Customer Reviews

Soil Mechanics (Series in Soil Engineering)

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

 

 

The teory is excellent, this book explains to you everything about soil mechanics, but the practice (examples and exercises) is not so good and sometimes that's what really matters to you.

I used this book in the university and now that I'm working I still use it frecuently because it explains to you very good things in a very easy way.

Another problem of this book is that it might be a little too advance for undergraduate student if it's the first time you ever see soil mechanics, but in general terms it's a good book.

I'm sitting here with my second printing, tabbed and worn copy of Lambe and Whitman that I purchased in 1971 for $16.00. (I have other copies at home.) I've used it as a student, a professor and a working engineer. Every geotechnical engineer should have a copy of it on the desk. It is a primary reference. I consider it to be one of the greatest books in soils ever written, and a wonderful (though dated) graduate level Advanced Soil Mechanics text (though I haven't taught the class in many years). I have also used it as an Intro text but see it as having far more limited value at that level.

It is structured into three parts, Dry Soil, Soil in Hydrostatic Conditions, and Soil in Transient Flow Conditions. Each section is fine independently, but to learn about a topic in depth requires searching in three locations, with the additional requirement of needing to know something about the chapters around the one you are investigating. While you can expect (or require) a dedicated graduate student to use it this way, a student new to soils does not have the depth to use it safely (i.e., it is too easy to miss critical information that is located in a different section.) (On the other hand, I would have loved to have heard Lambe teach out of the book.)

There are a limited number of examples presented where a beginner needs more. The level of technical presentation is appropriate for all levels of engineers from juniors up. It has both theoretical and in-the-field presentations. There are a few errors which may have been corrected in subsequent printings.

Shortcomings though it may have, my respect and appreciation for the book (especially for its place in time) would give it an easy six stars out of five. The ease in which it can be misunderstood by the beginner (as I was when I bought it to supplement my required text) reduces that to four stars overall.

I am currently using this book for a graduate level advanced soil mechanics course. The material is presented in a neat and orderly manner and is easy to understand. The first 8 or 10 chapters provide a good background of soil properties and mechanics, making this book useful at the undergraduate level as well. Lambe & Whitman is definately a worth while textbook and reference.