The book is very well written and understandable. The illustrations and photographs are top notch. I would recommend this book to anyone seeking knowledge about cylinder heads and the modification there of. Many of the techniques illustrated in this book can be applied to other types of cylinder heads with favorable results. I would like to see an update to this book that would include porting information on some of the many new cylinder heads and manufacturers that have hit the market since this book was published.

As with many of David Vizards books this one exceeded my expectations. It opened new avenues of thought regarding head modifications and then proceeded to explore those avenues thoroughly. Mr. Vizard is one of the few that shares his knowledge in a manner that very few do. To many "experts" under estimate our ability to learn and understand, or else they don't want to go through the bother. Mr. Vizard does so in a very convincing manner. Thanks for all the horsepower, torque, and reliability, David. This book covered porting, hardware, modification in your own shop, and can be utilized to any level you wish. I keep returning to it to advance in my own practice.

I have been searching for a book like this for years! It contains everything you need to know to be able to successfully port your own cyclinder heads. David Vizard has done an excellent job of explaining, in a language that most people should be able to understand, the principles of cyclinder head design and how they function. I HIGHLY recommend this book, and all other books David has written (I own all of his books, and not one has disappointed me).

Ernst denBroeder

Vizard's Book is an excellent reference and text book for anyone who wishes to learn how to maximize the performance of any engine. It is an unnasuming text that does not assume a certain level of Knowledge, yet allows one to stretch and grow with it as one gains knowledge and understanding.

Starting with simplest and cheapest mods and then expanding to more exotic upgrades.

David Vizard also ellaborates on downsides of various upgrades in the from of decreased reliability and or economy.

One downfall to the book is lack of coverage of fuel injection.

Reference in book is to Vol 2, for further info on such systems, yet attempts to locate vol 2 has been unfruitfull

This book is a must read for anyone who wants to do any tuning work on their car whatsoever. This is a rare book because the author is actually in possession of a flow bench and chassis dyno which allow him to test all of the ideas presented. He debunks a number of myths about how to actually get more power out of your engine. He also gives some coverage to just about every kind of modification you can make to your engine and gives you an educated opinion about whether or not it is worth your time. The general focus of the book is on American V8's, but I found that all of the informatoin was general enough to apply nicely to my Italian V6s and German inline 4 cylinder cars. The format of the book leaves a little bit to be desired (As do the photos) but the material is so good that it becomes irrelevent. If you are not interested in actually tuning your car but just want to know how it is done, you should still read this book: it's a good one.

This book covers every major engine component and is a great primer on combustion theory, while being very easy to read and understand. Diagrams, drawings and photos tell you what to do and why - or why not to do it. Mr. Vizard presents everything within the context of what is practical and worthwhile for "streetability," vs. what else might make sense for all-out racing performance. What a great book for anyone who wants to add HP, even those with no idea where to begin!

I bought this book as a supplement in my graduate stat mech course. I found that McQuarrie, while thorough (in a good way), lacks chapters on thermodynamics and starts off at a high level. Plischke, while encyclopedic, and equally modern, lacks much of the explanation and "physical insight" found in Chandler's presentation. I'm enjoying the text and working through the problems (get the solutions manual, even though its incomplete). There is a lot to be learned from this well written text. It is certainly a valuable resource to any physical scientist.

A clear, concise explanation of statistical mechanics. Some people may complain about the "concise" part--in many cases, mathematical exercises are left as exercises to the student. However, this practice allows the reader to really understand the material by doing, not just reading. I learned stat mech for the first time from this book, and only examined other texts (mcquarrie or hill) afterwards.

This was a great book. It covered the important material and left out all of the extra garbage that most books carry on for pages about. The presentation was done using clear mathematics and modern, easily followed notation. The book is short making it practical to actually read the entire book if you are extremely busy. We used the book in conjunction with Hill. I don't recommend Hill because it is hard to follow.

Mr. Wright has done a very nice job with this book. It is an excellent overview of the automotive industry and a good all-around automotive book (especially for anyone interested in the automobile). The title tells it like it is. It is obvious a lot of work went into the Snap-on Corporation history, and can be appreciated as well. I have thoroughly enjoyed this book and have made reference to it in the Snap-on Collectibles book as an excellent source for information on Snap-on's history. Mr. Wright's book makes a nice addition to any automotive or Snap-on collectors library.

