Machines Books

THE DEMON PRINCES is an anthology of five related science fiction novels written by the Grandmaster Jack Vance between the years 1964 and 1981, set about 1500 years in the future. The hero of the stories, Kirth Gersen, is a kind of "James Bond/Sherlock Holmes in Space"; who, as a young boy finds himself and his grandfather witnesses and sole survivors of a town massacre perpetrated by five "Demon Princes". Kirth's grandfather grooms him to seek revenge, and enrolls him in an elite Intergalactic Police Training Academy, where Kirth excels, and sets out to "The Beyond" to locate and extract revenge against the Demon Princes.

As is always the case with Jack Vance books, be sure to keep a dictionary handy and prepare to improve your vocabulary. I find myself looking up a new word on average of once every 4 or 5 pages... and I rarely have to look up a new word when reading books produced by most modern-day authors.

Following are brief reviews of each of the 5 stories contained in THE DEMON PRINCES:

THE STAR KING **** (1964, 170 pages) - A nicely interwoven tale of mystery, intrigue, action, courtship, and alien worlds. "They just don't write `em like this any more".

THE KILLING MACHINE **** (1964, 165 pages) - Somewhat similar to THE STAR KING in that Kirth ends up having a hard time telling what the "bad guy" Kokor Hekkus really looks like. The alien world that Kirth traces Hekkus to is something out of the Middle Ages, with castles, princes and princesses, but also includes huge dreadful centipede-like man-killing beasts. Kirth manages to come into quite a bit of money by the end of this story.

THE PALACE OF LOVE **** (1967, 185 pages) - After the princess from THE KILLING MACHINE ends up taking a walk because she can't live with Kirth Gersen's single-mindedness, Kirth tracks the oddball Demon Prince Viole Falushe to his secret "Palace of Love". Interesting subplot regarding the plight of typical slaves on the lawless planets "beyond".

THE FACE ***** (1979, 222 pages) - Fantastic story, it is my pleasure to say that this is one of the best stories I've ever read. It has it all; action, mystery, romance, believable situations, innovative alien worlds and cultures - all leading up to a superb ending. This particular story is so good that it single-handedly brings the entire anthology (which is otherwise made up mostly of 4-star offerings) up to a 5-star rating.

THE BOOK OF DREAMS ***** (1981, 222 pages) - Another top-notch story, which starts out with Kirth Gerson using a ruse somewhat similar to that described in A. Conan Doyle's THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE, in order to attract the interest of the last remaining Demon Prince, H.A. Treesong... he then chases him from one bizzare future human culture world to another - including one funny/wild scene where he buys his way into a high school reunion garden party band as a beginner flute player, to get a chance to kill Treesong.

I only have two negative comments regarding this anthology; 1) About every 100 pages or so, and especially in the first three stories, there would be missing or transformed letters, or even missing words... and at times you will find yourself playing "WHEEL OF FORTUNE" trying to piece a sentence back together, 2) In the first three stories, Kirth's character, while entirely believable and not unlikeable, is a bit wooden and most of the time is fairly unexciting around the women (this is explained away by the fact that he is "a man on a mission", and has to keep his life focused on tracking down the evil-doers). By the fourth story, Kirth's character evolves into a much more exciting, inventive, personable, and introspective person, who is much more at ease with the ladies.

The book has 12 chapters on deonitic logic by different authors. Deontic logic is the study of obligation and permission. The book has chapters on dynamic (Ch 4); defeasible (Ch 3, 9) and temporal (Ch 1 & 7) versions of deontic logic. The chapters deal with both law (esp. Ch. 8 & 10) and computer science. Several of the chapters gave helpful definitions of "act."

Learning how to design mechanisms with small mechanical drivecomponents has become easier with a new 784 page technical data bookpublished by Stock Drive Products, New Hyde Park, New York. The Book features a 51 page section on robotic component design which includes a detailed specification guide that compares 42 performance features for 147 industrial and teaching class robots.

The book, entitled "Design and Application of Small Standardized Components, Data Book 757 Volume 2" took three years to prepare and is considered comprehensive enough to be used as a textbook in machine design and related courses at the vocational-technical and higher educational levels. At a surprisingly low list price of under $8.00, the list of textbook adoption by colleges continues to grow. According to Bill Malone, Coordinator of Engineering Technology at Murray State College in Oklahoma the Data Book is "the most comprehensive text for mechanism design available anyhwhere".

This comprehensive technical guide was written and compiled by an editorial board comprising: Frank Buchsbaum, D.Eng.Sc., President of Stock Drive Products; Ferdinand Freudenstein, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Columbia University; and Peter J. Thornton, P.E. Engineering Consultant.

Major sections in the book concern design procedure, selection and application data for designing with small gears, belt and chain drives, speed reducers, gear trains, ac motors, miniature dc motors, stepper motors, constant force springs, couplings, universal joints, shafts, bearings and vibration mounts. Highlighted in the text is a Designers Data Section which includes over 50 useful tables in the following classifications: mathematical formulas; conversion and units; properties of materials; useful shop data; and fasteners. Under Shop Data, for instance, related subjects such as the proper dimensions of shafting, bore diameters and hub fasteners are covered. Yet another section on Practical Design Hints illustrates how to design parts ! and minimize tooling costs, machining and assembly time. Areas covered include: turning and boring: drilling, milling, broaching, grinding and tapping. The Vibration an Shock Isolation Section includes a series of 21 practical design problems and their solutions.

