Industrial Books

After our recent earthquake, many of us who are focused on lifelines have been scouring the literature for useful recommendations for loss reduction provisions. This is a key text. It evaluates the responses of seven large organizations in a "best methods" type of analysis to distill specific actions that assist recovery following an earthquake. The monograph discusses political and regulatory issues and preventive evaluation approaches. The authors are commended for such a useful work.

Brilliant technical analysis of lifeline seismic improvement programs. A must read.

I am a state official responsible for maintaining a lifelife system in a seismically-active zone. This was a very well-thought-out and useful analysis that will be of great use in my work. Bravo!

Good writing and excellent technical analysis. This monograph is focused on the preventive side of the seismic field. If you are active in the risk field or in the management of lifeline systems, this book is vital. Highly recommended.

This is a carefully crafted analysis of success stories for maintaining functioning following an earthquake. The analysis of mitigative options and recommendations is insightful and useful from a practical perspective.

Kazuo Inamori, the founder of Kyocera, puts forth his philosophy on success in business and life in this book. One thing that you'll notice is that he takes an almost religious approach to work, and believes that one can find true happiness through work. At the same time, he realizes that work can be a real struggle, so he gives good advice for pulling through those difficult times at work. I recommend this book to anyone who would like to look at success in business through other means than money. It will help you see how you can gain self fulfillment through your work.

I've never written one of these reviews, but this is one of the treasured books in my library. I've owned it since it came out and continually refer to it for advice and council. I have also given it to many customers. Kyocera's website is also an inspiring to place to see how Mr. Inamori put his philosophy to work to bring a legacy of business success worldwide. His people-practices would change the world if practiced.

This is a great book! Whether you read it straight through for the inspiration or read a section a day (usually only a page in length) as a meditation guide, just read it and absorb it. Give it to your boss, give it to your customers, give it to your peers, give it to your team members, even give it to your family. All will be better for it.

I bought this book back in 1995, and after much reflection and numerous business/leadership books, I must say Mr. Inamori is still in a class of his own. Though he teaches seemingly oversimplified concepts, it is indeed the correct concepts--if there is such a thing. Correct, for example, in that you can leave the world knowing your grandchildren will be proud that you existed. If you're familiar with Maslow hierarchy of needs: when you're reading this book, you will have no doubt that the author is at or above the self actualization stage, which I must say 90% of all the so called gurus of business don't seem to be in. The concept that you should speak from your heart, not implementing certain "techniques" in public speaking rings true for me personally. I'm grateful for such a gift from Mr. Inamori.

Kazuo Inamori's book is highly inspirational in its evocation of "passion" as the underpinning driver of success in life. In all fields of social endeavour, it is the most passionate individuals who stand out, and ultimately achieve success. We see this in the sporting arena (Muhammad Ali, Leyton Hewitt), in business (Richard Branson, Jack Welsh), and in politics.

Inamori's book is divided up into two parts. Part one provides a series of insights on "How to Succeed in Life", covering the following key areas: ability, effort, attitude, and success. His central thesis is that success = effort x ability x attitude. Most of us tend to see success as the result of effort and ability, but overlook the power of maintaining a positive attitude. Inamori urges the reader not to overlook the immense power that a positive attitude can have, both in terms of attracting support for our goals, and in terms of building and maintaining our own self esteem.

The second part of this book focuses on "How to Succeed in Business" and covers the following eight areas; passion, profit, ambition, sincerity, strength, innovation, optimism, and 'never give up'.

Above all else, this book contains genuine bursts of insight that will enrich the perspective of most readers. Unlike so many self-help products that promise the earth and deliver disappointment, this book is as close as the thinking person will get to "the real deal".

I would put this book on the same shelf with "The Witch Doctors" by Micklethwait & Wooldridge, and "Dangerous Company" by O'Shea & Madigan - all of these are excellent business books, and stand out as unique and valuable contributions to our understanding of the meaning of success in today's modern world of work.

Having served on several community and non-profit boards, I thought everyone always worked in harmony on these boards. But, I recently found out that's just not the case. After a couple of our board members did not see a vote go their way, they then went out of their way to "stir the pot" and not support the board decision. I needed help ... and found it in "The Perfect Board". The three pages dealing with respect and unity were woth the price of the book alone! This book should be required reading for any board member or potential board member. This primer is loaded with great wisdom!

Clemon's new volume is a wonderful tool for individuals who are about to enter a challenging and sometimes unknown world - the world of Board service. I have served on a number of Boards in my nearly 35 years of professional life, including 8 years service as an elective office holder, perhaps the most difficult of all Boards of serve on. How I wish that I had Clemon's insights during that time. Buy the book- its a gem.

The Perfect Board is a great resource and provides a list of requirements for my (future) Board Members, the legal necessities related to meetings, and decision making in groups. Most importantly, the writing style makes for a very easy and interesting read. Instead of a textbook and academic approach that typically puts me to sleep, the writing style is straightforward and practical, and this combines to keep it compelling.

