{"data":[{"id":21,"title":"Introduction to Probability","edition_statement":"2nd edition","volume":null,"copyright_year":2006,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Free Documentation License (GNU)","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":"","accessibility_features":[],"description":"Probability theory began in seventeenth century France when the two great French mathematicians, Blaise Pascal and Pierre de Fermat, corresponded over two problems from games of chance. Problems like those Pascal and Fermat solved continuedto influence such early researchers as Huygens, Bernoulli, and DeMoivre in establishing a mathematical theory of probability. Today, probability theory is a wellestablished branch of mathematics that finds applications in every area of scholarlyactivity from music to physics, and in daily experience from weather prediction topredicting the risks of new medical treatments. This text is designed for an introductory probability course taken by sophomores,juniors, and seniors in mathematics, the physical and social sciences, engineering,and computer science. It presents a thorough treatment of probability ideas andtechniques necessary for a form understanding of the subject. The text can be usedin a variety of course lengths, levels, and areas of emphasis. For use in a standard one-term course, in which both discrete and continuousprobability is covered, students should have taken as a prerequisite two terms ofcalculus, including an introduction to multiple integrals. In order to cover Chapter 11, which contains material on Markov chains, some knowledge of matrix theoryis necessary. The text can also be used in a discrete probability course. The material has beenorganized in such a way that the discrete and continuous probability discussions arepresented in a separate, but parallel, manner. This organization dispels an overlyrigorous or formal view of probability and o?ers some strong pedagogical valuein that the discrete discussions can sometimes serve to motivate the more abstractcontinuous probability discussions. For use in a discrete probability course, studentsshould have taken one term of calculus as a prerequisite. Very little computing background is assumed or necessary in order to obtain fullbenefits from the use of the computing material and examples in the text. All ofthe programs that are used in the text have been written in each of the languagesTrueBASIC, Maple, and Mathematica.","contributors":[{"id":3758,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Charles","middle_name":"M.","last_name":"Grinstead","location":"Swarthmore College","background_text":"Charles M. Grinstead, Professor, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Swarthmore College."},{"id":3759,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"J. Laurie","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Snell","location":"Dartmouth College","background_text":"James Laurie Snell, often cited as J. Laurie Snell, was an American mathematician. A graduate of the University of Illinois, he taught at Dartmouth College until retiring in 1995."}],"subjects":[{"id":35,"name":"Applied","parent_subject_id":7,"call_number":"QA37.3","visible_textbooks_count":48,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/applied"},{"id":13,"name":"Engineering \u0026 Technology","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"TA145","visible_textbooks_count":119,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/engineering"},{"id":7,"name":"Mathematics","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"QA1","visible_textbooks_count":177,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/mathematics"}],"publishers":[{"id":3,"url":"http://www.dartmouth.edu/~chance/teaching_aids/books_articles/probability_book/book.html","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:36.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:36.000-05:00","name":"American Mathematical Society"}],"formats":[{"id":6,"type":"PDF","url":"https://math.dartmouth.edu/~prob/prob/prob.pdf","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":7,"type":"Hardcopy","url":"https://www.ams.org/bookstore-getitem/item=IPROB-S","price":{"cents":6000,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":6,"reviews":[{"id":248,"first_name":"Tomasz","last_name":"Gorecki","position":"Visiting Professor","institution_name":"Colorado State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book consists of 12 chapters, 3 appendices with tables and index. It is designed for an introductory probability course, for use in a standard one-term course, in which both discrete and continuous probability is covered. This book covers a little bit more than I would normally cover in a probability class (Markov chains and random walks) and omits nothing that I would normally cover. All subject areas address in the Table of Contents are covered thoroughly.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The book is mathematically accurate as far as I can tell. Examples are worked out in full detail throughout the text. In the earlier version were some mistakes, but have been corrected (errata is available on the website). All of these errors have been corrected in the current web version.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content is as up-to-date as any introductory probability textbook can reasonably be. In terms of longevity, the fact that the text of the book is stored in LaTeX ensures that the text will be useful for a long time to come. Updates will be straightforward to implement. There are over 600 exercises in the text. There are exercises to be done with and without the use of a computer and more theoretical exercises. A solution manual is available to instructors from website (odd-numbered exercices) or from the authors. In the text the computer is utilized in several ways: simulation, graphical illustration and to solve problems that do not lend to closed-form formulas. All programs used in the text have been written in TrueBASIC, Maple, and Mathematica. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I think that the text in this book is extremely clear, which is great for a first course in probability. It helps a large number of figures illustrating the discussed ideas. Authors have tried to present probability without too much formal mathematics but without sacrificing rigor. They have tried to develop the key ideas to provide a variety of interesting applications in normal live. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is consistent in its terminology, both internally and globally.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The text is divided into small subsections with separate exercices for students to read (there are easily be used as modules). ","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The organization is fine. The book presents all the topics in an appropriate sequence.  