Preface
Due to the success of the first edition of
The Engineering Handbook
published in 1995 I am pleased to
provide the second edition ten years later fully updated and expanded.
Purpose
The purpose of
The Engineering Handbook, Second Edition
is to provide in a single volume a ready
reference for the practicing engineer in industry, government, and academia. The book in its compre-
hensive format is divided into 30 sections which encompass the field of engineering and includes 19
brand new chapters and 131 fully updated contributions. The goal is to provide the most up-to-date
information in the classical fields that comprise mechanical, electrical, civil, chemical, industrial, and
aerospace engineering as well as the underlying fields of mathematics, materials, biomedical engineering,
and nanotechnology. This book should serve the information needs of all professional engineers engaged
in the practice of the profession whether in industry, education, or government. The goal of this com-
prehensive handbook is to replace a myriad of books with one highly informative, well-organized,
definitive source of fundamental knowledge.
Organization
The fundamentals of engineering have evolved to include a wide range of knowledge, substantial empirical
data, and a broad range of practice. The focus of the handbook is on the key concepts, models, and
equations that enable the engineer to analyze, design, and predict the behavior of complex devices,
circuits, instruments, systems, structures, plants, computers, fuels, and the environment. While data and
formulae are summarized, the main focus is the provision of the underlying theories and concepts and
the appropriate application of these theories to the field of engineering. Thus, the reader will find the
key concepts defined, described, and illustrated in order to serve the needs of the engineer over many years.
With equal emphasis placed on materials, structures, mechanics, dynamics, fluids, thermodynamics,
fuels and energy, transportation, environmental systems, circuits and systems, computers and instru-
ments, manufacturing, aeronautical and aerospace, and economics and management as well as mathe-
matics, the engineer should encounter a wide range of concepts and considerable depth of exploration
of these concepts as they lead to application and design.
The level of conceptual development of each topic is challenging, but tutorial and relatively funda-
mental. Each of the more than 200 chapters is written to enlighten the expert, refresh the knowledge of
the mature engineer, and educate the novice.
The information is organized into 30 major sections. The 30 sections encompass 232 chapters, and
the Appendix summarizes the applicable mathematics, symbols, and physical constants.
Each chapter includes three important and useful categories: defining terms, references, and further
information.
Defining terms
are key definitions, and the first occurrence of each term defined is indicated
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