaching the principles of testing to all engineering students. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A survey...no more.
I purchased this book three years ago, when I took on work responsibility for testing and verification.After giving it a first and second read, I can safely say that it did not leave my bookshelf until I cleaned out my cube as I left for a different company.

The text is informative for those who have no background in the subject of true test engineering, but for those whose industries are governed by specific, required/mandatory methodologies, this book is not of much use.It is geared primarily to testing for the electronics industry, and even then only provides a "35,000 ft" view rather than the detail one would expect from an "engineering" book.Important (some would say essential) topics for reliability engineering (Arrhenius, Weibull, etc.) are mentioned but glossed over, leaving the reader to purchase additional $100+ volumes dealing with these subjects.

Again, if you're new to testing, it's a great introduction.If you have any exposure to the field, I would look elsewhere for more detailed reading.

Good content, publisher has not done its work...
A very good book in content, O'Connor covers the major issues, provides resources and methods for driving deeper into developing appropriate test plans and does an okay coverage of test management.The book could do better from a Test Philosophy perspective, although the chapter on management comes close.

The drawback is the publishers quality of reprinting the figures.At last count there were 8 figures with missing or illegible text.Mostly this is annoying and not detrimental to conveying the concepts.However, the flow charts on test management / test plans are so bad as to be nearly worthless.It could be an issue with the particular printing I have.As of this review I have attempted to contact the author and publisher, but I do not expect a response.Amazon replaced the book, but the replacement also had the problems.

So would I recommend the book, yes, but only IF the figures are taken care of, otherwise I would say find a different source.If the figures are resolved then I would rate it a strong 4, maybe a 5.If the author grows the test management material then it would be a strong 5.

Critial information
It is the very first book (that I'm aware of) written for test engineers and managers.This book is an overview of all types of testing.

The author's philosophy is excellent.....

"The author has never found a company or a project where it was considered in retrospect by those involved that too much was spent on a development test programme." Test Engineering by Patrick D. T. O'Connor.

When you consider that Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, the Comet IV and the Challenger failed not because of negligence, but because critical data slipped through the cracks, or was misinterpreted, this book may just prevent that next tragic unknown from taking place. Or at least arm engineers, and managers, as to what is taking place.

Highly recommended, from one in the business.

A survey of test methods
I bought this book seeking practical information relating to testing of manufactured PCB assemblies.I found relatively little information on that subject, and the information I did find was of a general nature.

I got the impression that if you are interested in a survey of issues dealing with mechnaical failures, you might find more to like in this book. ... Read more

Product Description
This Practice Problems with Solutions was written to accompany Engineering Fluid Mechanics by Clayton Crowe. It helps to build a stronger for students through practice, since connecting the math and theory of fluid mechanics to practical applications can be a difficult process. Simple and effective examples show how key equations are utilized in practice, and step-by-step descriptions provide details into the processes that engineers follow. ... Read more

Product Description
Women in Engineering: Pioneers and Trailblazers introduces the visionary women who opened the door for today's female engineers. Pioneers such as Emily Roebling, Kate Gleason, Edith Clarke, and Katherine Stinson come to life in this anthology of essays, articles, lectures, and reports. In this book, the significant contributions women have made to engineering, in areas as diverse as construction management, environmental protection, and industrial efficiency, are finally placed in their proper historical context. Studies on women engineers in the 1920s and in the years following World War II, underscore how far women have progressed in engineering, and how far they have to go. With selections that span a century of historical and social analysis, Women in Engineering: Pioneers and Trailblazers and its companion volume, Women in Engineering: Professional Life, present a range of perspectives on women in engineering that will be of interest to historians, engineers, educators, and students. Ranking: Very High. ... Read more