Customer Reviews

Schaum's Outline of Machine Design

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

 

 

This is the book I reach for first. The scope is broad, the presentation is readable, and it is full of well chosen, practical example problem solutions. The illustrations are clear and informative - not just filling up the pages with useless photographs and mind-numbingly silly captions as some of the other authors in the field have done.

Hall, Holowenko and Laughlin have covered all the standard topics, as well as the other writers on machine design. And the price is reasonable.

I just purchased one of these, unseen, having had good luck with Schaum's outlines before.

I was shocked to see that it hasn't been updated since 1961! That's 45 years McGraw-Hill. Surely you've sold enough of these in the 34 printings to justify updating it a couple of times per century?

Most of the content looks current. Some of it, for instance, how fatigue is calculated, sizing of bearings, safety factors, etc., is clearly outdated. There may be other topics which are also outdated -- and this is the big problem -- you don't know which of your calculations is wrong when following this book. For an engineer it isn't acceptable to hope your structural designs are safe, and citing a reference that hasn't been updated in almost half a century isn't going to be much of a defence if anything goes wrong. While most of the material is probably still correct, using this book without knowing what is right and what is wrong would be a form of professional "Russian Roulette."

Machine design is still widely taught, in fact, ABET has increased the requirements for design content in mechanical engineering programs in recent years, increasing the potential market for a book like this. It's too bad that McGraw-Hill doesn't recognize the market for a modern version of this book. It would be very helpful to students and practicing engineers alike. Due to the risks involved in using this old version, however, I don't recommend it.

I'm using this as a supplement in a class where the professor is not always easy to follow. The worked problems are really helping me. I wish there was some info on Mohr's Circle though. That would make this book go hand in hand as a study guide for Machine Design.

The sciences underlying machine design are college-level mathematics (trigonometry, calculus, ODE) and physics, with emphasis on kinematics, statics, dynamics, strength of materials, thermodynamics, and fluid mechanics. Thus machine design is really a kind of capstone course for mechanical engineers.
This book is primarily useful as a source of clear examples of various aspects of machine design with completely worked out solutions plus additional solved and unsolved problems to help you get through a class in machine design or to help you review if you haven't touched the subject in a while. It could never stand alone as a tutorial in this subject due to the broad amount of background material. The author takes note of this by providing a mechanics review quiz for the student at the beginning of the outline. It is suggested if the student does not score over 90% that he/she should review the necessary background material before attempting to proceed. The outline then manages to touch on every aspect of machine design in a detailed fashion. The book concludes with a chapter of suggested projects, because after all, the goal of a machine designer is not to design and analyze gears, bearings, and brakes, but to take this knowledge and design an entire mechanical system. The first few projects cue you with questions a designer would need to ask himself/herself, but later projects just give the problem statement and allow the reader to construct the project as he/she sees fit. Among the projects are a water level automatic control, one man passenger elevator, and a lawn mower. Some of the names of these projects really show the book's age, but they are still worthwhile exercises that test the student's knowledge of machine design. It is a very old book, but the laws of physics haven't changed in 30 years, so it is still a useful Schaum's outline. I highly recommend it.

The picture posted of the book was of a much newer edition of the book. It misrepresented the listed item.

Just as good as the other Schaum study guides - must have for any students ME library. I keep it at my desk at work.

I use this book as a supplement for a Machine Design Class. The book is easy to understand and there are equations presented there that are not in my textbook.

If you see this book look like a recently review, but is false. The book is an older edition with ligh blue covers and obsolete methods of solve problems, some problems have graphical solution per example. I will not recoment to buy it; is out of time, is from 1961, you really, do not have a use for it. Per example, for fatigue the best theory is Modified Godman Line.