Customer Reviews

Systems Engineering Principles and Practice

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have just completed the JHU program in Systems Engineering. This book is the foundation for the curriculum and is a very readable, solid overview of Systems Engineering. All phases of the system life-cycle are introduced and tied together to truly illustrate the process. The book focuses on processes, the tools used will change, but good Systems Engineering will stay the same. The process to derive good requirements that are able to be implemented and tested are the same regardless of technology or field.

Excellent book on Systems Engineering covering Development, Post-Development (Production, Operation and Support), Systems Engineering Management, Software Systems Engineering and Decision Tools on the same book.

I believe it is coherent with its goal: "help students learn how to think like systems engineers".

It is easy to read and has exercises at the end of each chapter.

I recommend it for both students and practitioners.

Book laid out very logically. I bought it for my Intro to Sys Eng class at John's Hopkin's this semester. Not too much fluff in each chapter. Short chapters ~20-30 pages. I can't really rate the quality of the material in the book since this is the only Sys Eng book I've ever read. Seems to be good. My prof said that we would use this book for a lot of courses. Quick shipping, Amazon is where I go for textbooks I don't have to pay for myself.

I am presently using this text in an introductory (graduate level) course in systems engineering. I have been a practicing systems engineer for over 15 years, and I still find this text useful as a reference. I highly recommend this book both as a beginning graduate level text and a practical reference for the working systems engineering professional.

This was a required textbook for a Systems Engineering course I am taking. It is very easy to read and very thought-provoking. Great illustrations.

I've been practicing elements of systems engineering for several years and I was seeking a book that would help me pull it all together. This book definitely attempts to do that, but I found it less satisfying than I had hoped. The book does contain a good overview of systems engineering and touches on most if not all the concepts. As another reviewer indicated, the topic coverage is rather inconsistent. Some topics are covered with a great deal of rather wordy text and some, which are of in my view of equal importance, are skimmed over so briefly it feels like the authors felt compelled to mention them but did so in such a superficial way as to not really add much value, e.g. modeling techniques and methods. On the positive side, the explanations of the concept development process phases and principles were some of the best I have encountered. I have referred back to them on several occasions. In addition, the book was also effective in helping me better understand the role of the systems engineer relative to other engineering and project management disciplines. I often wished the book had contained more straightforward diagrams, but that's really a matter of taste. While I do think this is a useful book, I would recommend trying to get it used or from a library before buying new. Overall, I appreciate the authors writing the book, I just wish they had polished it a bit more.

This textbook is not terrible, but I honestly expected more from a book that is used as the core for a masters level Systems Engineering curriculum. Overall, I rate this as an average textbook.

Pros:
- Each chapter ends with a concise summary.
- Chapters are relatively short and not too bogged down in details.
- For an engineering textbook, the prose is very readable for the most part.
- Lots of examples and illustrations.

Cons:
- Each chapter ends with exercises. However, there are no solutions (not even partial or hints). What good are exercises with no way of verifying that you understood correctly? I consider this a huge oversight.
- The amount of detail is not equal between different subjects of similar importance. Some concepts are breezed through in just a few sentences while others receive much more focus than necessary.
- The writing is not very clear at times. But as noted above, this is to be expected from an engineering textbook.

I assume most people buying this book are buying it for a class. If you are considering buying this book just for fun, I would recommend against it. There are better free resources online.

This book is a great text for those interested in learning or expanding your knowledge of systems engineering. Well presented with sound explanations on the concepts. My company has multiple copies in use. Highly recommended.

Useful in many of my process definition tasks. Essential text for any System Engineer.

Worse book I have ever read. When engineers write books this is what you get, a ton of definitions and poorly structured uninteresting chapters. Learned more from reading online, then I ever got from this book. I don't even think it is worth the paper it is written on. Absolutely terrible, don't buy.