A Degree in a Book: Electrical and Mechanical Engineering: Everything You Need to Know to Master the Subject - In One Book!

by David Baker

A concise introduction to all the key tenets of electrical and mechanical engineering degree course, written by former NASA engineer Dr David Baker.

A Degree in a Book: Electrical and Mechanical Engineering is presented in an attractive landscape format in full-color. With timelines, feature spreads and information boxes, readers will quickly get to grips with the fundamentals of electrical and mechanical engineering and their practical applications.

Covering Newtonian mechanics, nuclear engineering, artificial intelligence, 3D printing and more, this essential guide brings clarity to complex ideas. David Baker delves into the history and development of this far-reaching subject as well as the challenges of the future such as environmental responsibility.

Complete with a useful glossary of key terms, this holistic introduction will equip students and laypeople alike with the knowledge of an engineering graduate.

ABOUT THE SERIES: Get the knowledge of a degree for the price of a book with Arcturus Publishing's A Degree in a Book series. Written by experts in their fields, these highly visual guides feature handy timelines, information boxes, feature spreads and margin annotations, allowing readers to get to grips with complex subjects in no time.

Genres: Engineering, Science, Physics, Ebooks, Nonfiction, Textbooks

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Published May 1, 2021

Reviews

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty comprehensive overview of engineering in general. It touches on a couple of major engineering industries, and covers specific topics that may have language that is a bit too technical for the average reader. I think maybe a couple more diagrams when explaining would help. Great book for learning more about the engineering behind many modern systems.

