Customer Reviews

Introduction to Fluid Power

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
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James Johnson's Introduction to Fluid Power is the kind of book students want. There is a lot to like about this book: First off, the language used is not the "expert talking down to you" tone that many college texts seem to enjoy (and students hate). Each concept is presented in plain, logical, and easy to understand terms. There is no abundance of 10-cent words and aloof language for the sake of sounding superior. That isn't to say the topic is "dumbed-down" at all, it is just easy to read and written in a plain-speaking manner that makes the reader feel like he's listening to a lecture by a competent, knowledgeable, down-to-earth, and enthusiastic speaker. James obviously knows his subject intimately, understands is fully, and knows where students may have confusion or misunderstanding and he works hard to make it clear as to what is right and what is wrong. It is rare to find an instructional text where the author remembers what it is like to be new to the topic, outside of the "For Dummies" series and similarly styled books. This book possesses that level of intuitive simplicity. This is the clearest and easiest to read and understand college text that I have ever used.

Additionally, the illustrations are superior to any other book I've ever read for school. They are all in full-color, many are shaded to look 3-D, and they are liberally used. If a concept needs more than one illustration to show how a mechanism works, then you will see more than one illustration. Little is left to the imagination, and there is little margin for reader error in interpretation. Also included are full-color photographs of many of the devices discussed. The book is exceptional in this respect. Also, in terms of design, it is nice that every page has a liberal margin in which to take notes. Occasionally a small color photograph will appear in these margins. With all of this color and the numerous illustrations it would be easy for this book to come across as cluttered and garish. The book thankfully avoids this pitfall. The layout is wonderfully designed and the color schemes are subdued and understated.

The only complaint to be had with this text is that, being a first edition, it contains a fair share of typos, misprints, and improper labeling in illustrations. Despite this, any competent Instructor should be able to spot and correct the errors as they occur, and they will very likely to be fixed by the second edition of the book.

To sum-up: this book is exceptional; language that is easy to read and understand, numerous wonderful full-color illustrations, elegant easy-on-the-eyes design and layout, and topics that are presented logically, and explained completely. Every aspect of this text screams quality, and no expense was spared to make it as good as it is. It manages to avoid nearly every pitfall that a typical college text falls prey to, especially those in the technical realm. My only complaint is that I wish I owned a second-edition with the typos and various errors fixed. Current and future authors of college and instructional texts take note: you could learn a thing or two from James' effort.

I am an Senior Hydraulics Engineer and spend a lot of my time designing, analyzing and simulating hydraulic circuits for the Oil and Gas industry. There are many excellent books on the market on Hydraulics and this book is definitely something that I keep on my active reference list.

The Author has done an excellent job in covering a large aspect of the Hydraulics core subjects with excellent diagrams, pictorials, pictures and worked examples. He also provides a component level analysis. From a very objective perspective, I will recommend this book to those who are seeking beginning to intermediate level studies / self-learning of hydrauluics. Initially, one gets the feel that the book is very fundamental, but as I have read through the book, it is more than a book on fundamentals.

This book is a very good book for the fluid power student as long as they have a little algebra under their belt. Covers subjects well without a lot of empty reading and pretty easy to understand.

The only problem I have with it, there is no glossery and the index is not very complete. Other than that this is a book I will definitely keep for a reference guide down the road!

The book was perfect for getting me up to speed. I knew nothing before reading it. It was very easy to read with great supporting diagrams. It was probably the best "Introduction" books I've seen on the subject.

This is a good beginner's book. I've been on a search to get my hands on a good book to teach hydraulics at the college (undergraduate) level. The images are clear and colorful but in my mind, overly simplistic. A person taking a course in hydraulics has the engineering expertise to decipher a higher level graphic that can depict the functioning of systems to a higher degree.

The text is very easy to read, it flows well and the author has written this book with the assumption that the reader is a novice at fluid power. A book by Johnson focused on a higher level of understanding would be a great college book.