,Mechanical Engineering Principles
Fourth 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 de-
creased 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 mil-
lions 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), scien-
tists. 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 struc-
ture 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, Ports-
mouth, UK. 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 135 textbooks on engineering and mathematical subjects with worldwide
sales of over one million copies. He is a chartered engineer, a chartered mathematician, a chartered scientist and a
Fellow of three professional institutions, and is currently lecturing at the Defence School of Marine Engineering in
the Defence College of Technical Training at H.M.S. Sultan, Gosport, Hampshire, UK, one of the largest technical
training establishments in Europe.
Carl Ross gained his first degree in Naval Architecture from King’s College, Durham University, his PhD in Struc-
tural 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 300 papers, books, etc., and he was Professor of
Structural Dynamics at the University of Portsmouth, UK.
Carl Ross’s websites have an enormous content on science, technology and education.
Use any search engine (such as Google):
carltfross YouTube or carl t f ross YouTube or YouTube carl t f ross
, 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
Fourth Edition
John Bird BSc(Hons), CEng, CMath, CSci, FIMA, FIET, FCollT
Carl Ross BSc(Hons), PhD, DSc, CEng, FRINA, MSNAME
