Customer Reviews

Reliability Theory and Practice (Dover Civil and Mechanical Engineering)

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Igor Bazovsky's 1961 Reliability Theory and Practice is newly available in a reprint edition by Dover Publications (2004). Once again, Dover should be thanked for restoring to availability a classic which, while dating to the earlier years, in this case, of reliability analysis in engineering, presents the field in exceptional clarity. Dover provides this service, moreover, at a price which is a small fraction of what most technical textbook publishers would charge for an exact reprint of even a forty-year-old textbook, or of what some used booksellers would demand for a remaining original edition in a discipline such as applied statistics (often much more than a new book would cost!). Contemporary texts frequently become mired in mathematical formulae, without presentation of a coherent, concrete idea of the area, so that is difficult to see the forest for the trees. Bazovsky's text is outstanding in explaining what reliability engineering and analysis is all about, in well-written, well-paced, well-organized, ordinary language. In order to fully understand the formulae which Bazovsky presents, one must have sufficient command of algebraic and exponential functions, some exposure to calculus, and an introductory level familiarity with statistics. Just the same, one could take the formulae on faith, and gain a substantial awareness of the issues and methods of reliability analysis, providing a decent foundation for more a more contemporary treatment of the field. Somewhere between, where many readers may be poised, the author presents in a logical, practically motivated exposition the fundamental ideas of reliability engineering, from simple failure rates, to more complicated systems, progressively introducing at a manageable pace such concepts as wearout, early failure, replacement strategies and policies, and series of components. Unlike authors who may initially introduce a subject in language accessible to a novice but rapidly change to an exclusive emphasis on complex mathematical relationships, Bazovsky maintains a conversational tone throughout, with explanation in plain language remaining dominant, even as progressively more complicated ideas are presented in symbolic language. Where formulas are presented, a rare balance is maintained between excessive derivational detail and a sincere effort to carry the reader along without undue frustration. The author's clear objective is to bring the reader along and to teach effectively, with concern for the student's developing understanding. Thus, this work remains an outstanding introduction to reliability theory and, thanks to Dover, can continue to provide a guide to those who are weary of an ethic of avoiding patiently-presented explanation and concrete, numerical examples which often seems to be de rigueur for professional self-respect among contemporary authors in quantitative applications.

I was fortunate enough to find this gem of a book in a used bookstore, and it quickly found a place among my favorite technical references. Like so many engineering texts of the late 1950's and early 1960's, Bazovsky's concise treatise masterfully balances technical thoroughness with readability. The technical content is all there, but presented in prose that is clear and accessible to a wide range of technical readers.

Kudos to Dover for re-printing this masterpiece, and offering it at such an affordable price!

As correctly stated in the previous reviews about this book, we are dealing with a dated work ( first edition is dated back 1961...). Nevertheless the Bazowsky's work is, as matter of the fact, a masterpiece really well written and easy to read.

I bought this book with the aim of giving a theoretical frameset to the reliability tests we performed on the product we build in our factory with the goal of developing a judicious risk assessment for some kind of failures we observed during the lab tests and from the final users in the market, and I discovered in it much more.

Starting with the realibility concept and definition, passing through whareout and Chance effect the "reliability" subject is completely developed.

Peculiarly interesting are chapters 18-19 ("Reliability Design and consideration" and "Design Analysis examples"). Also chapter 8 ("Early failures and the life function of components") and 17 ("System maintenance, availability and dependability") are interesting by offering the reader immediately practical application.

Since the reliability science had a big development momentum in the Electronic component manufacturing/assembly industry you will find that most examples came from that background but it is not so difficult to abstract the theory in the field you work or you want to generalize about.

Finishing, this book as the rare quality of being complete: both from the theoretical and the practical point view. Since the theoretical stand point is well developed a strong mathematical and statistical background is needed for fully understanding the paperwork. Be aware of this. But the fatigue is well compensated with the results of having a clear picture of the subject. 5 stars with no doubt even If compared with the really low price of this new paperback edition.

I was very lucky to find a hard cover still from international series in engineering, Prentice Hall, space Technology Series.
A book of 1961 with 29 chapters: chapter 1, The concept of reliability, chapter 2 the definition of reliability... indispensable to those that want to have a good understanding of what is reliability.
Then it goes chapter by chapter in a very organized pace. It is well written and there are concepts covered that still are missed in actual reliability books.

It is rare and it is a must have.

First of all, I was new to the reliability concept and ideas. To be honest, this is a great book for undestanding the reliability issue. The math involved gets heavy - good for any math freak out there. But if you are looking for implementation of all the calculations, you can have a leap of faith and just use the formulas in there.

The thing I enjoyed and liked the most is that Bazovsky breaks through the reliability concepts so smooth that you can fully understando the principles behind the formulas, and how these principles could be implemented.

Any way, there is need to some basic maths knowledge in order to fully understand what Bazovsky is talking about.