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Book reviews for "Mechanic,_David" sorted by average review score:

Excess Heat: Why Cold Fusion Research Prevailed
Published in Paperback by Oak Grove Press (15 May, 2000)
Authors: Charles G. Beaudette, David J. Nagel, and Arthur C. Clarke
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the definitive reference
As a journalist covering cold fusion, I turned again and again to this book to check or confirm facts, data, dates, chronologies, and other details and have found it to be the definitive resource in the field. Written by an engineer and vetted by scientists who participated in cold fusion research, the book is an indispensable guide to anyone interested in the history, data, issues, and future of this subject. Recommended without reservation.

Truth in Science: Future University Required Reading
I have read this book, "Excess Heat". I simply could not lay it down until I had finished it entirely. During the process of reading it, I kept repeating to myself (and my captive wife) how excellent a job "this man" did on setting down in philosophically logical terms the convincing facts and logic of the science of cold fusion. At one point I remarked to my wife that "this man" must have taken Apologetics in college and received an "A" mark, but then I remembered that such courses might not have been offered at our Alma Mater (MIT). I was impressed with the way the heretical errors developed, flourished and were brought out in clear plain logic in the book. I want to humbly congratulate the author on such a masterful account of what has happened in this important field. I predict this book will be required reading in some of the "truly best", finest universities in the future. Historically, it will be recorded that Beaudette wrote the truth at a time when science was a bit confused and not quite willing to accept it right away. Slowly it will gain momentum, understanding and finally acceptance. Congratulations on a book that is very well written with class, authority, and no doubt, with hard work, the old fashion way: a book for all seasons.
Dr. Michael R. Staker, P.E.

Excellent book
This book is a magnum opus on this fascinating field. Together with Fire from Ice : Searching for the Truth Behind the Cold Fusion Furor by Eugene J. Mallove, this is one book you really need to read. Not only because it is highly interesting, and a great work and example of what really good scholarship means, but also because it is very readable, detailed, honest and accurate. It provides a excellent insight about the early days of cold fusion, the confusion, and the later shortsighted, stupid rejection of the entire field by scientific establishment and mainstream media. The latter can be forgiven, they have no knowledge nor interest in the truth, but the scientists are really to blame. As you can see from previous reviews posted here by exceptional great minds like Arthur C. Clarke, prof. Bockris, and others, this is no joke at all. This is pure, honest, cutting edge science. This is the frontier thinking and research that made our age of technology possible. This is the science the world is needing so badly. Mr. Baudette has done a excellent job of presenting the fact and history of this exciting field of science. For people like him, and like Mallove, Clarke, Bockris, Pons & Fleischmann, and many, many others, I personally have the deepest respect. The truth will come out, one day. Let the critics state one desperate non-argument after the other - this is stuff is for real, and it's here to stay, boys and girls! And it's going to change our world for the better - sooner than you think. I wish I could rate this book 6 stars.


Fundamentals of Aerodynamics (McGraw-Hill Series in Aeronautical and Aerospace Engineering)
Published in Hardcover by McGraw-Hill Higher Education (01 January, 1991)
Author: John David Anderson
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Excellent Aerospace Engineering Reference
This excellent book is full of examples and equations to help students relate to the fundamental concepts in an introductory aerodynamics class.

The book is especially useful for reference, as it explains the derivations and many forms of complex equations such as the continuity equation. Furthermore, there are lots of examples of real-world design situations and historical backgrounds.

Overall, one of the best books I have used in my undergraduate aerospace engineering curriculum.

Excellent book!
Great book for first and second semester aerodynamics. Especially the sections on supersonics and hypersonics. Links the technical and historical aspects of aerodynamics to give a very good global perspective of the subject. Anderson also provides "roadmaps" which tend to help the reader stay on track as to where the discussion is going. Those are especially helpful for technical books such as this one.

Fundamentals of Aerodynamics
This book is one of the best written books I have. This book is well-organized, clearly written and easily understood. Each chapter contains a road map to keep the reader well aware of the proper flow of ideas and concepts.


