Customer Reviews

Machines and Mechanisms: Applied Kinematic Analysis

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I just recently taught a class using this book. I did not choose it. I really wanted to like this book, but I have several major problems.

1) Errors. This book has way too many errors. I found at least a dozen, several of them critical.

2) Homework. The homework has too many difficult problems with very messy geometry. I would rather keep the geometry simpler and focus on learning the material, not figuring out some tricky angle.

3) Explaination. Several critical sections are not well layed out and lack clear explaination.

The reason why this book was chosen was that it uses graphical kinematic techniques for dynamic analysis - something that is getting rarer these days.

The book is not the best book for the job. The book assumes you know your geometry. If you don't know your geometry, then be prepared to spend long hours finding the angles you need to get the problem done. I was lucky to know my geometry, but still had long nights.

STUDY TIP: work in groups, where at least one person is good with geometry. Just about every chapter requires geometry.

Also, some of the answers in the back of the book are wrong. Don't spend useless time trying to get the same answer. If your professor is good, hopefully he'll give you points for your work if you're the wrong one.

Once you get the hang of the problems, it's not hard. Oh and the book does leave out chunks of info, but it assumes you know how to combine equations to solve for what you're looking for.

Someone please tell your teacher to go over problems from the homework similar to the actual homework than copying and pasting the example problems on the board. It doesn't help when you'll be staring at the same textbook examples in the book and your notes when it comes down to the homework.

Buy the solutions.

One of the worst textbooks I have ever owned. the "step by step" instructions are missing huge gaps, and it reads as if you already know the subject and you just need a "fresher up". I had a teacher teach kinematics by just using this textbook and it was a lot harder than it needed to be.