Customer Reviews

Space Transportation: A Systems Approach to Analysis and Design (Aiaa Education Series)

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This book has taught me that one should never order a book only on the basis of its table of contents. I made this mistake with this book because I had other AIAA Education Series books and I consider many of them as the most useful books in my collection. However, this is not the case of �gSpace Transportation: A System Approach to Analysis and Design�h. I think that the mandate of the AIAA Education Series should be to introduce students and/or young aerospace engineers to methods for solving problems. But how can a book help in this if it does not contain a single equation in more than 700 pages? Another problem is that, although the book covers extremely diverse subjects (form �gCommercialization�h , p.151, to �gAntimatter-Based Propulsion Concepts�h, p.628), only one author, Dr. Hammond, is credited. It is reasonable to think that he cannot be an expert of all the subjects treated in the book. Sometimes the book appears to be compiled more on the basis of a (superficial) collection of references, than of the author�fs personal knowledge and experience. One example is Section 9.4 (Optimization Strategies and Applications), where the author puts in the same list both optimization algorithms (e.g. gradient methods, genetic algorithms) and formulations (e.g. collaborative optimization). This is someway equivalent to put in the same list �gapple pie�h (recipe) and �gsugar�h (basic ingredient). I could do other examples like this. I can concede only that this book may be useful as a quick reference, considered the wide scope of subjects it treats. In conclusion, have a look at the book before buying it and consider �gSpace Mission Analysis and Design�h by Jim Wertz as an alternative.