By Mary Grace Stefanchik

The series of three articles on “The Unwritten Laws of Engineering,” which concluded in the December 2010 issue, is based on a book of the same title that is one of the most popular texts published by ASME Press.

The book is a compilation of three articles written by W.J. King and published in 1944 by Mechanical Engineering magazine. ASME compiled the articles and issued them later that year as a book, which has been a perennial classic.

The author, William Julian King, a one-time General Electric engineer, retired as a UCLA engineering professor in 1969. He died in 1983.

The Unwritten Laws of Engineering was reissued in a revised form in 1994. The current edition of the book is a 2001 revision by James G. Skakoon.

When Skakoon introduced his revision, he wrote that King “mined and cut a little gem, and I am privileged to have been able to reset it.” The book has proved so popular with engineering students and with practicing engineers that it is available at a discount in sets of 10 copies.

ASME Press publishes high-quality professional and reference books, handbooks, non-ASME conference proceedings, and advanced monographs in selected subject areas of interest to mechanical engineers and others in allied disciplines. Unwritten Laws is not the only book offered in sets by ASME Press. Other popular titles available in sets are Energy Choices: A Guide to Facts & Perspectives and The Elements of Mechanical Design.

Single copies of Unwritten Laws in book form are available for $15 ($12 for ASME members). Discounted sets of 10 copies are available for $77 (or $7.70 per copy) for course or training use.

The Web link for single copy orders (order No. 801624) is http://catalog.asme.org/books/PrintBook/Unwritten_Laws_Revised.cfm.

The link for discounted sets of 10 copies (order No. 80162S) is http://catalog.asme.org/books/PrintBook/Unwritten_Laws_2.cfm.

Energy Choices is available for $75 for a set of 10 copies at http://catalog.asme.org/books/PrintBook/Energy_Choices_Guide_Facts_2.cfm.

The Elements of Mechanical Design, $99 for a set of five copies, can be ordered at http://catalog.asme.org/books/PrintBook/Elements_Design_Package_ten.cfm.

ASME Press also takes orders through the ASME toll-free number 800-843-2763 (800-THE-ASME) or by e-mail through the customer sales department at infocentral@asme.org.

Mary Grace Stefanchik is the manager of ASME Press.