I think its a great book and I thought it deserved more then one revei

This book, first published in 1968, is the one I used as an undergraduate for a first course in quantum mechanics and one that I used to teach such a course. It introduces the subject from a physical standpoint but does not hesitate to use the appropriate mathematical tools, without getting too involved in the structure of Hilbert spaces, which might be too overbearing for the typical undergraduate. A familiarity with ordinary linear differential equations and Fourier series is assumed, along with some knowledge of special functions. The author therefore treats mainly the quantum mechanics of one-dimensional systems, but motion in three dimensions is also discussed in the last three chapters of the book. It is also assumed that the student has a background in classical mechanics the covers the Hamiltonian formalism. It would be helpful of course if the student has had a prior course that discussed elementary quantum phenomena, such as a sophomore-level course in "modern physics". The goal of the book is to introduce students to bread-and-butter calculations in quantum mechanics, and not to entice them to think critically about the subject, or propose alternatives to it. Due to space considerations, I will only review the first 6 chapters of the book.

The first chapter of the book endeavors to explain the historical origins of quantum theory and its need to explain various experiments that could not be resolved using "classical physics". These include the equipartition theorem, the stability of the atom, and the photoelectric effect. The move by Max Planck in 1901 to introduce "energy quanta" solved the equipartition problem and introduced the quantum theory, the success of which is now well-established and has had enormous consequences for physics and technology. Interestingly, the author engages in a little philosophical speculation in this chapter, holding to the idea that quantum theory is based on constructs removed from experience, such as state functions and observables. The origin of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle is then discussed as a consequence of the nature of quantum observables as being discrete in nature. The wave nature of matter, the de Broglie hypothesis, is discussed in the context of the Davisson-Germer experiment.

Chapter 2 attempts to explain the nature of state functions and their interpretation, this being done in the context of the famous statistical (Born) interpretation. The principle of superposition of state functions is discussed, and care is taken to differentiate the probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics (the relation between interference and superposition) from that of classical statistic mechanics. The double slit experiment is discussed as a thought experiment, and no mention is made that this experiment has never been done in the way described (using electrons). The author also uses wave packets as a way of making the correspondence between quantum and classical descriptions of a state. Current research on quantum decoherence and quantum chaos was not available at the time of publication, and so the author is (justifiably) comfortable with using wave packets to make this correspondence.

In chapter 3 the author studies linear momentum in quantum mechanics and uses the state function to describe a particle with a definite linear momentum. Interestingly, and importantly, he uses symmetry considerations to deduce the form of this state function. After superposing many such state functions, Fourier transforms are then brought in to find the form of this superposition in position space. The origin of the momentum and position operators then follows nicely.

The motion of a free particle is considered in chapter 4. The form of the frequency dispersion relation in momentum space is derived using the correspondence principle, giving the familiar Planck relation. This derivation is dependent very strongly on the particle being free (and the author understands this), for if one attempts to do this in more complicated situations, such as in classically nonintegrable systems, it becomes very complex, involving highly esoteric mathematical constructions. The Schrodinger equation for the free particle is then derived later in the chapter.

The Schrodinger equation for a particle under the influence of a conservative force is the subject of chapter 5. The Schrodinger equation is represented first as an operator H that acts on a state function and gives its time derivative (multiplied by Planck's constant times i). The author proves right away that because of probability conservation, H must be Hermitian. He then uses the correspondence principle to identify H as the total energy. Using again the Fourier transform, the author derives the Schrodinger equation in both configuration and momentum space. The reader can see the equations becomes an integral equation in momentum space, and the equation is much more complicated than the free particle case, due to the influence of the external force. The technique of separation of variables is then used to find the stationary states and the energy spectrum. More general mathematical considerations occupy the rest of the chapter, wherein the author finds the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of a Hermitian operator, studies what it means for a set of operators to be complete, proves the uncertainty principle for a general observable, and discusses the basic postulates of quantum mechanics.

