Engineering: A Very Short Introduction

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This is an excellent book for both engineers of all branches and others who may be interested... as an engineer myself I found it a most illuminating read! I am at present reading a number of books on the profession and consider this book very good indeed! Notwithstanding it's shortness it covers some rather fundamental concepts and is at times thought provoking. Full marks to David Blockley.Stewart D. Stanil

Bought for my brother when he was in his first year of engineering. He did look at it a few times but didn’t bring it with him when he moved out a few years later. Suitable for entry level engineers, probably too novice for even a second year student

I want to begin on a positive note by saying that I actually enjoyed reading this book, even though it wasn't at all what I was expecting when I ordered it. It's a pretty fun read, suitable for passing the time when you're not really in the mood for anything heavy, but still want to read something educational. It's pretty easy to read and follow, though the author does wander around quite a bit rather than sticking strictly to the subject at hand, going off on frequent tangents about philosophy, religion, and other matters that seem to have little to do with engineering. Unlike most of the other books I've read in the "Very Short Introduction" series, this book appears to have been written with younger readers in mind -- high school, or perhaps even middle school students -- explaining things in very simple terms that just about anyone should be able to understand, and not going into any of the complex technical details of the subject. The final chapter on systems engineering is a bit more abstract and philosophical than the rest, and might go over the heads of most schoolchildren; but everything else in the book is pretty simple and straightforward.But this simplicity is also the source of my chief complaint about this book: It's far too simplistic to be of much practical use to anyone who wants to learn about engineering as a discipline. In spite of its title, this is really not so much a book about the principles of engineering as it is a book about the history of technology. It's about how technology has advanced over the centuries, and the role that engineers have played in the advancement of technology. If you're looking for a book that explains what exactly engineers do when they design and build roads, bridges, buildings, cars, airplanes, chemical plants, industrial equipment, electronic devices, computers, etc. -- how, for example, they make sure that a structure can support the loads it must bear, or that an engine can safely power a vehicle, or that an electrical device can handle a particular current without shorting out -- then I'm afraid you'll have to look elsewhere. This book just doesn't really discuss these sorts of things in any detail. When I ordered the book, I guess I was expecting that the contents would be more like those in the excellent course on civil engineering from The Teaching Company, "Understanding the World's Greatest Structures: Science and Innovation from Antiquity to Modernity", taught by West Point professor Stephen Ressler, which actually does go into some detail about how engineers design buildings and bridges, including a discussion of how force loads are balanced, the strength of various building materials in tension and in compression, and how structural elements can be reinforced so they don't buckle under stress, among other topics. Unfortunately, you'll find none of these topics discussed in any detail in this little book. That's because this isn't really a book about the sorts of things that engineers need to know in order to build things that work. Rather, it's a book about the sorts of things that engineers have accomplished throughout history. It's not a "how-to" guide for amateur engineers; and it's certainly not a quick-reference guide for engineering students or professional engineers. Rather, it seems to be aimed mainly at schoolchildren who are considering becoming engineers when they grow up, giving them a fairly broad overview of the sorts of things that engineers work on, but not really giving them much of a preview of what they'll need to learn once they go to engineering school. If you're not a middle school or high school student with dreams of becoming an engineer, you still may enjoy reading this book -- at least I did -- but you'll probably find it a bit too superficial to be of much practical use in helping you understand what it is that engineers actually do.

It is a good general introduction to a very large subject. Suitable for anyone, school leaver onwards, to get a view of areas of engineering in general. As the author says the civil engineering can not be included in this short introduction and has to be the subject of another book. The book's explanations are clear and concise and accurate, it even introduces fault-finding. It reminds one how neglected this old profession is, too often looked down upon by a society which is dependent on it for survival.