I expect that instructors using this book would be using the material in the presented order (maybe Combinatorics first).","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"The interface is OK. I didn't experience any problems. The lack of color graphics even in digital version (few times authors use light blue color). I reviewed using the pdf version of the book. This does not have a linked table of contents, which would allow direct access to the sections. I wish the pdf file had this functionality. The lack of hyperlinks is somewhat troublesome.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found no grammatical errors in this textbook (but English is not my native language). It is very well written.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"No portion of this text appeared to me to be culturally insensitive or offensive in any way, shape, or form.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I think that this textbook provides a great introduction to probability! With such textbook available to students for free, I do not see any reasons to force my students to purchase a different textbook. My only complaint concerns the software. I would have preferred programs to be written in the language R.\r\n\r\nThere are numerous very interesting historical comments in the text.","created_at":"2016-01-07T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2016-01-07T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":846,"first_name":"Huimin","last_name":"Chen","position":"associate professor","institution_name":"University of New Orleans","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book covers the fundamentals of probability theory with quite a few practical engineering applications, which seems appropriate for engineering students to connect the theory to the practice. Each chapter contains realistic examples that apply probability theory to basic statistical inference and naturally connect to the Monte Carlo simulations and graphical illustration of the probability distributions and probability density functions. Students with basic calculus and discrete math can easily follow the development of probabilistic modeling and important properties of the popularly used probability distributions. Only the ergodic Markov chain and random walk appear challenging for the undergraduate students to comprehend without the formal introduction of stochastic process.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I do no see any apparent error in the examples covered by this book.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The book can serve as an introduction of the probability theory to engineering students and it supplements the continuous and discrete signals and systems course to provide a practical perspective of signal and noise, which is important for upper level courses such as the classic control theory and communication system design. The material seems up-to-date and may be appealing to students with experience of Matlab to simulate various random events including the Markov chain and random walk covered in the later chapters.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is well written with many interesting exercise problems for students to enhance their understanding. It would be nice to provide a few solutions to the selected problems.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The terminology and framework used in the book are consistent.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The book can be divided and/or regrouped easily to fit the need for self-study. The discrete and continuous random variables and popularly used distributions can be summarized in separate tables (e.g., putting in the appendix). ","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The book is well organized with coherent logical development. It would be nice to add a brief introduction to continuous time and discrete time stochastic processes before introducing the Markov chain and random walk.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The book has many index terms but not available for click-through in the electronic format.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I do not see any grammatical problem.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I do not see any cultural issue in the examples used to demonstrate the probability theory.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This is a very nice introduction book to probability theory without using axiomatic and/or set theoretic coverage of the probability. It contains many interesting examples to demonstrate how to apply a probabilistic modeling or statistical procedure to study the real world phenomena. The integration with some software (such as Matlab) would provide better visualization of the random events, distribution and statistical properties of the random variable/process. ","created_at":"2016-12-05T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2016-12-05T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1210,"first_name":"Hasan","last_name":"Hamdan","position":"Professor of Statistics","institution_name":"James Madison University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book covers all areas in a typical introductory probability course. The course would be appropriate for seniors in mathematics or statistics or data science or computer science. It is also appropriate for first year  graduate students in any of these fields.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The book is very accurate.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Content is up-to-date. In fact, the way simulations are used to illustrate important concepts in probability and statistics \n is now more relevant that ever ! the emerging focus on computing and computing-related areas like the field of Data Science and Data Analytics or Big Data makes this book and important textbook or resource. So, this is the right book or resource and No Need to Re-invent the Wheel!!!!","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is very clear and smooth. Everything is classic or traditional except few places where I noticed a difference of what I am used to see: the authors used a unique notation, m(x),  for the  distribution function (cdf)  in the discrete case compared to that for the continuous case.  Also,I am not sure that  the selected  vector and complement notations  are commonly used.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book is consistent and the material flows nicely! the important concepts are introduced and revisited many times  and sometimes different ways! I love the connection made with other areas! I love the use of Paradoxes.