[Lloyd Downey · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you take this book at face value: That merely by reading it will qualify you to build bridges and design stealth aircraft......think again. I guess what I can say about it is that it gives a bird’s eye view of what engineering is about. And my friend Miles, who actually graduated as an Engineer and went on to work in an engineering company tells me, the engineering company assumed that the new recruit actually knew nothing and they started to teach him the real skills he needed on the job.
But, hey...I enjoyed reading the book. I learned a lot and they have lots of interesting pictures which I liked. However the editing left a bit to be desired.... The following is just one example of poor editing: What are they trying to say? “First in across enemy lines, it destroyed Iraqi command and control installations together with most of their air defence systems, the F-117A to open a path for the un-stealthy main force to fly in unimpeded.”
And elsewhere they suggest that Edison adopted AC power. Well that’s not my understanding ...he opposed it to the end. It left me wondering what else is incorrect there ...where I did not have the knowledge to pick up the error?.
I’ve extracted some segments from the first few chapters of the book that resonated with me below. (My weak attempt at a summary that might be useful to me in the future).
Chapter 1: The Dawn of Ideas – the Empirical Age
The first shift to a Bronze Age society appeared in the Near East, embracing the Levant, Mesopotamia, Egypt and India, around 3300 bc. But it did not arrive at a set, chronological, date everywhere; it is noticed in India from 3200 bc and in central and some parts of Western Europe a century later. In Britain, the Bronze Age arrived around 2150 bc
It is notable that the Beaker folk, who came from the Continent, were assimilated into the cultural heritage of the Ancient Britons rather than replacing them, and there is significant evidence to show that this new metal smelting process was beneficial to all.....The tin mines of what is today the English county of Cornwall became for centuries the dominant supplier of this essential element.
Inevitably, the Bronze Age was replaced by the Iron Age, which took hold in the Near East around 1200 bc, a century later in central Europe, and in Britain by 800 bc.....Smelting was essential for producing the pure metals.....The usual method was to use a charcoal fire to raise the temperature to about 1,000ºC (1,832ºF) for one hour, after which roasted ore and additional layers of charcoal were added....The ideal would have been to produce iron with 1 per cent of uniformly distributed carbon, achieved by mixing wrought iron with charcoal and wood inside sealed crucibles at a temperature of 1,500ºC (2,732ºF). This ‘crucible steel’, forged but never cast, became available in the central and southern parts of Asia around 2,000 years ago.....Brass would not become available commercially in large quantities before ad 1000, primarily in India.....From 1600 bc, vast networks of communication and social interactions were built, providing a pan-European economy, diffusing technology and access to materials, and flattening cultural enclaves into a homogenous continental sharing.
Chapter 2: Understanding Forces – the Scientific Age
Friction is the shear force acting tangentially to a surface, and can be an actual surface or the defined surface within a structure, such as a beam. It is measured as a load factor parallel to the surface on which it operates.....Tensile force per area is measured as to the tensor, which is itself a measure of the stress applied.
If we break it down into its constituent parts, mechanics describes the movement of large objects, and this can extend to fields of science, including astronomy and space travel.
The second law stipulates that the rate of change in the momentum of a body is directly proportional to the force applied....Today, the law is expressed as: the change in momentum of a body is proportional to the impulse impressed on the body and occurs along the straight line upon which the impulse is discharged.
The third law states that forces between two objects are of equal magnitude and opposite direction.
Analytical mechanics, also defines the co-ordinate system, or frame relative to a reference. These are usually set to provide separate, independent co-ordinates to simplify Lagrangian equations of motion.....There are five Lagrangian points of practical use in today’s Space Age–five places where spacecraft or structures can be placed so that they retain their relative position without any need for an action or reaction. The L1 point lies on a line defining the centre of two masses: M1 defining the Sun and M2 defining the earth, where the gravitational pull from M2 partially cancels out the gravitational pull from M1.
By application, Newton’s third law is one of the most crucial for realizing the dream of humankind to travel through space.....This is the law that allows a rocket motor to operate in a vacuum and to propel a space vehicle in the desired direction. In the case of the action, a sustained process of chemical combustion causes an expansion of resulting gases that, if allowed to escape through a directional orifice, such as a jet exhaust, will cause an equal and opposite reaction. As a consequence, the body of the combustion chamber, if attached to another body, will cause the assembly to move in the opposite direction to the vector of the expelled gases.
There is also the presumption that in his work, Newton set down the principles upon which it could be said a fourth law exists: that of the principle of superposition in which forces can be added together like vectors......When written, a function that demonstrates this is known as a linear function and the superposition principle can be known by two properties, one additive, the other homogeneous:
• additive: F( x1 + x2) = F( x1) + F( x2)
• homogeneous: F( ax) = aF( x) for scalar a
Chapter 3: Manipulation of Forces
