More of a primer on critical thinking than simply a textbook on social problems, Dorn, Anderson and Baker have created a eminently useful and rewarding collection of excercises and articles in this newest edition of their popular text.

While this book was never used in any classes I took, I did take an undergraduate critical thinking class in the Sociology department at CSU Sacramento at the same time that Dean Dorn was teaching there. I think he integrated some of what Andy Hiken, who taught that class, used; the structured and extensive frameworks for critical thinking excercises and other bits and pieces of the curriculum. I have read this text and others that use a similar model and find that the Dorn/Baker/Anderson book is useful, rewarding and especially interesting for use in an undergraduate environment.

I use this book in most of my Engineering classes because it contains so much information and explains it in ways that make sense to anyone. The older editions have a nicer, more comprehensive index in the back but contain just as much information.

I used this book (7th Edition) as the standard text for my Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering - I took all the electives in Manufacturing Engineering and so can say I covered a very broad range of topics in some depth.

This book is - to say the least - comprehensive. Not only did I find it an easy but thorough reference while taking my courses, I still frequently refer to it over 10 years later. I can honestly say that it is rare that I have to go outside of this book to look up details on basic manufacturing and machining processes.

A real benefit to the way the book has been written is the extensive use of photographs and diagrams to illustrate just about every point (often several to a page). When you are trying to understand real world problems like manufacturing this is essential.

In fact, I would go so far to say as if you are just someone with an inquisitive mind that likes to tinker with machine tools then you'll find this book useful. There have been plenty of times when I stumbled upon something while researching another topic and had a "so that's how they do it" moment.

You won't find extensive theory in the book - if you need to do theoretical calculations on strength of materials etc then you will want to look elsewhere. If you are interested in the practical details of manufacturing processes then this is the one for you. Perhaps thats the reason why this volume gets all the use and my theory books stay in the basement!

By the way, it's a real tome - over 1100 pages in the 7th edition - I'm sure there have been revisions in the 8th edition but haven't seen it yet. Even though it's expensive this book has paid itself off many times over for me.

good work on the part of author......