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Modularity is another major strength of the book! Although the material is nicely connected but but once can easily select to cover certain parts and skip others without creating  gaps or difficulties in the students leering. The flow of the coverage and   the nature of the probability area help in this matter.  \nYou can easily treat or cover the discrete random variables separately and select the related material without any difficulties. You can do the same thing for the continuous case. You can leave some of the challenging examples that include some of the paradoxes that maybe challenging for students! \nYou can also easily and smoothly teach or assign the history and development of the selected  topics as reading s without making it as a part of the graded  course!","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Overall, the material is presented in a smooth way! but that is not necessarily the order I would go with when i cover these topics.\nOf course that is a matter of style, depending on the audience, I think it is easier to teach the material in Ch10 (moment generating functions), then may be add a section about movements.   I would probably slightly  modify it. I would point at few other things later!","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The book is free of any interface issues.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The book is written with examples and problems  that are very relevant to the culture we are in. Examples form the business world (examples include insurance coverage and insurance-related problems, gambling and lottery, sports, etc.)","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Yes, I  have specific comments that maybe useful to the authors: \nFirst: Thank you:\nThank you for writing such a  wonderful book.  It is very clear,  that the standards you held are really high and the timing of the book is unbelievable appropriate!  with the new emerging  statistical fields, this book should be used in the core courses!\n\nSecond: I have few specific suggestions/few typos  that maybe useful. If you are interested, please let me know.","created_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1299,"first_name":"Steve","last_name":"Schoenbaechler","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"Miami University (Ohio)","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"There is a table of contents that breaks up the chapters into subtopics, also.  There is an index.  Not much depth in some areas.  There isn't much talked about with certain graphics, aka defining histograms and pie charts.  Hypothesis testing is limited.  There are no solutions in the back of the book to the chapter problems.  Correlation?  Probability is covered well.  Statistics (aka Prob and Stats)?","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The book does seem to be free of errors.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The book's relevance and longevity shouldn't be a problem.  All information is relevant to the topic.  I read the online version.  So, one would think that any updates would be rather easily accomplished.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"The book wasn't very clear for me.  I noticed several times where, for example, individual cases were listed simply within the formatting of the paragraph, where these should probably be outlined, with bullet-points.  Or, definitions are given within the framework of the paragraphs, where these should probably be separated from the paragraph, given their own spaces in the text.  Even though important terms may be italicized, it can still be difficult to identify them within the readings.  Some of the symbols, you have to take your time to make sure you understand just what it is describing.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The textbook does seem to be consistent in its use of terminology and framework.  It does show consistent structure, rather than going \"hodge podge\" every once in a while.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"Each chapter in the book does show suptopics on the table of contents.  As for re-ordering the chapters, that may have something to do with how the individual instructor conducts the class.  As in, if the instructor re-orders the material, they are probably going to have to provide some of their own introduction material for each chapter.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"The flow tends to be a bit tedious at times.  Some steps and/or terms are written in the format of the paragraphs, themselves, and not set apart from the rest of the writing.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"The interface is decent.  Some of the charts and tables are 2-4 pages off.  But, the way the author did many of the graphics, he grouped many of the graphics together on certain pages.  Computer programs are mentioned throughout the examples, but there are no computer codes or programs listed anywhere.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The book's grammar was fine.  Very well written in this aspect.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"There are seemingly no distinguishing cultural insensitivities.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"I felt this textbook could do more.  For the price, free, you can't beat it.  However, considering as a student, to prepare me for future coursework and work on the job, I believe this textbook leaves much out.  I remember taking a course with a book like this; I had to end up taking a separate Statistics class, also, because the course was certain statistics work.  A lot of the symbolism comes up on you right away; you really have to take the time to understand the meaning of it.  The missing information could be covered by a good instructor, but then there wouldn't be a need for a textbook in those parts.  With as many times computer programs were referenced, it would have been nice to actually see the code for these programs at times, at least.","created_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1629,"first_name":"XIAOQIAN","last_name":"SUN","position":"Professor","institution_name":"Clemson University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book covers all subjects that I need except the required materials on joint distributions. It would be great to have two more chapters to cover joint probability distributions for discrete and continuous random variables. Also I feel that the last chapter on random walks is not necessary to be included.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"It does seem to be free of errors","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Yes, the content is up-to-date and the book with adding some materials on joint distributions is good to serve as an introduction of probability for undergraduates.