Book Description
Based on the bestselling Standard Handbook of Engineering Calculations. These calculations are proven--the suite now makes them completely interactive. Runs on Mathcad. Navigation features allow for index and keyword searches.
From the Back Cover
Now on one easy-to-master, time-saving CD-ROM: the mechanical engineers handbook of choice for over 70 years. Includes the complete text of Marks Standard Handbook for Mechanical Engineers, Tenth Edition. Hundreds of Interactive elements. On-screen problem-solving: math formulas, calculations, curves, graphs, tables. Includes metric (SI) standard units for automatic conversion. Fully searchablewith extensive indexing and quick-lookup sectional Table of Contents. Compact and portable. Absolutely ideal for engineers, technicians, and students. Rating 1.0
You Can't Be SeriousThis thing is a joke; let me count the ways: 1. Installation procedure says nothing about what to do if you already have Mathcad installed. Nor is there any reference for tech support. 2. Search does not work: search for the term 'transmission-line' (without the quotes) finds nothing, even though it is easy to find visually. 3. To take an example: the 'Power-supply' section is designed around a supply for a vacuum tube system. Ok, but the technique is the same, it just runs at a higher voltage. Now we select the type of rectifier: vacuum tube rectifier is not selected, only because the current requirement is too high. So if the required current is less, we would choose tubes! Similar bogus component selection procedures are everywhere. Component selection (I claim) is as important as the elementary calculations, and no one is going to learn that from this book. OK, so this work is not useful to engineers; what about technicians, or high school students? It's only useful for a tech if he's being supervised by an engineer, in which case it's not needed. I would never allow a high school student to use this book, because he/she can't tell the difference between the right stuff and the bogus stuff and will have to unlearn a lot. |