It was in 1679 that Denis Papin (1647–1713) laid out the working principle of the piston and cylinder engine. However, being a theoretician, Papin failed to make the most of his concept, and it was down to Thomas Savery (1650–1715) to build an engine based on this operating principle.......The erection and assembly of Newcomen’s atmospheric engines thereafter bred a new generation of engineers working not exclusively in the practiced arts of bridge building, farm machinery and boats, but in the practical development of steam as a motive power–for static and mobile machines.....It fell to another Scottish inventor, James Watt (1736–1819), to provide a significant improvement to the Newcomen design and to launch upon the engineering world a range of new concepts that would underpin the expansion of mechanical engineering through science and technology. Watt proposed the concept of horsepower, the SI unit of power and the watt as a unit of power. In all of these things he was to mechanical engineering what Newton had been to gravity, the laws of motion and the inventive process. In 1763, Watt was asked to repair a model of the Newcomen engine that had been brought to the university, and from this detailed examination of its working principle, he came up with an improvement.....Watt decided that the operating principle of the Newcomen engine was limited by the need to repeatedly heat and cool the cylinder, a procedure that wasted most of the thermal energy rather than converting it into mechanical energy.....Watt had worked out that what the engine required was a separate cylinder....In developing this technology, Watt virtually wrote the book on thermodynamics, although he was arguably more a practical man than a scientist.
It is, however, important to appreciate how much of game-changer his invention was, touching so many new techniques and requiring scales of perfection, accuracy and quality that were unnecessary with early Newcomen and Smeaton atmospheric engines..James Watt also gave a lexicon of terms and measuring standards to the new world of the late 18th century....Using the imperial measurements of the 18th century, Watt calculated that a pony could lift 220 lbf (0.98 kN) a distance of 30 m (98.4 ft) per minute over a four-hour working period. He scaled this up by 50 per cent to arrive at the conclusion that 1 horsepower = 33,000 ft lbf/ min.
The first law of thermodynamics expresses a derivative of the conservation of energy, which is in itself a fundamental principle relevant to a wide range of scientific disciplines....It states that the total energy of an isolated system remains the same (hence, it is ‘conserved’) and that energy can neither be created nor destroyed......Einstein showed that matter and. energy are interchangeable and this did not permit continuous creation.
The get-out clause for engineers stated by the first law of thermodynamics, however, is that while the total energy in a system cannot be created or destroyed, it can be transformed from one form to another....As well as the conservation of energy, the first law also embraces the concept of internal energy, which in its relation to temperature has three separate but equally observed elements:
1. Kinetic energy, if the system as a whole is in motion
2. Potential energy, if the system is existing within an imposed field, such as gravity
3. Unique internal energy, which is a fundamental part of thermodynamics
But the essence of the second law states that if two separate and isolated systems, each in thermodynamic equilibrium with itself, are made to interact, they will reach a mutual equilibrium.
The third law of thermodynamics is a statistical law connected to entropy and states that it is impossible to reach a temperature of absolute zero (0 K or Rankine/–273.15ºC) where there is no activity....It presents a reference point for this and, while generally considering it to be the definition of entropy, it has been moved around, entropy itself sometimes standing as the ‘third law’ and sometimes amalgamated with the second law.
the laws of thermodynamics were not written down by one person at a specific time on flashes of inspiration or by trial and error, but rather through the combined and evolving theories of various bodies and institutes over a period of around 150 years. As defined here, the first thermodynamic textbook was written by William Rankine (1820–72) in 1859, bridging the disciplines of physics and engineering
Chapter 4: Mechanisms
Coupled to stress is strain, the measure of the deformation in the material caused by stress, which in mathematical terms is represented by the Greek sigma sign (∑). Understanding stress (by calculation) through knowing strain (by measurement) enhances possibilities for increasing the work potential while minimizing failure, or its propagation....For engineering purposes, stress is expressed through the traction vector T, which is defined as a force F between adjacent parts across an imaginary surface S, the sum divided by the area of S. Stress in a fluid, which is at rest in an Earth gravity environment, is perpendicular to the surface. This is expressed as pressure. With a solid structure, as well as in the flow of a fluid, F is not necessarily perpendicular to S, in which case it is regarded as a vector quality and not scalar.
A gear is not a ratio of output, or a comparative term as to ‘which gear to pedal’. It is a rotating machine with an independent number of cut teeth that creates mechanical advantage through producing a change in torque–which is something we have encountered before.....A worm gear is a circular screw that is placed so that the grooves mesh with the teeth of a cogged wheel, converting motion through an angle of 90 degrees. In fact, there are three types of worm gear:
1. Non-throated worm gears, which have no groove.
2. Single-throated worm gears, with only the worm gear having a groove.
3. Double-throated worm gears, which have both gears throated and therefore accommodates maximum loading.
A unique advantage with the worm gear is that it is non-reversible. Because it is a compact means of decreasing speed while increasing torque, the worm drive is frequently applied to electric motors, which inherently in operation have high speed and low torque....Helical gears have been applied to many different systems: (Picture displaying a parallel (top) and crossed gearing).