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"well written and with a lot of interesting examples and exercise problems.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"yes, the terminology and framework in this book are consistent ","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"I would like to move CH3 on combinatorics to the front  before talking about any distribution in CH1 and CH2. Also CH5 on some important distributions could be split to CH1 and CH2.  ","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The book is well organized but could be better with some changes, see my comments in Item 6 above ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"index terms on the back could be improved with some click-through function.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I do not see grammatical problem (I am not a native speaker)","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"no cultural issues found in the book","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This is a good introduction book on probability, especially it is free to students. I hope that the authors could update the book soon with considering my suggestions ","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":2460,"first_name":"Jim","last_name":"Burns","position":"Assistant Professor of Industrial Engineering","institution_name":"Western Michigan University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text provides very good coverage of the essential topics for an introductory probability course in addition to its coverage of topics that I’m sure are left out of some introductory courses such as Markov processes and generating functions.  The strength of this book in my view (which is from an engineering perspective) is that it approaches topics in a very natural way, using practical examples, simple graphics, and discussion of computer simulation when introducing topics.  It does not seem to burden the reader with statistical jargon or needlessly deep discussions of theory, but it does not give the impression that it is trying to avoid these things either.  In my opinion, the book omits all the right things, including most of the tables found in introductory probability and statistics texts.  The book is well-organized as any good textbook should be.  The table of contents, index, and preface are all helpful.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"While there are far too many examples and problems to check every one, I found no errors in the problems and examples I did work through.  A closer review of what I consider to be essential content also revealed no errors.  I would consider the content to be accurate.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content is up-to-date and on-par with other books on the subject that are used in the engineering discipline.  The addition of computer simulation examples does not detract from its relevance or longevity at all because it is approached in a very general manner, likely making transition between disciplines and over time easier.  I use computer simulation when teaching probability, but would not use the programs used by the authors.  This fact would not deter me from adopting the text.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The greatest strength of this book in my view is its clarity.  The examples are presented in a logical way and the writing style is not a burden.  It is also very concise, making it easy to digest the material.  Formulae are presented simply (for an audience with the appropriate background) with clear explanations in the text.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The terminology, writing style, and logical development of concepts is consistent throughout.  The coverage of topics also seems to be balanced, not favoring deeper treatment of only some topics.  Other introductory texts I have experience with seem to trail-off when it comes to the more advanced topics.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The chapters seem to be compact and self-contained, making it possible to progress through the material in an order other than listed in the table of contents.  The separation of chapter 10 (Generating Functions) and chapter 5 (Distribution and Densities) is a refreshing change from other textbooks I have used and helps with the modularity a great deal.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The flow of the book is very logical, but does present topics in a slightly different order than I would in a classroom.  Fortunately, the modularity of the book is good, which gives instructors the freedom to choose the flow that works best for them.  ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I found no problems with the text, graphics, or other aspects.  It just seems like a normal book.  It does not have more advanced features that are common in “online” textbooks such as hyperlinks and imbedded content.  I do not find this problematic, but some may.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I do not recall any grammatical errors in my reading nor did I make notes of any errors as I worked my way through the book.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The book is written in an accessible way.  Its examples are relatable, but not trivial, and does not broach topics in a way that could be viewed as offensive.  More importantly, understanding the examples does not seem like it would be predicated on having a deep understanding of a particular subject matter (e.g., engineering) or culture.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Of the probability and statistics books I have used, I consider this to be one of the better ones for explaining difficult probability concepts clearly.  I prefer not to be constrained to a specific textbook (and therefore a specific style) when teaching a class.  Happily, I feel this book would not be constraining at all and would support many teaching styles and instructional approaches to introductory probability.  I especially like the numerous exercises.  At a minimum, I intend to begin using this textbook as a reference in my course immediately, with the expectation of making it the primary textbook in the very near future.","created_at":"2018-12-13T11:40:34.