POWER BOILERS: A GUIDE TO SECTION I OF THE ASME BOILER AND PRESSURE VESSEL CODE, SECOND EDITION.

John R. MacKay and James T. Pillow. Founding authors: Martin D. Bernstein and Lloyd W. Yoder. ASME, Three Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016-5990. 2011. 330 pages. $95; ASME members, $76. ISBN: 978-0-7918-5967-4. This is a completely revised and updated edition of the classic and comprehensive guide to the construction rules for power boilers—their intent, application, and interpretation. This unique guide to the current, 2010 edition of Section I provides expert advice and useful information for design engineers, project managers, architect engineers, manufacturing engineers, boiler operators, insurance inspectors, and other power boiler professionals. It also includes information on other sections of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code that affect construction, with chapters on boiler life extension, repairs, and alteration of boilers under the rules of the National Board Inspection Code.

ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT: SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES, SECOND EDITION.

James A. Fay and Dan S. Golomb. Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016. 2011. 384 pages. $90.48. ISBN: 978-0-47173-989-0. Now updated in its second edition, Energy and the Environment: Scientific and Technological Principles, explores fossil, nuclear, and renewable energy technologies and explains their efficiencies for transforming source energy to useful mechanical or electrical power. The focus is on electric power and transportation vehicles, whose technological improvements increase energy efficiency and reduce air pollutant emissions. The authors also analyze the source of toxic emissions to air, water, and land that arise from energy uses and their effects on environmental quality. Special focus is given to climate change, the contribution attributed to it by energy uses, and the salient technologies that are being developed to mitigate this effect. A bibliography is presented in each chapter for the reader who wants to pursue some aspects of the exposition in greater depth. This book is written for upper-level undergraduate and first-year graduate students, as well as professionals in the fields of energy and environmental sciences and technology.

ENGINEERING DYNAMICS: COMPREHENSIVE INTRODUCTION

N. Jeremy Kasdin and Derek A. Paley. Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 ITW. 2011. 704 pages. $97.52. ISBN: 978-0-6911-3537-3. The authors say their intent is to present an introduction for undergraduate students to engineering dynamics using an innovative approach that is both accessible and comprehensive. The book combines the strengths of beginner and advanced dynamics texts, allowing students to solve dynamics problems from the start and guiding them from the basics to more challenging topics. It spans the range of mechanics problems from one-dimensional particle kinematics to three-dimensional rigid-body dynamics, including an introduction to Lagrange’s and Kane’s methods. The authors aim for an easy-to-read, conversational style that addresses the physics and mathematics of engineering dynamics, and emphasizes the formal, systematic notation students need to solve problems correctly and succeed in more advanced courses. The textbook features a number of real-world examples and problems.

STEEL STRUCTURES DESIGN

Alan Williams. The McGraw-Hill Cos. Inc., 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. 2011. 888 pages. $154.56. ISBN: 978-0-07-163837-1. The purpose of this book is to introduce engineers to the design of steel structures using the International Code Council’s 2012 International Building Code. The theoretical background and fundamental basis of steel design are introduced, and the detailed design of members and their connections is covered. The book provides interpretations of the AISC Specification for Structural Steel Buildings, 2010 edition, the ASCE Minimum Design Loads for Building and Other Structures, 2010 edition, and the ICC  International Building Code, 2012 edition. The code requirements are illustrated with 170 design examples with concise step-by-step solutions. Each example focuses on a specific issue and provides a clear and concise solution to the problem. This book is intended for a wide audience including practicing engineers, professional engineering examination candidates, and undergraduate and graduate students.

THE NEW EDGE IN KNOWLEDGE

Carla O’Dell and Cindy Hubert. John Wiley & Sons Inc., 111 River St., Hoboken, NJ 07030. 2011. 256 pages. $29.70. ISBN: 978-0-470-91739-8. The authors present a source for performance analytics, best practices, process improvement, and knowledge management, while sharing their decades of experience at the American Productivity & Quality Center. This book shows the reader how to implement a proven organization-wide knowledge management strategy. It details the American Productivity & Quality Center’s framework for a knowledge management program, which includes determining an organization’s most critical knowledge, ensuring that knowledge flows where it needs to, selecting the right portfolio of knowledge management approaches, incorporating those approaches into employees’ daily work life, and measuring a KM program and ensuring it continues to add new value. This hardcover book is also available as an e-book.

STEAM COFFIN: CAPTAIN MOSES ROGERS AND THE STEAMSHIP SAVANNAH BREAK THE BARRIER

John Laurence Busch. Hodos Historia LLC, distributed by Independent Publishers Group, 814 North Franklin St., Chicago, IL 60610. 2010. 736 pages. $35. ISBN: 978-1-893616-00-4. There has been some interest in this book among ASME members, many of whom have heard the author speak at local chapter meetings. That’s understandable because the connection between ASME and steam goes back to the organization’s roots. Busch tells the story of the Savannah, the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The title of his book refers to a nickname given to the vessel by skeptical sailors. The Savannah was equipped with side wheels and a steam engine. The ship was limited in the amount of fuel it could carry, so it was a vessel with hybrid propulsion. When winds or currents were adverse, the crew could deploy the paddle wheels and use steam power. But the ship was also fully rigged, and much of the time it crossed the Atlantic under sail. But this was a first, and it happened in 1819. Under Captain Moses Rogers, the ship sailed from Savannah, Ga., to St. Petersburg, Russia, where it stayed a while before returning home. The story of the preparation and crossing is told in detail, as is the subsequent history of the ship and its captain.