The most commonly encountered cam/ follower system is that employed in reciprocating engines (in which pistons connected to a crankshaft move back and forth in a cylinder).
Internal combustion engines employ cam/ follower combinations to operate the inlet and exhaust valves in a precise and co-ordinated manner.....There are many forms of cyclic and epicyclic arrangements, the most simple in everyday use being the hand-spun salad spinner, where the planetary gear moves through an offset alignment.....At the other end of the scale is the rack and pinion, essentially a class of gears or linear actuator that involves a circular gear known as the pinion engaging with a linear gear known as the rack.
The Greeks were fascinated by the different aspects of friction....Basic laws were written down by Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) in 1493, from where the science of tribology emerged, describing friction, lubrication and wear.
There are two types of friction: dry and wet. For our purposes here, dry friction is divided into static friction and kinetic friction.....Dry friction is calculated by the formula: Ff ≤ µFn, where Ff is the force of friction exerted by each surface on the other, µ is the coefficient of friction (the empirical property of the contacting materials) and Fn is the normal force exerted by each surface on the other (perpendicular to the surface)......Two objects moving together and rubbing against each other experience kinetic friction–be they two steel wheels rubbing against each other or a molecule of air rubbing against a ceramic heat tile. The coefficient of kinetic friction is denoted by µk and is characteristically less than half the coefficient of static friction for the same materials......Viscosity is the friction that occurs between two separate and independent fluid layers moving relative to each other.
Chapter 5: A Choice of Materials
The properties of macroscopic materials are of great interest to engineers because only with the appropriate selection of them can machines be made that are capable of surviving in extreme environments–both internally and externally....We can assume here a basic understanding of the underpinning principles behind atomic structure and bonding. Polymers are formed from two types of bonding: covalent bonds between carbon atoms, which form the spine of polymers (monomers); and secondary bonding, much weaker, which is between adjacent polymer chains.
What is an alloy? An alloy is a mixture of two or more elements where the major component is a metal..but where the combination has superior qualities for a given job than either can perform alone.....Some buildings suffering from exceptionally poor broadband discover to their cost that the incoming line is copper!
There are dangers in using titanium; as a powder or in the form of shavings, it is a fire hazard that, when only moderately heated in air, can cause an explosion....Most superalloys used in modern jet engines contain mostly nickel with large proportions of chromium and cobalt.
Utilizing fibres of 5–10 microns, carbon fibre materials have a very high strength-to-weight ratio and a low coefficient of thermal expansion. They are a natural favourite for reinforcing composite materials and are used in filters, electrodes and antistatic devices and products. To produce them, carbon fibres are bonded in crystals with the majority aligned to the long axis of the fibre....When composited with graphite, they form reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC).
Chapter 6: Keeping the Machines Moving
The operating principle of the Carnot engine–the internal combustion engine–where heat QH flows from a high temperature TH furnace through the fluid of the working substance and the remaining heat QC flows into the cold sink TC, thus forcing the working substance to perform mechanical work W on the surroundings, via cycles of contractions and expansions.
The four-stroke engine: The very name of the system implies four separate ‘strokes’ of a piston moving from the bottom to the top of a cylinder: the intake stroke, compression stroke, power stroke and exhaust stroke. It is the regular firing of the cylinders that creates the power to keep the crankshaft rotating with a continuous torque in a steady fashion.
Diesel engines: work by increasing the inside air temperature to a level at which atomized fuel spontaneously ignites. Because there is no physical device to ignite the fuel, the injector sits in the position otherwise occupied by the spark plug in a four-stroke engine. As variations of a basic principle, in-line, radial and rotary engines all played their part in the development of powered flight.
Another application of the heat engine, the air-breathing jet engine is a comparatively recent invention and uses reactive forces defined by Newton’s third law
In the gas turbine: air is moved through a compressor to achieve higher pressure with added energy provided through fuel sprayed into the compressed air, igniting it for a high-temperature flow to drive a turbine, where it is used for work, exhausted gases being redundant.
Whittle’s idea was to take the redundant gas and repurpose it for producing direct thrust through a convergent-divergent nozzle, turning the gas turbine into a reaction engine and using it to propel a flying machine.....German engine designers applied it to achieve the world’s first official flight of a jet aircraft, the Heinkel He 178, which took place on 27 August 1939....The early engines were turbojets, accelerating air to supersonic speeds. Over time, the development of the jet engine has progressed beyond the expectations of many engineers involved in its inception, and has spawned several applications. These include the turboprop engine, where the exhausted gases are used to drive a propeller shaft, diverting only some of the energy into a conventional propeller.
So what’s my overall take on the book? I liked it and learned a lot. Don’t think it really is a degree in a book.....A bit too much to expect. Some annoying editing slips and poorly worded in places. But overall worth at least 4 stars.

