Customer Reviews

Machine Design: An Integrated Approach

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

 

 

The book has excellent procedure and theory development and explanation. The end of the chapter problems need extreme help. The questions are redundant, unclear, and are built upon from answers of previous chapter problems, sometimes requiring answering a question from chapters 2, 4, 5, and 6 to get a final answer in a chapter 7 question. Many answers in the back of the book are incorrect, about (50%). Looks like Norton had his TA do his problems.

Norton is an awesome resource. For students going to college it may seem overwhelming. But it is the MOST up to date text on the market on the subject of Machine Design. While taking the PE exam I compared Shigley vs Norton on information, and Norton had all the answers. The author has done a monumental job in bringing the vast spectrum of Machine Design in a very well composed book. I have yet to come across a resource like Norton. In fact, I recommend this book to practicing engineers. Almost every section of the book has real world value. Its worth having on the shelf. I was always into Shigley but Norton is more in line with industry practice as opposed to academic excercises as presented by Shigley.

The best review for this book is in the autor's preface:
"This textbook is designed to be an improvement over those currently available and to provide methods and techniques that take full advantage of the graphics microcomputer. It emphasizes design and synthesis as well as analysis. Example problems, case studies, and solution techniques are spelled out in detail.
While this book attempts to be thorough and complete on the engineering-mechanics topics of failure theory and analysis, it also emphasizes the synthesis and design aspects of the subject to a greater degree than most other texts in print on this subject. It points out the commonality of the analytical approaches needed to design a wide variety of elements and emphasizes the use of computer-aided engineering as an approach to the design and analysis of these classes of problems."

If you really want to learn and understand mechanical design, Mr. Norton is generous, he teachs everything there is to know. The chapters introduction it's something beyond you can expect from an engineering book. You must have it...

This is a good book, but an incorporated CD for the book, and a more in-depth explanation in certain areas would make the book even better.

The book has a lot of information but lacks many explanations. The book includes numerous machine design examples, "many are repeated or the author reused them for other examples" and key machine design information which displays various concepts and applications.

But overall, it is a good Mechanical engineering machine design reference book.

This book is great, it includes lots of information, many examples and real case studies that show you how these concepts can be applied. There is a ton of information in this book and defiantly a great source to have for reference. I did get a CD in mine, and seems to work just fine.

As for the downsides, many examples are repeated. vice grips, certain setups of shafts, etc. This is annoying because it doesn't express diversity.

also there are a lot of vague questions, with not very well stated parameters. If the professor understands and embraces this then it is good because it allows you to do some real design engineering where you have to make assumptions. again the prof has to understand this as your answers may vary due to assumptions. I had to learn to annotate my answers to describe every step and assumption.

overall it is a good book, but seems to lack explanation in a couple areas, but much better than the last book i used, Theory of Machines and Mechanisms by John Joseph Uicker. that book is no good!

The best book I used during college. In depth, detailed, with plenty of quips and pictures to keep the kin-esthetic mind chugging along.
I had the privilege of being taught by the man himself (Bob Norton) for a other classes, and his jubilant and excitable teaching style and depth of knowledge is clear in this book.

It's the only machine design book I've owned, so i have no comparison, but it fit well into the course I was taking with it. Everything is well illustrated, and clearly explained.

I purchased this book only because Nortons book was required for a Machine Elements class I'm taking. I am not particularly fond of the text though because I feel Norton in ineffective at explaining the material, so I would suggest another book if possible.

This book is, without a doubt, the best text book I have ever purchased. The author is so clear. Information is presented in such a way that chapters may be read out of order, for the most part. The author provides more relevant support example and sources than any author I have read, and he does so in a very fluid way. This book is easy to read. It provides all relevant mechanical design information in an extremely clear way. I would buy anything this author writes or recommends.