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Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand 12

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"Atlas Shrugged" and "The Fountainhead" both by Ayn Rand, should be required reading for all engineers.

My Economics Professor recommended both to me years ago - I am indebted forever. He also told me to read the "Tao Teh Ching" frequently, which I do.

These three literary works have help me improve myself which in turn helps me get ahead in my work.

Can anyone recommend other great reads to help achieve these ends?

Thanks.
 
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Movie: Falling Down, 1993, starring Michael Douglass, should be required viewing for anyone considering entering the engineering profession.

Book: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
 
ScoobyStu,

Have you heard of Smith's Law?

"Murphy is an optimist!"

 
I'd have to agree with quark. Cartoon Network can really get the ol' noodle to thinkin'!!!
 
jboucher50

That Smith guy must be suicidal...

My law states "Whats the point, it's all going to go horribly wrong anyway!!"
 
I'll augment Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" (as how one should consider being a leader) with Machiavelli's "The Prince" and
"The Ten Discourses" (how many of those guys you deal with will actually act).
Brad
 
Yeah, "The Prince" is recommended reading for everyone. Of course, utilizing it is another story.
 
Lawrence Kamm's book "Real World Engineering" is pretty educational. Lots of sage advice in there from a highly successful inventor/engineer. Somebody mentioned "The Soul of a New Machine". Read that a long long time ago, and I really wish I could read it again.
Peebee:
Another link to an online version of 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' ( shouldn't be a copyright infringment if its on a university site....uh I think.
Cheers,
Asanga
 
Actually anything that puts engineers and books together is well worth it, no matter what your tastes. However, if you haven't read it, I heartily recommend (especially for those under the age of 40) "To Engineer is Human" by Henry Petosky. Reason I'm recommending it especially for the "younger set" is that it talks about engineering failures fit into design. I sometimes despair when I see calculations carried to the 12th digit - when the original reading was taken from a pressure gauge that could only be read to within 5 psi!

Patricia Lougheed

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of the Eng-Tips Forums.
 
Amen Patricia, one of my pet peeves there!!!
 
I thought the whole point was that engineers were too much engrossed in books of the engineer kind. Rather than reading about it, why not experience it first hand?

TTFN
 
Patricia,

I too see a lot of that and I have to constantly be on guard against falling into the trap myself. Just one of the perils of computer "aided" engineering. It'll spit out as many digits as you want. Edward L. Klein
Pipe Stress Engineer
Houston, Texas

All opinions expressed here are my own and not my company's.
 
Has anyone else read 'Engineer to Win' by Caroll Smith? I did and thought this was an excellent book, and should be required for every engineer's library. Mr. Smith claims to be married to a daughter of the the guy they named 'Murphy's Law' after. Anyhows, its got a great section on metallurgy and fracture mechanics.
Enjoy!
 
I remember getting chewed out (more of a frustrated venting opportunity) by the supervisor of the inspections group when he got pressure relief data sheets from us with the cold pressure set point to a 1/100th of a psi.

What could I say, I agreed with him!! ;-)
 
Viking214,

Engineer To Win is a good book about race vehicle engineering, but I would not recommend it for metallurgy nor fracture mechanics. Mr. Smith's knowledge and descriptions of these subjects are lacking.
 
Just started into a book called "The Logic of Failure" by Dieter Dorner, Perseus Books.

It's an interesting look into why complex systems fail and the mindset required to prevent failure. It deals a lot with system interactions and why many optimization approaches fail due to unintended consequences.

TTFN
 
The Chunnel by Drew F(something)

A good,depressing book about a large engineering project viewed from the sidelines by a finance journalist with no particular axe to grind. To those of us who work at the coalface on billion dollar projects it is a horrible cautionary tale, told from the top down.

Cheers

Greg Locock
 
The Chunnel by Drew Fetherston.
 
Dilbert (Scott Adams) contains the wisdom of the modern political corporate environment. I think a good mix of both technical and political savvy will take anyone a long way (i.e. if you can sell an icebox to an Eskimo...).
 
That's a refrigerator to an Inuit.
 
Want a real simple book that will help keep perspective of the processing-manufacturing-distribution cycle ???? It's a neat liitle book titled "My Friend the Cow". Those of you have(had) young children might appreciate it. Anything deeper than that and you're messing about with your brain cells. Everything else one can pick up with experience!
 
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