[KR · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as an audiobook — which from the outset was a mistake, given the subject matter! But on the other hand, understanding 25% of what I read is still better than never reading the thing, which is what would have happened otherwise, so in that context I think it was the right choice for me.

At any rate. This book struck me as fairly meandering; the ways in which it transitioned between topics were needlessly layered and overdone at times.

I also think that it would have benefitted from more beta reads by true laypeople; there were a few rare things that seemed over-explained, and many more things that were introduced without as much explanation as I would have liked. (Though it’s entirely possible that there were diagrams and sidebars that the audiobook skipped and made no attempt to describe; if so, that’s an issue of adaptation, and perhaps the print book does a better job of things.)

In the end, though, it covers a nice broad range of topics, and I appreciated that it touched on engineering professional ethics and role in society. I learned quite a bit even reading it in the cursory way that I did, and I have a much better understanding of what an engineer actually does than I did before!

[Nick Julch · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not great! The author writes like your worst professor spoke back in school. The content is outlined in a way that you’d think would be inclusive and interesting, yet defeat is grabbed from the jaws of victory. Many chapters barely align with their own titles, the figures are hilariously useless, and the attempt to steer every topic towards his own perspective, interests, and experience is terribly boring. The book starts out fine at best and is weaker every chapter is as the author comes to grips with their own lack of desire or ability to capture the very topics they’ve outlined.

Good idea, poor execution.

One redeeming quality that sadly convinced me to buy the book from the discount shelf while flipping through it:
The captioned pictures were often interesting and well described. Interesting feats of engineering with genuinely well-written blurbs. A book full of these would have been twice as valuable.

[BookCrazy · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an engineering student, I was intrigued when I found this book. I was scared it would be too technical or really vague.

It surprised me. The book manages to blend theory and history quite well, giving a lot of definitions and explanations for the technical concepts without being tedious. It has short chapters so it's easy to digest and can be read in the course of weeks with no issue. It has many graphs and flow charts which I found great to illustrate key concepts.

The book explains in simple terms the technology of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I totally recommend it to people that want to understand a little better the things we're surrounded with or just to refresh everyday concepts (like me).

I read it a Kindle Paperwhite which I think is NOT the best option, there's no color or zoom for the pictures. I'd probably recommend a tablet or paperback.

[Mustafa Cengiz · Rating 1 out of 5]

I want to be clear - it's not because it's the worst book in the world; (that title must stay with "How to Good-bye Depression: If You Constrict Anus 100 Times Everyday. Malarkey? or Effective Way?" by Hiroyuki Nishigaki).

What it is is an overhyped intro into a couple of engineering subjects. Clearly they spent a lot on marketing and cover design, to get these books prominently on the shelves. It's not a degree in a book. Don't be surprised - such a degree takes four years of studies and multiple books on broad topics. I am very disappointed. Don't be fooled by the cover artwork. I would say it's good for people considering doing a degree and not sure if the topics are interesting. It's sadly not useful for students or graduates or professional engineers. 1/5

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Electrical and mechanical engineering has so much cool information in it I wish I could remember it all. There is so much to remember. I did not remember as much as I wanted to. Maybe if I read the book half a dozen times I could not remember everything I wanted to.

There author talks about a lot of people I have never heard of before. And I enjoyed learning about them. I only wish I could remember more.

One thing the author talked about that I particularly liked is the work on fusion reactors. And the discussion about fuel cells was also interesting.

[Pablo · Rating 4 out of 5]

What this is: A great overview of two engineering fields for prospective engineers and interested laymen who have some technical understanding. This would be a great resource for advanced high school seniors considering engineering or undecided college freshmen. The mix is about 70/30 mechanical / electrical engineering.

What this is not: A degree in a book. You will not understand what an engineer understands when you finish the book, nor will you be able to practice engineering. One point off for the title.

[Rosendo Gonzalez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent work great reading

I pick this book for my 2024 choices and I'm glad I did. This information was well put together and if followed along with other source of information and Internet connection surfing capabilities, would definitely take you to a higher level of understanding.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book overall. I liked the format & the amount of topics covered. I learned quite a but it certainly falls into the category of information overload. Also, there were slight hat tips to certain political ideas & I would have enjoyed this more without that.

[Heather Acton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I already have the degree but it’s been a while so I was looking for a holistic refresher. This book met the need. Definitely NOT “a degree in a book” but a great overview of some key concepts and current challenges faced by engineers.

[Timothy D. daly]

lots of mistakes.

Several Time I noticed mistakes in quantities etc. Not good proof reading. Also at the end noticed a distinct prejudice for hydrogen power over all other sources .