Products Books

The high price of oil pretty much guarantees a renewed interest in "unconventional" sources of energy including coal, oil sands, and oil shale. The Canadians are doing a bang-up job with oil sands, and while the US has immense resources of oil shale, the real interest in the US for the foreseeable future will probably be expanded use of coal. This ensures recruitment of an entire new generation into the technology of coal, since most of us who worked this area 25 years ago have moved on to other things or retired or just moved on.

From James Speight comes a very handy resource for those entering the field, Handbook of Coal Analysis. This book is part of the Wiley Interscience series on Chemical Analysis; it is available on Amazon.

The book covers all manner of fundamental and operational analyses required in characterizing coal samples. Fundamental analyses are those like elemental analysis, called "Ultimate Analysis" in coal jargon; operational analyses are those like measurements of volatile matter and heat of combustion. All the information in this book can be found elsewhere, such as research papers and the ASTM standards series, but nowhere else is all of it bundled into one handy volume and nowhere else is the role and value of individual analyses explained so clearly.

For instance, I looked over the section on oxygen analysis, long a problem for coal chemists. In the past, most of the reported oxygen analyses were made by difference. Jim describes the various direct and indirect methods available and discusses pros and cons. Older references do not address these questions at all.

Full disclosure - Jim Speight is a long-time colleague of mine and we occasionally work together on projects. In addition, Jim arranged for the publisher to provide me a review copy of the book. That said, if I did not like the book, I would have kept my mouth shut and written no review. I do like it, as is obvious from my review.

I read this book for a college course a few years ago, and have recently revisited it for a quick review. It is written in a manner that is not only easy to read, but also entertaining. An example of this is in Chapter 22 entitled "Hollow Spheres" where the author refers to "Hollow Spheres" as "hollow balls". This adds some humor and helped to keep my attention on the topic the entire way through. I kept thinking, "What will they say next?" Thanks, Robert A. Ruhno and Bruce W. Sands and the rest of the writers for a great effort!

An admirably thorough guide to the tools of the production-line meat processing trade. The superb colour photographs particularly made it a perfect gift for my 15 year old daughter who is showing alarming signs of not becoming vegetarian.

Everyone compliments my daughter on her beautiful handwriting. She used this book the second half of third grade, and is nagging me to find the "next" one. Fun and useful, and at the end they can actually *learn* something, too.

The booklet by Hungarian author Dénes Bernád (published by Squadron/Signal Publ., Texas, US) describes in detail the genesis and career of the least known series-production German fighter plane. This sleek and elegant aircraft - sacked by a political decision - saw service in various, lesser known European air forces, like Rumania, Hungary and Spain. Each chapter is described in detail, being illustrated by a large variety of b/w photos and colour drawings. Well worth getting for someone who's interested in the history of German and Small Axis aviation. Highly recommended.

This book is easily the best book I've ever found to introduce someone to the many facets of helicopter flying--from helicopter systems and aerodynamics, to weather and physiology. It is organized in a logical way, and describes each subject in very clear terms and just enough detail to be thorough, but not overwhelming.

The Helicopter Pilot Manual is required reading for all of my students, and a must-have for anyone who wants to learn about flying helicopters.

UPDATE: The HPM was discontinued last year, and replaced by the Helicopter Pilot Textbook, which retails for around $130. The new HPT is in color, and has some added information on GPS, lift production, and others. I don't think it's worth twice the price of the HPM, but it's still a great textbook.

A great book for any University of Alabama fan. A children's book starring Big Al the University of Alabama mascot. Follow Big Al around the campus of the University of Alabama as he makes his way to Bryant-Denny Stadium for a football game.

I bought this book for my three children who are all ulumni of UW Madison.
They really enjoyed it as it brought back alot of memories. They could relate to every page in the book. It is well illustrated and fun to read.

If you are a UCLA Bruins fan, this is a really great book to read to your kids. It shows some of the key Bruin landmarks (Bruin Walk, Rose Bowl, Bruin Bear Statue) and is a ton of fun for adult Bruins to read to the baby Bruins. We read it to our sons in preparation of visiting UCLA or going to a game and it helps to get our whole family energized for the game. We've even been known to take it to campus with us. Plus it is a terrific baby gift for Bruins-to-be.

Great gift idea for children of Purdue alumni! A great introduction to a new generation of Purdue students.