Vector Mechanics for Engineers: Dynamics [Hardcover]

Ferdinand Beer (Author), Jr.,E. Russell Johnston (Author), William Clausen (Author), Phillip Cornwell (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0073212202 | ISBN-13: 978-0073212203 | Publication Date: May 9, 2006 | Edition: 8

The new Eighth Edition of Vector Mechanics for Engineers: Dynamics marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Beer/Johnston series. Continuing in the spirit of its successful previous editions, the Eighth Edition provides conceptually accurate and thorough coverage together with a significant addition of new problems, including biomechanics problems, and the most extensive media resources available. Text comes with an outstanding media package which includes, Hands on Mechanics, ARIS Homework Management System and YourOtherTeacher.Com .

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Born in France and educated in France and Switzerland, Ferd held an M.S. degree from the Sorbonne and an Sc.D. degree in theoretical mechanics from the University of Geneva. He came to the United States after serving in the French army during the early part of World War II and had taught for four years at Williams College in the Williams-MIT joint arts and engineering program. Following his service at Williams College, Ferd joined the faculty of Lehigh University where he taught for thirty-seven years. He held several positions, including the University Distinguished Professors Chair and Chairman of the Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics Department, and in 1995 Ferd was awarded an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree by Lehigh University.

Born in Philadelphia, Russ holds a B.S. degree in civil engineering from the University of Delaware and an Sc.D. degree in the field of structural engineering from The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He taught at Lehigh University and Worchester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) before joining the faculty of the University of Connecticut where he held the position of Chairman of the Civil Engineering Department and taught for twenty-six years. In 1991 Russ received the Outstanding Civil Engineer Award from the Connecticut Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers. .

Bill holds a B.S. degree in engineering mechanics from Lehigh University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in engineering mechanics from the Ohio State University. Bill is a registered professional engineer specializing in structural dynamics and vibration measurements. He taught for thirty years and served as vice chairman in the Department of Engineering Mechanics at the Ohio State University and has also taught in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Phil received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Texas Tech University in 1985 and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1987 and 1989 respectively. His present interests include structural dynamics, structural health monitoring, that is damage detection in structures using changes their vibration characteristics, and undergraduate engineering education. Phil spends his summers working at Los Alamos National Laboratory where he is a mentor in the Los Alamos Dynamics Summer School and he does research in the area of structural health monitoring. He has received an SAE Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award in 1992, the Dean�s Outstanding Teacher award at Rose-Hulman in 2000 and the Rose-Hulman Board of Trustees Outstanding Scholar Award in 2001. Phil is on the executive committee of the Mechanics Division of the American Society of Engineering Education. . .

Product Details

• Hardcover: 784 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math; 8 edition (May 9, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0073212202
• ISBN-13: 978-0073212203
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #372,598 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Horrible, January 8, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Vector Mechanics for Engineers: Dynamics/Windows (Hardcover)

This book is horrible. The concepts are loosely introduced, you see variables all over the place without understanding what they mean. The explanations are also very weak. The author seems to be all over the place. For someone taking a first year dynamics course, this book may not enable you to understand the key principles. The examples are are very poor and do not prepare you to the end of chapter problems. SAVE YOUR MONEY AND DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very solid and important text, May 14, 2000

By 

Engineer (Chattanooga, TN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vector Mechanics for Engineers: Dynamics, 6th Edition New Media Version Wit H Sealed Software; (Hardcover)

Very few books provide solid material like this one (Meriam's is an excellent one too). In fact I have become interested in mechanics after I was Introduced to this text for the 1st time in 1984. Recently, I started to collect and work all the editions of this book. This text requires a skilful instructor that can present the material in a way worthy of this text. please do not hate this text if you really want unsurpass knowledge in mechanics, because there are many "engineering mechanics" texts around you that teach nothing.

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Too difficult, March 18, 2003

By 

Elim Garak (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vector Mechanics for Engineers: Dynamics (Hardcover)

Without doubt, this is the worst textbook I ever had the misfortune to read.

I used it for a rushed 1st year dynamics course, and found the book utterly useless. The concepts are scattered and are introduced using complicated mathematics, some of which is beyond 1st year level. Even simply trying to read through the verbal explanations is near impossible for beginner students, simply because of the depth of knowledge required to do so.

The problems, while plentiful, are simply too difficult. Original thinking is one thing, these problems require something else entirely. I realise, of course, that textbooks must be challenging in order to maintain academic standards, but this book goes too far, to the point where students end up discouraged from the subject simply because the concepts are so difficult.

While I maintain the greatest respect for Mr Beer, as I am sure that he is a brilliant engineer (his book is testament to that), the text is simply too in-depth. For future editions, I recommend that he go through the book and greatly simplify both the language and the problems.

Until this book is simplified, I recommend the Hibbler Dyanmucs text to any other students out there.