Chapter 6 is an overview of the quantum-mechanical states of a particle moving in a potential. Symmetry principles make their appearance here, via the classification of states according to their parity. The author then studies the bound states of a particle in a square-well potential. He then gives a detailed treatment of the harmonic oscillator in one dimension using the method of power series and the method of factorization. The latter method introduces the all-important creation and annihilation operators. And even more importantly, the author studies the motion of a wave packet in the harmonic oscillator, introducing the propagator or Green's function, and then showing the existence of minimum uncertainly wave packets, the famous "coherent states". Then after a discussion of the purely quantum-mechanical phenomena of tunneling through a barrier, the author ends the chapter with a discussion of the numerical solution of the Schrodinger equation.

This text is really clear and, most of all, makes you think. It derives every formula and everything seems logical. Understanding this book enables you to tackle many problems, and prepares you for a grad course (I used Ballentine and Sakurai, the first 3 chapters).
I really liked it.

This book is an excellent compliation of articles written for mathematicians who want to understand quantum field theory. It is not surprising then that the articles are very formal and there is no attempt to give any physical intuition to the subject of quantum field theory. This does not mean however that aspiring physicists who want to specialize in quantum field theory should ont take a look at the contents. The two volumes are worth reading, even if every article cannot be read because of time constraints. All of the articles are written by the some of the major players in the mathematics of quantum field theory. Volume 1 starts off with a glossary of the terms used by physicists in quantum field theory and is nicely written. The next few hundred pages are devoted to supersymmetry and supermanifolds. A very abstract approach is given to these areas, with the emphasis not on computation but on the structure of supermanifolds as they would be studied mathematically. There is an article on classical field theory put in these pages, which is written by Pierre Deligne and Daniel Freed, and discussed in the framework of fiber bundles. The discussion of topological terms in the classical Lagrangian is especially well written. There is an introduction to smooth Deligne cohomology in this article, and this is nice because of the difficulty in finding understandable literature on this subject. Part Two of Volume 1 is devoted to the formal mathematical aspects of quantum field theory. After a short introduction to canonical quantization, the Wightman approach is discussed in an article by David Kazhdan. Most refreshing is that statement of Kazhdan that the Wightman approach does not work for gauge field theories. This article is packed with interesting insights, especially the section on scattering theory, wherein Kazdan explains how the constructions in scattering theory have no finite dimensional analogs. The article by Witten on the Dirac operator in finite dimensions is fascinating and a good introduction to how powerful concepts from quantum field theory can be used to prove important results in mathematics. A fairly large collection of problems (with solutions) ends Volume 1. The first part of Volume 2 is devoted entirely to the mathematics of string theory and conformal field theory. The article by D'Hoker stands out as one that is especially readable and informative. D. Gaitsgory has a well written article on vertex algebras and defines in a very rigorous manner the constructions that occur in the subject. The last part of Volume 2 discusses the dynamics of quantum field theory and uses as much mathematical rigor as possible. One gets the impression that it this is the area where it is most difficult to proceed in an entirely rigorous way. Path integrals, not yet defined mathematically and used throughout the discussion. The best article in Volume 2, indeed of the entire two volumes is the one on N = 2 Yang-Mills theory in four dimensions. It is here that the most fascinating constructions in all of mathematics find their place. These two volumes are definitely worth having on one's shelf, and the price is very reasonable considering the expertise of the authors and considering what one will take away after reading them.

These articles are great. Fills the ubiquitous need to retract the gap between then conceptual and rigorous framework of the subjects.

Physicists interested in the mathematical aspects of quantum field/string theory would do well to read these volumes as well.

Deserving, in my opinion, more than 5 stars -- many more!!

I don't know how to explain about that but this book's really the best.

Let me recommend this book to you, if you are interested in soil mechanics, numerical modelling, and if you try to understand soils well.
Critical states soil mechanics is a popular framework for the recent developement of many soil constitutive models. This book is a step by step exploration of this framework, especially Modified Cam Clay model, both conceptually and numerically. The stress-strain-strength behaviors of cohesive and cohesionless soils under drained or undrained condition can be quantitively determined using this simple model. More sophisticated models in the current research front, for example, MIT S2 model, bounding surface models, are all shadowed within critical state concepts.
Overall, it is a book about a very useful elasto-plastic soil mechanics model. It uses some fundamentals of elasticity and plasticity. You may meet a little bit mathematics there, but that is almost trivial compared with that used in solid mechanics and theory of plasticity.