Conformal Field Theory (Graduate Texts in Contemporary Physics)
Published in Hardcover by Springer Verlag (1996)
Authors: Philippe Di Francesco, David Senechal, P. Di Francesco, and P. Mathieu
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This is a great book for beginners to learn CFT.
This book is really well done. It introduce the theory of conformal fields in a really pedagogical way so that any person not familiar at all with the subject can enjoy it. The review of quantum field theory and statistical mechanics at the begining is excellent and it is of great help if you haven't work with these subjects recently. The book is also filled with many basic applications that make the theory closer to real life.

Congratulations for this nice book!

A definite "must have" for those interested in CFT.
This book is a fine contribution to the literature on conformal field theory and will no doubt become one of the standard references on the subject. It is well worth the price as it gives a comprehensive introduction to the subject. Chapter 5 is a good discussion of local conformal invariance and clears up some of my own misunderstandings of this invariance. The later chapters discuss affine Lie algebras and algebraic considerations in detail.

Very complete, the reference in the field
Probably the best book to introduce you to conformal field theory. It starts from basics and go up to coset constrcutions, WZW models. More than a textbook, it is a necessary reference!


New Foundations for Classical Mechanics
Published in Paperback by Kluwer Academic Publishers (1987)
Author: David Hestenes
Amazon base price: $134.00
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Great for physicists, okay for others
This is a great introduction to the Geometric (Clifford) Algebra. It's fundamentally a physics textbook, however. Those readers whose only desire is to learn the Geometric Algebra might feel some frustration at having to separate out the Geometric Algebra from the physics. Readers that prefer learning by exploring applications and examples will like this book; those that prefer explanations in the abstract will still enjoy many sections, but will have to make it through the more applied sections to get the full story.

Reading the book and working through the problems gives a firm grounding in the use of the Geometric Algebra and teaches classical mechanics besides. I could easily recommend this book as a physics textbook on its merits in that area alone.

Excellent place to start learning Clifford Algebra.
A briliantly pedagogical introduction to Clifford Algebra as a unified algebraic language for Newtonian Mechanics in three dimensions. The book is full of applications and nonstandard approaches which simply cannot be found anywhere else. This is essential reading for anyone interested in Clifford Algebras or who wants a deeper appreciation for classical mechanics. This is a lot of book...

Math making sense
The entirely new approach to the mathematical treatment of familiar Physics situations. A very useful tool for a Physisist.


Proofs and Confirmations : The Story of the Alternating-Sign Matrix Conjecture
Published in Hardcover by Cambridge University Press (1999)
Author: David M. Bressoud
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Fantastic!
Everyone wants to know what mathematicians do should read this book. Yes, only very few among people can get familiar or endure gorgeous complicated formulas here, But even scan or skim this book one will learn much more than he predicted. The goal of this book is simple enough: To prove a conjecture (surely when proved, it becomes a theorem) But the structure and details are well selected and carefully designed. First it introduces and explains the original problem, than talk about it's history, how it does connect with other branches of math, what these branches is about, and what the other mathematicians do on this conjecture, and at last the most exciting: how these results all bringed together and then solve this 20-year-long famous conjecture in combinatorics. There are exercises after every chapter. so this is NOT merely a history survey (as most books do). Indeed it is a textbook and contains some very excellent introductions to some branches(for example, plane partition). And I think this is THE correct style to populating mathematics--- Do not afraid of formulas, just show readers the signs, the terrible formulas, show them how and what mathematicians study and think! Every student major in mathematics should read it, and it surely is a must-have for reseachers in combinatorics.

Amazing book on how mathematical research is done
This book tells the story of one of the more important areas of research in algebraic combinatorics in the last few years. Not only does it tell the story of how the relevant conjectures were proposed, and how they were eventually proved (including some of the blind alleys and several cases where surprising connections were discovered), but it also contains a beautiful exposition of the relevant mathematics, at a level which a reader with no more than a reasonable background in linear algebra can follow. The history is fascinating and the mathematics is beautiful. If you want to know what research in mathematics is really like, this is the book to read.

