Reference Books 8

[ChickenEngineer]

I don't know about you guys, but I sold all my books during college. I figured once I got a job I could buy only the needed books.

So I'm in need of some reference books. I don't think it's necessary to buy all the latest additions at the high prices. I was wondering if you guys kept a list somewhere of recommended reference books?

I’m just looking for some basic books to get my collection started…statics, thermo, materials, hvac all the basic stuff.

I'm an engineer in the chicken buisness. I deal with little bits of everything. If I need to get more in depth I'll look more closely at the books, I just need so good old basic reference books.

 

[mcclain]

When looking for a used book, be sure and check

http://www.bookfinder.com.

 

[EngJW]

Here is a suggestion, and I realize it won't appeal to everyone, but if you got rid of all your college textbooks replace them with some of the classics. Authors such as Shigley, Timoshenko, Den Hartog (vibrations), Fuller (lubrication) and so on. My reason for saying this is that colleges tend to change textbooks like underwear and some of them are dumbed-down or not very good. Read them if you can find time. You would be surprised at how much better you can understand things that were glossed over the first time, and it really does not take that much time because you don't have to work the problems and study for the tests.

Whatever field you are in is likelly to have its own classics. Taylor and Heywood for engines, for example.

 

[JStephen]

I just got in a copy of that Crane Technical Paper No. 410. On the plus side, there is some good information in there. But there are several minuses, too. The book was written in sliderule days, and includes a number of charts and nomographs that are of limited use to anyone with a calculator or spreadsheet program. I've got the English-unit version, but it still lists viscosities in the CGS system, IE, "poises", as opposed to either the SI system or ft-lb units. (I assume the "metric" version is entirely in CGS?). Much of the material is covered in better detail in any good fluids textbook or other reference books. Many of the equations could be set up in a more dimensionless form that would be more useful. (For example, their Bernouli's equation includes a "12" factor on one term, the need for which is not immediately clear).

The material I was really interested in, flow losses through fittings, etc., occupies only a few pages of information. Those factors, and the discussion of how they were determined, are of use, though. But even there, the information is fairly limited. There are flow factors for welded ells and "standard ells", IE, threaded fittings. But nothing for, say, PVC ells or copper tubing fittings or reducing tees or wyes, etc. I believe all the really useful material could be condensed to 10 pages or so.

If you like a cookbook approach, you'll probably appreciate their approach more than otherwise. You'll find the same basic equation rearranged in 20 different ways- saves you the trouble of doing it- but leads to clutter in the book.