Well written classic supersonic theory, but "flavor" of numerical methods is given only : I think a college textbook of that price should give more than just flavor. Classic supersonic theory is not complete and needs to be integrated with other prior classic books (i.e. Ferri, Aerodynamics of supersonic flows). Overally, a little disappointing about the quantity of information given.

As it must be, this book is heavy in math, yet does not treat the subject just from a mathmatics point of view. It is filled with illustrations, photographs and commentary to help explain the subject matter. The only thing that seems to be missing is a math symbols list! It's a good text, well written and worth the money.

This book was an indispensible study tool for my PhD qualifying exam in high temp gas dynamics. Before reading this book I had never had a formal compressible flow class and I think that it covers the fundamental concepts of frozen compressible flow very well. If you don't have an excellent understanding of normal and oblique shocks, expansion fans, nozzle flow, blunt body flow and shock tubes after reading this book, you haven't been paying attention!

I thought this book covered conduction and convection heat transfer well, but I thought a better job could have been done on the section about radiation heat transfer. Perhapes more examples of radiation problems could have been used to make the subject more clear. I thought the mass transfer sections were well written and easy to understand. The solution guide to the problems are not available to the students. As with all engineering books, I think the solution guides should be available to the students to promote quicker and more efficient learning.

This is an excellent text for the heat transfer novice, both as a supplement to a class and as a personal teaching tool. The writing is easy to understand, and the chapters are arranged logically. The examples are well chosen and usually demonstrate how the theory and equations can be put to good use.

I have only two complaints about this text: There are far too few sample problems (and no problems with only answers provided) and the mass transfer is not taught in a useful way. The prior is a failure of many text books, but the latter is a major drawback. Incropera and Dewitt basically say "Mass transfer is the same as heat transfer, except use these units and equations." All of the mass transfer is tucked into a few chapters, as if it was an afterthought.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in the fundamentals of heat transfer, but look elsewhere for a useful introduction to mass transfer.

This is the best all around book on heat transfer I have come across. I have owned the 3rd edition for nearly 10 years and refer to it almost daily in my job (doing heat transfer and fluid flow analysis for a semiconductor equipment company). The theory is clearly explained and well illustrated by many worked examples. The extensive tables of thermal properties in the back are nearly worth the price themselves. I don't think the serious student of heat transfer can go wrong with this book.

It's understandable and forgivable when the first or even second-edition of a technical book has some errors. However, when a book has reached its third edition, one should expect a relatively error-free and comprehensive reference. This book is an insult to the scientific method and to the tenets of decent technical writing. Considering only the part of this text that would be covered in a first course in continuum mechanics, even a cursory inspection reveals major theory errors as well as lazy typesetting, grammar, and editing issues that simply aren't acceptable for books in this price range. For instance...

* The index is only five pages long! It's missing absolutely essential entries like: coordinates, e-delta identity, invariants, gradient, velocity, velocity gradient, Stoke's theorem, and thermodynamics. The index is also missing several other terms (such as pseudo stress vector) that students would need to look up because they appear in the exercises.

* The reference list is anemic -- a rich and well-developed field like continuum mechanics deserves more than just 19 supplemental resources. Omission of Mase and Mase is unfortunate because those authors have greatly contributed to continuum mechanics texts for beginners.

Naturally, any introductory book on a complicated topic will, at times, provide the reader with some key equations without providing a proof. However, whenever a proof is omitted, the reader should AT LEAST be told where the proof can be found. For example, this textbook cites the conditions of compatibility for finite deformation without stating any reference book or journal article where the advanced reader (who, by this point, has learned to doubt the typesetting skills of these authors) can go to double check the equations.