The Data Book was written as a non-commercial design reference and is the second of a three part series. END

In recent years, the United States, this supposed bastion of democracy, has been failing in one of the most fundamental aspects of a functioning democratic system: making ballots and election materials that can be easily read, understood, and which ensure that the desires of the voting populace are committed in the way they intend, and count the way they should. This excellent design book showcases the way that information relating to voting should be made so that all confusion is eliminated in the voting booth, and credibility can be restored to the voting process in this country. Given the way this country has been going lately, I hope it happens sooner rather than later. This book is a great first step.

This book really is a rare find. It does not help that it has sort of a mis-leading title. It is not a drafting and design book. This book is full of gems of knowledge for anyone interested in specing-out manufacturing machinery. The book is full of pointers on how to run a project, explains common costing techniques, how to avoiding common pitfalls and the latter half of the book discusses the pros and cons of various motor drives, control systems, sensors, stepper motors versus servo motors.
It is rare to get all this information in one book. A quick overview that allows one to quickly grasp the basics and decide what is the proper mechanism for the "design". A very valuable book to obtain the basics of automated machinery. Very well written with good illustrations.

When I first received this book order I skimmed through it and put it aside because it wasn't what I had expected. I recently picked it to file in my library and got distracted really studying it. Its now on my work table.
When I originally ordered it I think I was distracted by the cover - was thinking of purses and purse patterns versus fabric manipulation techinques. I now have made a list of the techniques in the book and hope to do one a week for about half a year (I don't plan on doing the knitting items...there were several I believe). Elli covers different ways to dye/color fabrics, decorate fabrics, resew a different way, etc. And there are about a dozen PROJECTS also where the reader can implement several of the techniques being taught in the book.
The reason I don't give it a 5 is that I wish that there were a few more projects for items pictured in the book...there were several great vests (basic pattern was included) but not always a detailed explanation on the techniques used in all of them. (But then again, I might not have read deep enough so they might be there.)

My three year old son loves these books, I would recommend them to any parent who's kids loves big machines at work. It's given me new information about heavy equipment that I never knew before reading this book with my son. Great books!!

"The fields of automatic control and automation have brought an increasing demand for energy-conversion devices. Industrial plants are continually seeking means to improve production methods and control the quality of their products and services.
To satisfy these needs, techniques involving sequential and logic circuits, servomechanisms, static switching, data processing, and electronics to control motors and generators have been rapidly developed and improved.
In dealing with control circuits, it is necessary to understand the theory of operation of the device to be controlled. Motors, generators, and transformers are integral parts of many control systems, and it is essential that today's engineer and technician be familiar with this equipment.

This book was written for the electrical technoloty student attending a two-year college, the nonelectrical engineering student attending a four-year college, and those enrolled in industrial training programs. Characteristics and basic theory are stressed rather than design, and so a knowledge of calculus is not required.

The authors have had extensive teching experience in both collegiate and industrial training programs. Based upon this experience, one feature of the text is the arrangement of the subject matter to afford a great degree of flexibility in classroom presentation. It is therefore suitable for a one-year course for the specialist, or a shorter course as required by a particular curriculum.

Another feature is the use of line drawings throughout. Referenced materical is thus clearly illustrated without the inclusion of extraneous matter often found in photographs.
In many cases where vector diagrams are illustrated, in addition to showing the completed vector diagram with all component vectors, several vector diagrams are drawn which illustrate each step in the logical development of the final diagram.

Use of correct techincal terminology is stressed throughout. Special consideration, however, is given to simplicity of language in the development of the theory.
This should enable the student to make effective use of the text. There are some long mathematical manipulations, but close examination will show that the mathematics is limited to trigonometry and algebra.

There are many problems at the ends of the chapters, as well as many illustrative examples interwoven with the theory. Alternative methods of solution are often provided to enable the student to work in the manner best suited to him.
Despite this, the emphasis is qualitative rather than quantitative, since the problems and examples are designed to illustrate the application of theory in analyzing and understanding machine performance.

Basic controllers are described for both direct- and alternating-current motors, but the field of control engineering and control technology has become so enlarged and specialized in recent years that it requires a course or even a curriculum of its own.
However, the descriptions of these basic controllers provide a foundation for the study of more complex control systems.

Many texts have already been written on electric machinery, but one more is presented here for a very specific reason.

THERE IS A GAP BETWEEN BOOKS WRITTEN FOR THE HIGH SCHOOL AND THOSE

for the electrical engineering major.
It is hoped that this book will materially assist in filling that gap.

The authors wish to express their gratitude to Howard Allen, now of Seton Hall University, for his assistance in reviewing the manuscript.
They also wish to thank others of their colleagues who contributed to the preparation of this text."

[from the book preface by the authors Jack Rosenblatt and M. Harold Friedman]

M.G.Say has the incredible ability to explain principles of operation in such a way that the reader can grasp it with no effort. From here Say takes the reader into the practical side of the world. Constructional detail and design aspects are highlighted like nowhere else. He also gives one a glimpse into the future. The amazing story is that this is still the best book on DC machines for people who have to operate or repair these machines.

Although this book is nearly 30 years old it is still used in madras university as a text for master degree in computer science I have used a lot of books including popular local author and the famous book such as Kenneth Rosen, joshi venkatraman, ect but this seems to be the best and u can read any advance text on discrete math's if u have completed this successfully this one seems to be a launch pad to read many modern text books the material on logic seems terrific. The only thing the authors have left out seems to be is in area of tuning machine and automata theory. And languages and grammar some programs given in the book is based on pl/I which can be easily adjusted the greatest thing in this book is the exercises which are very professional and shows the authors ability for teaching . overall as iam from electronics back ground this book gave me enough stuff to move into computer science