"The Perfect Board," is a book written for those who want to become an effective member of any Board of Directors. In essence it is a self-help book chock full of essential guidelines to be an effective leader.
However, this work is written in a cleaver way, as it is told in story form when a young woman named Rebecca is about to be promoted and is unsure how to proceed. In her quest to do the best job she can, she seeks out help and is lead to a man, EJ Cummings, who shares with her a book which he is about to release. In this book he shares the principals that he has learned through years of dealing with this facet of business. This information gives Rebecca the knowledge and confidence she needs to perform the task before her.
In giving this work a storyline with characters that are about to embark on this journey, author Calvin Clemons puts this self-help book many notches about any other. The personal touch it brings allows the reader to absorb more of the information in the work, allowing a relaxed read instead of feeling you must obtain every morsel, great move on author Calvin Clemons part.
I believe this book will help many and is definitely packed full of some great principals that definitely should be followed.

This book expertly and effortlessly summarizes the attributes of winning boards and board members. It's an appealing and comprehensive work-yet the book manages to be bite-sized, which is exactly what busy readers want these days. Its content applies to both the non-profit and for-profit worlds. Just about everyone serves on a Board of one kind or another, so just about everyone should read this book!

An excellent reference about PID controllers, Process Models, and Tuning Methods.

I have been working for more than 16 years as an Instrumentation, Automation and Process Safety and Control Engineer for the Oil & Gas Industry. I found this book to be a good bridge between the theory and industrial practical applications of PID controllers.

A readable text that will be useful for students and practitioners of Process Control.

This book is a survey on a broad topic of PID control.
Plainly explains the subject rather than rigorous anlaysis.
To get the idea and for reference, this book will inform the reader well.

I have used this book as a "self study", when I was working in control industry (Kongsberg and ABB) and found it very helpful.

I have also recommended the book to all my students when teaching control theory in the College of Bergen (Norway). This book holds mush of the traditional theory and is a bridge to get theory into practical use in the industry.

I will also mention Åstrøms new book "Introduction to Control" that I am looking forward to see in the bookstore. This book gives a traditional introduction that focus on the "full picture" and good understanding. A must for the best universities!

Most industrial controllers are PI or PID controllers, and few textbooks or accademic Journal articles address them. I've been working in industrial process control for over twenty years and this book is one of the best one's I've found on PI/PID control. The presentation is practical rather than theoretical (some might miss not having more math). The first four chapters summarize when PI/PID control is useful and present several of the traditional tuning methods. Chapter 5 presents new tuning algorithms that are easy to apply in practice and usually result in better control that older methods (like the atrocious Ziegler-Nichols). Chapter 6 gets side-tracked discussing commercial products that will rapidly be out of date. Chapter 7 returns to practical applications and simple examples - I was amused to see boiler drum level control discussed in one page when we've spent so much time on this problem! The one thing missing from the book is control of nonlinear systems - even the simple example of level control with a fixed stroke-time valve is omitted - but aside from this shortcoming, it is a most useful book.

This book is quite good reference for engineering students to do their design project about control system.

I purchased this book for my b/f who is a pipefitter with a construction company. It is one of those books that everyone wants to know where to get one. (Those that are in the trade).

This book provides lots of information in a compact form that makes it a very valuable tool for anyone involved in crosscountry pipline construction.

Mike (piping designer) - Very informative book, helps out alot with my job. Has absolutely everything in it you need to know for piping design. I would recommend this book to anyone in the piping field.

Been plumbing med gas in hospitals for a long time and this book is a must!

THIS BOOK HAS BEEN AN UNLIMITED SOURCE OF INFORMATION BOTH IN THE FIELD AND THE CLASS ROOM. IT IS FULL OF VERY USEFUL FORMULAS, CHARTS AND GENERAL INFORMATION FOR THE PLUMBER AND THE PIPEFITTER. I WOULD BE LOST IF I LOST THIS BOOK.

This is a good Polymer Chemistry Textbook. It is very informative. However, it isn't the most exciting read. The book is completely black and white, making it hard to read for extended periods of time. I would recommend this textbook for the quality of it's information.

Just wanted to mention two other introductory polymer books:

Polymers (Oxford Chemistry Primers) by David J. Walton & J. Phillip Lorimer. This book is just a brief intro to the field. Wouldn't use it for a full semester course.

The Chemistry of Polymers by J.W. Nicholson, 2nd edition, published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, ISBN 0854045589. This one IS suitable for a 1 semester course.

Both are very good.


Check out my other reviews for other chemistry books.

"Polymer Chemistry: An Introduction" is an excellent text for an upper division undergraduate or graduate level course in polymer chemistry. The book is also enjoyable to read for scientists and engineers in the polymer and materials fields. The content is logically organized, there is fairly in-depth discussion of mechanisms of polymerization reactions and of the origins of stereoregularity in polymers, and the problems at the end of each chapter are more than adequate for reviewing the subject matter. Professor Stevens clearly introduces the reader to the subject of polymer chemistry, relating the physical properties of macromolecular materials to polymer orientation, microstructure, stereochemistry and chemical composition. He also provides an enormous amount of information on the history of polymers in a fashion that effectively reinforces the important concepts being described. I find myself referring to this text far more frequently than the other polymer texts on my bookshelves.