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-12-13T11:40:34.000-06:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/introduction-to-probability","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:01:23.000-06:00"},{"id":85,"title":"Basics of Fluid Mechanics","edition_statement":"ver. 0.6.9.a","volume":null,"copyright_year":2014,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Free Documentation License (GNU)","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"The topic of fluid mechanics is common to several disciplines: mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, chemical engineering, and civil engineering. In fact, it is also related to disciplines like industrial engineering, and electrical engineering. While the emphasis is somewhat different in this book, the common material is presented and hopefully can be used by all. One can only admire the wonderful advances done by the previous geniuses who work in this field. In this book it is hoped to insert, what and when a certain model is suitable than other models. One of the difference in this book is the insertion of the introduction to multiphase flow. Clearly, multiphase is an advance topic. However, some minimal familiarity can be helpful for many engineers who have to deal with non pure single phase fluid. This book is the third book in the series of POTTO project books. POTTO project books are open content textbooks so everyone are welcome to joint in. The topic of fluid mechanics was chosen just to fill the introduction chapter to compressible flow. During the writing it became apparent that it should be a book in its own right. In writing the chapter on fluid statics, there was a realization that it is the best chapter written on this topic. It is hoped that the other chapters will be as good this one. This book is written in the spirit of my adviser and mentor E.R.G. Eckert. Eckert, aside from his research activity, wrote the book that brought a revolution in the education of the heat transfer. Up to Egret's book, the study of heat transfer was without any dimensional analysis. He wrote his book because he realized that the dimensional analysis utilized by him and his adviser (for the post doc), Ernst Schmidt, and their colleagues, must be taught in engineering classes. His book met strong criticism in which some called to \"burn\" his book. Today, however, there is no known place in world that does not teach according to Eckert's doctrine. It is assumed that the same kind of individual(s) who criticized Eckert's work will criticize this work. Indeed, the previous book, on compressible flow, met its opposition. For example, anonymous Wikipedia user name EMBaero claimed that the material in the book is plagiarizing, he just doesn't know from where and what. Maybe that was the reason that he felt that is okay to plagiarize the book on Wikipedia. These criticisms will not change the future or the success of the ideas in this work. As a wise person says \"don't tell me that it is wrong, show me what is wrong\"; this is the only reply. With all the above, it must be emphasized that this book is not expected to revolutionize the field but change some of the way things are taught. The book is organized into several chapters which, as a traditional textbook, deals with a basic introduction to the fluid properties and concepts (under construction). The second chapter deals with Thermodynamics. The third book chapter is a review of mechanics. The next topic is statics. When the Static Chapter was written, this author did not realize that so many new ideas will be inserted into this topic. As traditional texts in this field, ideal flow will be presented with the issue of added mass and added forces (under construction). The classic issue of turbulence (and stability) will be presented. An introduction to multi-phase flow, not a traditional topic, will be presented next (again under construction). The next two chapters will deal with open channel flow and gas dynamics. At this stage, dimensional analysis will be present (again under construction).","contributors":[{"id":3693,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Genick","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Bar-Meir","location":null,"background_text":"Genick Bar-Meir holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from University of Minnesota and a Master in Fluid Mechanics from Tel Aviv University. Dr. Bar-Meir was the last student of the late Dr. R.G.E. Eckert. Much of his time has been spend doing research in the field of heat and mass transfer (related to renewal energy issues) and this includes fluid mechanics related to manufacturing processes and design. Currently, he spends time writing books (there are already three very popular books) and software for the POTTO project (see Potto Prologue). The author enjoys encouraging his students to understand the material beyond the basic requirements of exams. In his early part of his professional life, Bar-Meir was mainly interested in elegant models whether they have or not a practical applicability. Now, this author’s views had changed and the virtue of the practical part of any model becomes the essential part of his ideas, books and software. He developed models for Mass Transfer in high concentration that became a building block for many other models. These models are based on analytical solution to a family of equations. As the change in the view occurred, Bar-Meir developed models that explained several manufacturing processes such the rapid evacuation of gas from containers, the critical piston velocity in a partially filled chamber (related to hydraulic jump), application of supply and demand to rapid change power system and etc. All the models have practical applicability. These models have been extended by several research groups (needless to say with large research grants). For example, the Spanish Comision Interministerial provides grants TAP97-0489 and PB98-0007, and the CICYT and the European Commission provides 1FD97-2333 grants for minor aspects of that models. Moreover, the author’s models were used in numerical works, in GM, British industry, Spain, and Canada."}],"subjects":[{"id":53,"name":"Civil Engineering","parent_subject_id":13,"call_number":"TA1-2040","visible_textbooks_count":13,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/civil"},{"id":13,"name":"Engineering \u0026 Technology","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"TA145","visible_textbooks_count":119,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/engineering"},{"id":56,"name":"Mechanical Engineering","parent_subject_id":13,"call_number":"TJ1-1570","visible_textbooks_count":20,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/mechanical"}],"publishers":[{"id":51,"url":"https://www.potto.org/about.php","year":2021,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:36.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-01-20T19:09:29.000-06:00","name":"Potto Project"}],"formats":[{"id":878,"type":"PDF","url":"https://zenodo.org/record/7990868#.ZH1R7V7MJhH","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"3","textbook_reviews_count":9,"reviews":[{"id":217,"first_name":"Jiarong","last_name":"Hong","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"University of Minnesota","comprehensiveness_rating":2,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book is intended to serve as an undergraduate textbook. Although it captures some core materials of fluid mechanics such as integral and differential analysis, it misses many important introductory concepts and materials that are suitable for undergraduate level and that are often emphasized in many other standard textbooks. The important materials that are missing include thorough discussions on Lagrangian and Eulerian perspectives, Bernoulli equation, pipe flows, detailed discussion on boundary layer, Drag and Lift, and the concept of laminar and turbulent flows, etc.  