v.
,Mechanical Engineering Principles
Third 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 industrialized. 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. It may be shown that the load on a submarine pressure
hull of diameter 10 m and length 100 m is equivalent to carrying the total weight of about 7 million London
double-decker buses!
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 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 and Guilds, and examining for the International Baccalaureate
Organisation. He is the author of over 125 textbooks on engineering and mathematical subjects with worldwide
sales of one million copies. He is currently a Senior Training Provider at the Defence School of Marine Engineering
in the Defence College of Technical Training at H.M.S. Sultan, Gosport, Hampshire, U.K.
Carl 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 and guest lectures to date exceed some 290 papers and books, etc., and he is Professor of
Structural Dynamics at the University of Portsmouth, UK.
See Carl Ross’s website below, which has an enormous content on science, technology and education.
http://tiny.cc/6kvqhx
, Some quotes from Albert Einstein (14 March 1879–18 April 1955)
‘Scientists investigate that which already is; Engineers create that which has never been’
‘Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand,
while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand’
‘Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing
that it is stupid’
‘To stimulate creativity, one must develop the childlike inclination for play’
, Mechanical Engineering Principles
Third Edition
John Bird BSc(Hons), CEng, CMath, CSci, FIMA, FIET, FCollT
Carl Ross BSc(Hons), PhD, DSc, CEng, FRINA, MSNAME