* Discussion of the physical meanings of various strain measures is inexcusably fouled up. In the paragraph above eq 3.24.4, the cross-reference to eq. 3.25.2 should instead point to 3.24.2. Two equations below eq 3.26.8, the denominator is missing a factor of 2 and wrongly uses S instead of s). One equation above eq 3.26.9a, there should NOT be a 1 in the first term on the right hand side. Incidentally, the fact that these authors give equation numbers only for the equations that THEY themselves cross-reference is frustrating. OTHER PEOPLE might want to point to equations in this book -- having to say "the equation two lines below the authors' numbered equation" is awkward.

* In the section on transformation laws, eq. iii should NOT have a prime on b.

* The solution to exercise 7.8 (b) is missing a factor of 3 (probably other solutions are wrong too).

* The authors understanding of rotation and their proof of the polar decomposition theorem are seriously flawed. Their formula for the rotation expressed in terms of an angle and axis (in exercise 2B29) is wrong - it doesn't even give R=I when the rotation angle is zero. They claim in numerous locations (e.g., end of section 2B10) that improper orthogonal tensors are reflections (this is a common error - any proper rotation followed by a reflection will be an improper orthogonal tensor that is NOT a reflection). The authors clearly do not understand that symmetry and positive definiteness are requirements that must be IMPOSED in the polar decomposition - neither property is a consequence. They don't explain that a symmetric positive definite tensor has an INFINITE number of square roots, of which eight are symmetric, and only one is also positive definite. They prove that R is orthogonal, but fail to prove the theorem's assertion that it is PROPER orthogonal. Earlier in the text, the authors state that they will use the notation U for any deformation gradient that is symmetric; subsequent text clearly shows that they are presuming that a symmetric deformation gradient a stretch, which is false. To be a stretch, U must be additionally positive definite (a deformation gradient diagonal with components 1, -1, -1 is symmetric, but certainly not a stretch, and this example has negative eigenvalues, invalidating the authors claim immediately following their eq 3.20.2c)

* At the beginning of section 2B18, the authors state that a real symmetric tensor has "at least" three real eigenvalues. At least?? Are there more? They should have said "exactly three" (for a 3D space, of course).

* In the section on the rate of deformation tensor, the authors fail to prove that this tensor is not really a true rate. Here is a fact that lots of people know, but don't really understand and certainly don't know how to prove. Modern books in continuum mechanics need to discuss it.

* The authors present conservation of mass in the kinematics section, which is not correct. Kinematics is the mathematics of motion. Conservation of mass is a physical principle of Newtonian physics.

* Above eq 5.3.2: Cross reference to Problem 5.1 should be to Problem 5.2

* Eq. 3.28.6: Authors fail to give the proper name of this important relationship (Nanson's relation).

* Exercise 2B40: uses the word "principle" where "principal" is needed.

* After Eq. 3.30.7: Subject verb agreement ("The components... is called)"

* In example 3.1.2: Straightforward is ONE word, not two.

* Exercise 4.12: period and comma in a row ("For any stress state T., we define...")

* Eq 4.10.8a: Misplaced tilde in typesetting, and indistinguishable tilde in subsequent text. Same problem preceding eq 3.4.3.

* Eq 4.10.6b: "jm" needs to be a SUBSCRIPT.

* Exercise 3.31: typesetting is so juvenile that the authors used a superscripted lower case "o" to denote degrees instead of using the professional choice: the degree symbol. Professional typesetting conventions (e.g., italics for variables) are inconsistently enforced throughout this book.

* Exercises 2D4 and 2D5: missing plurals on "coordinates"

* Example 2B3.1: "Given that" should be replaced by "Given"

Granted, the comments in the above list transition from egregious errors to minor oversights, but the scientific community should DEMAND technical and editing perfection from a book on a classic subject that is in its third edition. Either that, or the purchase price should be set at a value that is consistent with this book's sloppy execution.

Note: this review covers ISBN 0750628944 paperback version.

This is the best text that I have found for introducing continnuum mechanics and tensor notation to students. I have used this text in both Continuum Mechanics and Elasticity courses. Very clear explanations and examples to make the student proficient in conntinuum mechanics. I would love to see it expanded to include metric tensors and Christoffel symbols.

I have used this book in Dr. Lai's into to elasticity class at Columbia University. It is chock full of well written text and many example problems that are worth looking at! I finally understand what eigenvalues and eigenvectors are good for!