Specifically, there are only 2-3 paragraphs that introduce Lagrangian and Eulerian perspective very briefly. There is no discussion on laminar to turbulence transition, the classical flows over a flat plate and fully-developed pipe flows including famous Moody chart. There is very little discussion on Bernoulli equation, which is probably the most memorable element in the fluid mechanics for the undergraduates. These missing materials are extremely important because: (1) they reflect the unique nature of fluids; (2) they can be easily appreciated by undergraduates; (3) they are widely used in many engineering applications. Instead of focusing on these basic elements, the book introduces many materials that are rarely-seen from standard textbooks (e.g. Pushka equations and Nusselt’s methods) and that are mathematically complex, which cannot be easily absorbed by undergraduates.  The solutions for many example problems are incomplete, many of which the author did not put numerical values and just left the equations with \"=\". This book does not have any exercise problems for the students. However, it is meritorious that the book contains a chapter that reviews the classical mechanics and an appendix that summarizes the mathematics for fluid mechanics, which are very useful review materials for undergraduates to get ready for fluid mechanics.","accuracy_rating":2,"accuracy_review":"Considering the fact that this book contains so many grammar errors and inconsistencies, I am skeptical on the accuracy of some of materials that presented in this book. One example is on the discussion of surface tension. The book criticizes the explanation of surface tension from many other textbooks.  First of all, the book failed to provide a clear microscopic explanation of surface tension by itself. Second, I feel this book might misunderstand the usage of “imbalance” from some of standard textbooks (I did not check every single one of them). The second example is that this book has a long discussion on Nusselt’s technique in the chapter of dimensional analysis. The material is not included in any textbooks of fluid mechanics that I have seen before. I also did some search on google scholar, and I didn’t find much information related to the derivation and applications of this technique. So I don’t know whether this material has been well-accepted and justified by the fluid community. ","relevance_rating":2,"relevance_review":"This book does not contain any most recent development in the field of fluid mechanics. Many subject index and author index provided at the end of book need to be updated. I don't know what mechanism that author used to update this book. In my opinion, there are plenty of improvements needed. The author does not seem to have an efficient way to manage the updates. I noticed some inconsistencies resulting from the different updates. ","clarity_rating":2,"clarity_review":"The clarity of the text is significantly hampered by the grammar errors, poorly-written sentences and inconsistencies, which is largely caused by the fact that English is only the third language of this author. The clarity of this book is also affected by the organization of materials, e.g. many technical terms are used before they are officially introduced (or some of them are not even introduced in this book). ","consistency_rating":2,"consistency_review":"My comment is based on the pdf version in July, 2013. There are some inconsistencies in the usage of terminology and framework. internally. Some portions do not seem to be completed. Some subjects laid out in Fig1.1 are not presented in this book. ","modularity_rating":3,"modularity_review":"The modularity of this book seems to be fine. There are clear divisions of sections and subsections. ","organization_rating":2,"organization_review":"The general organization of the materials seems to be fine.  However, when it comes to down more detailed knowledge, the book is not well organized.  For example, the Bulk Modulus is presented even before the concept of Bulk Modulus is introduced. Some advanced subjects are introduced way before the readers have adequate exposure on the basics of fluid mechanics.  Different types of instability are mentioned in different places. The discussions on surface tension appear in different sections. In addition, there is a lack of overview or summary sentences that highlights the key messages from each and multiple subsections. In many chapters, the transition from section to section is abrupt.\r\n","interface_rating":1,"interface_review":"The quality of many figures do not fit textbook standards. It is impossible to see the labels in some of the figures because of the low quality of images or the tiny font sizes (e.g. Figure 1.6, 1.7 and many others). Some of the figures are poorly-made and quite confusing. There are also some inconsistencies in the layout of the different sections. ","grammatical_rating":1,"grammatical_review":"This book is full of conspicuous grammar errors including wrong spelling (\"et al\" was written as \"at el\", “pul” of “pull”, etc.), the misuse of tenses and active/passive voices, erroneous forms of verbs and improper prepositions, etc. I can easily find a sentence with 2-3 spelling errors. A portion of sentences are not well written and do not a good readability.  This is understandable since the English is only the third language of the author. However, it is evident that little time and attention have been paid to proofread this book, and to polish each sentence and the organization of sentences. For this book to become a textbook for English-speaking readers, significant improvement is needed on the writing.  ","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I did not find anything that was culturally insensitive or offensive in any way.","overall_rating":4,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2015-06-10T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2015-06-10T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1133,"first_name":"Kenneth","last_name":"Miller","position":"Professor","institution_name":"St. Cloud State University","comprehensiveness_rating":2,"comprehensiveness_review":"I am looking at this as a first textbook in fluid mechanics for undergraduate engineering students. While it covers most of the normal topics, there are a few significant omissions. In particular, boundary layers, laminar / turbulent / transitional flow, open flow (flat plate), pipe flow, lift, and drag. These are very important topics omissions for an undergraduate course, yet it does go into compressible flow and multiphase flow which are not usually covered in the first semester of fluid mechanics.","accuracy_rating":2,"accuracy_review":"There are a lot of inconsistencies in notation which make this hard to really judge. There were also a lot of typos.","relevance_rating":2,"relevance_review":"There were not many current or recent developments included. This made it particularly hard to engage the students. Recent issues such as micro-scale flow were missing and the examples were pretty much the same situations as I saw in my first fluid mechanics book.","clarity_rating":1,"clarity_review":"This is probably the weakest aspect of the book. I had several students that had already taken their undergraduate fluids course read through it and all of them felt lost trying to follow it. The most common comment was that it looked like a huge list of equations with a little bit of explanation between them. Even the introduction, usually a pretty quick read, became very intimidating after the first three sections. It was almost impossible for them to follow.\nStudents usually struggle with the Reynolds Transport Theorem and differential analysis in my classes, and they commented that this book made them even more confusing.","consistency_rating":2,"consistency_review":"There is little consistency in how things are presented. Reading through some chapters, it almost felt like there were missing sections.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"This book does a pretty good job of keeping sections down to a reasonable length. The breakdown and length of chapters is reasonable.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"At the chapter level, it was good. Within the chapters, there were a lot of problems. Topics often seemed out of place, or referenced in examples before they are explained or introduced. The chapter on fluid statics was particularly troublesome from this aspect.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"Most of the figures were readable, but the overall quality seemed to diminish as the book went forward. They were also very inconsistent as if each were done by a different person with a different style. This made the book feel even more confusing to my students.","grammatical_rating":2,"grammatical_review":"A lot of grammar and spelling problems. Very inconsistent with tenses and active / passive voice.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I saw nothing of significance here.","overall_rating":5,"overall_review":"After reading through the book, I also read the review from Jiarong Hong and my observations and comments fall pretty closely in line with his. The book does not list any updates since his review.","created_at":"2017-04-11T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-04-11T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1337,"first_name":"Celso","last_name":"Ferreira","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"George Mason University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text provides a great initial open source documentation for fluid mechanics. I would like to take advantage of this book for my hydraulics and water resources engineering classes. For my classes, the control volume and dimensional analyses are great. The index is easy to follow and directs the reader to the desired chapters.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"I could not find any errors so far. I believe that once more professors/students start using the book we can provide a more comprehensive review on any typos or errors.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Yes, the content is up to date and the advantage is that fluid dynamics will be part of our engineering education for a long time.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"yes, the text flows well. However, a little more spacing would benefit the transition from text to equations and figures. It feels a little cramped as is. Maybe just adding a couple of blank lines would already help.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"yes, the text is consistent","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"indeed, I think this is a strength of the book. See my comments on item 1. I actually intend to use parts of the book for my class on a related subject. Additional modules can be added over time.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"yes, the book is well organized and logical. Additional examples and figures would help to engage the students more, Especially in the introductory paragraphs.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"the interface is rather on the simple side. Which might be good to avoid distraction, however, additional figures and examples could engage the students a little more.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"I did not find any errors, however I did not perform an extensive grammar review","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"perfect","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"Great addition to the open text book library. I will certainly use portion of it for my upcoming classes. I look forward to additions on hydraulics to the contents. Hopefully exercises would also be added in the future.","created_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1398,"first_name":"Edgar","last_name":"Caraballo","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Miami University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"The material cover in the book is a mixture of a basic fluid course, with a good review of thermodynamics and  mechanics, with some higher level topics in fluids such as compressible flow and potential flow chapters. However, it ignores complete internal and external flow, which are important applications for most engineers covering fluids.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The material presented seemed accurate, although there are some mistakes in some equations, specially  in chapters 9 and 10.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The content on the book seems up to date, and will be applicable for a few years to come.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"Although most of the text was well written, there are a few parts where it was unclear what the author was trying to explain. It could be just typo, but at time it looked like the explanation didn't make sense.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The is consistency throughout the book","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is well organized an could be used in a modular fashion.