This textbook does an excellent job of going over the basics of polmer chemistry. There are insightful questions at the end of chapters that make students think and the book goes over the material in such a way that a background in organic chemistry is not necessary. If you need to learn about polymer chemistry on your own, this book is an excellent purchase.

I was not able to fit polymer chem into my schedule at University, so I bought this book after graduating. This book is extremely organized and provides a lot of examples. The first of three sections provides a great introduction with the focus on definitions and structure. This is accomplished with very little reference to reactions.
The next two sections, which are titled vinyl and nonvinyl polymers respectively, address reaction mechanisms and kinetics. This layout allowed for smooth transitions between sections and concepts were introduced and reinforced smoothly.
The other thing I liked about it, is the continuous reinforcement of nomenclature...every time a name was used a corresponding structure was on that same page.

First off, I'm a bit bias. Dr. Saadat was my professor and we used his book. The book was really easy to follow and had great examples. I actually learned a lot and retained it.

One of the best Power Systems books. Very simple and clear examples. Excelent for students and experts.

The 2nd edition is almost the same as the first edition. But the book still the best power system book I have ever seen. The book is well written and organized with lot of practical examples. The author has a detailed Matlab codes for T.L. parameters, faults, load flows, optimal dispatch, and stability including the Kron reduction technique for multi-machine system. These codes can mange up to 200 bus power system. The only thing missing in this book is the protection part.

I found this book excellent. The author has gone through so much work to develop such a well written text. I have been studying power systems for years and I certainly recommend this text to all those who are seriously considering a carrier in power systems engineering. The use of MATLAB to perform analysis is original and very useful.
Well Done!

The author's presentation of power system analysis is very appropriate for those studying the subject for the first time. Concepts are presented clearly and the examples illustrate well the discussion in the text. The mathematical level is easily within reach for senior electrical engineering students. One very helpful feature of this book is that answers are supplied for practically all of the end-of-the-chapter problems. Also, the author makes good use of MATLAB even from Chapter 1, and SIMULINK on the book's latter part.

I want to buy the book A practical guide to steam turbine teghnology by Heinz P. Bloch. But sience my reigion is out of your list. I want to collect it from Singapore for the same i require address of your distributers there.

The author manages to convey in a technically up-to-date, highly readable text all of the essentials of modern steam turbine technology. Both impulse and reaction turbines are covered. This book should be a great help to the harried professional who quickly needs to get his hands on relevant, no-nonsense explanations covering turbine design and construction features, turbine auxiliaries, governors and controls, couplings and gears, rotor dynamics technology, etc. Of particular interest are the shortcut methods of turbine selection and sizing included in this profusely illustrated 348-page text.

The starting point to select, install, operate or control specific Machinery is to learn and understand about its principles and technology. I am an Electronics Engineer, but I have been working for the last 16 years as an Instrumentation, Automation and Process Safety and Control Engineer for the Oil and Gas Industries. As a result I have been involved with Chemical and Mechanical Engineering issues related with both gas and steam turbines in a day to day basic. This handy reference has proven most useful and time saving when in need of information or a shortcut to solve problems.

This "quick-reference" guide offers you authoritative information on the operating characteristics, efficiencies, design features, reliability, and maintenance of Steam Turbines. Absolutely a must have if you work with steam turbines.

The author manages to convey in a technically up-to-date, highly readable text all of the essentials of modern steam turbine technology. Both impulse and reaction turbines are covered. This book should be a great help to the harried professional who quickly needs to get his hands on relevant, no-nonsense explanations covering turbine design and construction features, turbine auxiliaries, governors and controls, couplings and gears, rotor dynamics technology, etc. Of particular interest are the shortcut methods of turbine selection and sizing included in this profusely illustrated 348-page text.

The author manages to convey in a technically up-to-date, highly readable text all of the essentials of modern steam turbine technology. Both impulse and reaction turbines are covered. This book should be a great help to the harried professional who quickly needs to get his hands on relevant, no-nonsense explanations covering turbine design and construction features, turbine auxiliaries, governors and controls, couplings and gears, rotor dynamics technology, etc. Of particular interest are the shortcut methods of turbine selection and sizing included in this profusely illustrated 348-page text.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

This has to be the best book on material science basics that I have seen ! (I've seen too many) From atomic structure to Brillouin Zones everything is there, in plain english!

- This is a wonderful academic introduction to materials.

It's probably most siginficant as an early intellectual product of the present CEO of Intel (done when he was just an obscure professor).

This book is the best I've read in its class. It reviews all aspect of materials enginnering in a simple and understandable way. It is an excellent introductory book to materials engineering. It is also a good review of the basics.

This book is a good reference or review book for materials science, and an excellent text for a one-year course in Materials Science or Engineering Materials.

This has to be the best book on material science basics that I have seen ! (I've seen too many) From atomic structure to Brillouin Zones everything is there, in plain english!