Massterpiece of Mathematical Exposition
Dave Bressoud tells, in his wonderful gripping style, the fascinating recent history of the proof of the alternating sign matrix conjecture, and the not-so-recent background that lead to it. The book can be read on many levels, and is full of fascinating historical tidbits. This book is a must to anyone who wants to know how math is actually done, and who wants to share in the excitement of discovery.


Hypersonic and High Temperature Gas Dynamics
Published in Hardcover by American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (2000)
Author: John David Anderson
Amazon base price: $84.95
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an excellent first book for high temp gas dynamics
This book in conjunction with Anderson's "Modern Compressible Flow with Historical Perspective" will give you and excellent fundamental background in high temp gas dynamics. I think the third section alone of this book (which introduces stastical mechanics, kinetic theory, chemically reacting flows, equilibrium and nonequilibrium flows) is worth the price.

another hit from john d anderson
I just finished reading an old edition, whihc is late 80's and it's incredible, I can't wait to get this new edition. If you like aerodynamics and are interested in space re-entry vehicles, for sure you should have this book in your personal library.


The White Plague: Tuberculosis, Man, and Society
Published in Paperback by Rutgers University Press (1987)
Authors: Rene J. Dubos, David Mechanic, and Jean Dubos
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Blah
blah blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blah

A social study of science
DuBos et al examine the social aspects of the TB epidemic, along with some of the biological factors. They show how TB was romaticized, how it was portrayed as a demon coming to rob the healthy of life, and how it sparked scientific invention - in particular the stethescope. The introduction is wonderful as it lays out the basic parts of the book. Words of advice: this book is best read as a whole from beginning to end, as the authors build on the arguments they make in past chapters.


Elementary Engineering Fracture Mechanics
Published in Hardcover by Kluwer Academic Publishers (1986)
Author: David Broek
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An Excellent Book
It is certainly one of the best books on Fracture Mechanics. The book is very well structured for graduate level courses. Also, unlike a lot of books on Fracture Mechanics, the concepts are presented with an emphasis on their practical applications.


Extended Irreversible Thermodynamics
Published in Hardcover by Springer Verlag (2001)
Authors: Jose Casas-Vazquez, Georgy Lebon, and David Jou
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thumbs up
This is a thorough book on irreversible thermodynamics.

It is at the level of advanced text suitable for researchers.

It goes beyond the classical irreversible theory
of Onzager and others, by introducing closed equations
for higher order fluxes. The equations are more complicated
than the ones assuming local equilibrium but the complexity
is necessary in order to capture the essential physics.

It has an introduction to local equilibrium assumptions, as well as, to the rational extented thermodynamics methods.

There are easy going chapters on kinetic theory foundations
(even relativistic one).

The more general framework of generalized hydrodynamics
has its own chapter.

There are special chapters on applications of the abstract
theory as for example polymer fluids

The book is clear and will help even students (although at a graduate level). The mathematical depth is accesible throughout the text.

Overall the book makes a very nice study. I would recommend it to the curriculum of every Physics Dept. I hope that many dept administrators will realize that with today's policies of leaving
outside the physics education large chunks of classical physics,
but including applications to biology and astronomy (which should be done in the respective depts) the concept of PHYSICS as a BASIC science has WEAKEND considerably. It is time for a policy
reversal. Books like this can show the way and congratulations
to SPRINGER for publishing them.


Flow Measurement: Practical Guides for Measurement and Control
Published in Hardcover by ISA - The Instrumentation, Systems, and Automation Society (2001)
Author: David W. Spitzer
Amazon base price: $155.00
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Everything you need to know about flowmeters
This is the only book I know of that thoroughly explains every flow measurement technology. If you ever buy or specify flowmeters, it's a great reference to have.


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