This week’s selection is “Engineering — A Very Short Introduction” by David Blockley.
While there are certainly many engineers who read Fabbaloo, plenty of our readers are not engineers. Some may work with 3D printers but not yet fully understand how they fit within the spectrum of the engineering discipline.
Engineering is a complex subject that has many categories, each requiring years of study and practice to master. That’s not something everyone can undertake, so how can one learn something about engineering without going too deep?
That’s what this book is all about.
It’s a very short book, comprised of only 130ish pages, and it’s written in plain English; you won’t see any complex mathematical equations in it. In other words, anyone can read and understand this book.
For example, Blockley describes the word ‘engineering’:
“Engineering is, in its most general sense, turning an idea into a reality — creating and using tool to accomplish a task or fulfill a purpose.”
Blockley explains that in ancient times, every tool could be understood by everyone, but that is clearly no longer the case. That’s what we have engineers for, and the book goes on to explain several of the basic paradigms used by engineers.
Blockley includes a chapter on mechanical aspects of engineering, as well as chapters on thermal properties, electromagnetism (including electricity), information processing and the notion of whole systems where different components work together.
Those who are not engineers but wish to understand the motivations and high-level process of engineer could benefit from a quick read through this interesting book.
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Via Amazon
