,Mechanical Engineering Principles
Second Edition
Why are competent engineers so vital?
Engineering is among the most important of all professions. It is the authors’ opinions that engineers save
more lives than medical doctors (physicians). For example, poor water or the lack of it, is the second largest
cause of human death in the world, and if engineers are given the tools, they can solve this problem. The
largest cause of human death is caused by the malarial mosquito, and even death due to malaria can be
decreased by engineers - by providing helicopters for spraying areas infected by the mosquito and making and
designing medical syringes and pills to protect people against catching all sorts of diseases. Most medicines
are produced by engineers! How does the engineer put 1 mg of ‘medicine’ precisely and individually into
millions of pills, at an affordable price?
Moreover, one of the biggest contributions by humankind was the design of the agricultural tractor, which
was designed and built by engineers to increase food production many-fold for a human population which
more-or-less quadruples every century! It is also interesting to note that the richest countries in the world are
very heavily industrialised. Engineers create wealth! Most other professions don’t!
Even in blue sky projects, engineers play a major role. For example, most rocket scientists are chartered
engineers or their equivalents and Americans call their Chartered Engineers (and their equivalents), scientists.
Astronomers are space scientists and not rocket scientists; they could not design a rocket to conquer outer
space. Even modern theoretical physicists are mainly interested in astronomy and cosmology and also nuclear
science. In general a theoretical physicist cannot, without special training, design a submarine structure to
dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, which is 11.52 km or 7.16 miles deep, or design a very long bridge,
a tall city skyscraper or a rocket to conquer outer space.
This book presents a solid foundation for the reader in mechanical engineering principles, on which s/he
can safely build tall buildings and long bridges that may last for a thousand years or more. It is the authors’
experience that it is most unwise to attempt to build such structures on shaky foundations; they may come
tumbling down - with disastrous consequences.
John O. Bird is the former Head of Applied Electronics in the Faculty of Technology at Highbury College,
Portsmouth, U.K. More recently, he has combined freelance lecturing at the University of Portsmouth, with Examiner
responsibilities for Advanced Mathematics with City & Guilds, and examining for the International Baccalaureate
Organisation. He is the author of some 120 textbooks on engineering and mathematical subjects with worldwide sales
approaching 1 million copies. He is currently a Senior Training Provider at the Royal Naval School of Marine
Engineering in the Defence College of Marine and Air Engineering at H.M.S. Sultan, Gosport, Hampshire, U.K.
Carl T. F. Ross gained his first degree in Naval Architecture, from King’s College, Durham University; his PhD in
Structural Engineering from the Victoria University of Manchester; and was awarded his DSc in Ocean Engineering
from the CNAA, London. His research in the field of engineering led to advances in the design of submarine pressure
hulls. His publications to date exceed some 270 papers and books and he is Professor of Structural Dynamics at the
University of Portsmouth, U.K.
See Carl Ross’s website below, which has an enormous content on science, technology and education.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/carl.ross/page3.htm
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, Mechanical Engineering Principles
Second Edition
John O. Bird, BSc(Hons), CEng, CMath, CSci, FIMA, FITE, FCollT
Carl T. F. Ross, BSc(Hons), PhD, DSc, CEng, FRINA, MSNAME