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The book is well organized, and presented in a clean fashion. I'm not sure that the review of thermodynamics and mechanics are required or in the appropriate place, but they are independent and clearly marked.","interface_rating":2,"interface_review":"The online resource look decent, but not very attractive to the sight.","grammatical_rating":3,"grammatical_review":"There are some errors in the book, with missing word or unclear definitions or explanations. Having said that, the review by several people should help in the correction of the mistakes.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"N/A","overall_rating":7,"overall_review":"Most of the material is presented in a clear manner, the book itself cannot be described as a basic course in fluids, as is missing some topics and expands too much in some advance ones. Another potential issue is the lack of practice problems in every chapter. It would have been good for the book to the some resources in this area. I could see myself using some of the content as support material, but I would not use this book as my primary source.","created_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1668,"first_name":"Liyong","last_name":"Sun","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Penn State Erie","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book covers fluid mechanics with a review of thermodynamics and mechanics. Bernoulli's equation is derived without any examples to apply it. Also head loss, internal flow and external flow are not covered in this book. Surprisingly, the most important dimensionless number, Reynolds number finally showed up in Chapter 9. The concept of laminar and turbulent flows are not discussed.","accuracy_rating":2,"accuracy_review":"The large amount of typos make it difficult to judge. Equation 2.38 only works for constant specific heat, which is not mentioned by the author.","relevance_rating":2,"relevance_review":"The book is not equipped with recent developments in this field. Undergraduate will have difficulty to go through this book.","clarity_rating":2,"clarity_review":"Too many equations that are not clearly explained. Lots of grammar issues.","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"The unit of energy should be kJ instead of kj, which is used in this book.  ","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The organization of the book is fine. ","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"The organization of the book is OK. More examples of introductory will help students to better understand the material. ","interface_rating":2,"interface_review":"Lots of figures has small font size which make it difficult to read. Some equations do not have equation number assigned.","grammatical_rating":2,"grammatical_review":"The unit in some tables are inconsistent. There are some grammar issues, for example, \"un symmetrical\" should be  \"unsymmetrical\".\n\n\n\n ","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Nothing of significance.","overall_rating":6,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1926,"first_name":"Essam","last_name":"Ibrahim","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"The University of Texas of the Permian Basin","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book covers most of the basic material of an introductory course in fluid mechanics. However, some important topics such as vapor pressure, laminar and turbulent flow, and Buckingham Pi Theorem are not covered. Also, the book doesn't provide an index or glossary.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The book content appear to be accurate, error-free, and unbiased.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"As in most fluid mechanics books, the material in this book is essential to any basic fluid mechanics course. Thus the book content is not expected to become obsolete anytime soon. However, the book could be enhanced by adding some examples of contemporary applications of fluid mechanics.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"The clarity of the book material is enhanced by the many colored graphics included in the book. However, some of the book material require a level of mathematics that may not be entirely mastered by sophomore or junior undergraduate engineering students.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The material in the book is presented in a consistent manner using internationally recognized units and terminology.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":" The book sections are concise and self contained. Advanced material is clearly identified.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book is divided into chapters that are logically organized to gradually introduce the material required to understand subsequent chapters.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The book doesn't suffer from any interface issues.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text is written in proper English with no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"There are no cultural issues in the book.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"The book doesn't provide end-of-chapter or homework problems for students to practice solving problems on their own.","created_at":"2018-03-27T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-03-27T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2141,"first_name":"Mike","last_name":"Foster","position":"Professor","institution_name":"George Fox University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"There only seemed to be an online version to review.\n\nIf I compare this book against introductory undergraduate Fluid Mechanics texts such as Munson et al., Cengel and Cimbala, and Crowe et al., it is not comprehensive. I agree with a previous reviewer that the first few chapters are similar in their coverage, but key topics are missing. Boundary layers, laminar / turbulent / transitional flow, internal and pipe flow, external flow and flow over a flat plate, lift and drag, and open channel flow are not discussed. (In the Front Matter’s “To Do” section, the author indicates that some of these sections will be developed in the future.) In its overall tone and approach, I would say it is similar to the more technical, equation-based approach of Munson et al.\n\nHowever, in the About the Book section, the author does indicate that the purpose behind this book was to prep students for his Compressible Flow book. “The topic of fluid mechanics was chosen just to fill the introduction chapter to compressible flow.” In this regard, the contents seem to fill the role for which it was designed.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"There were several typos throughout the text. Most the equations seemed correct. A LaTeX interpreter was used on all the pages, and some of the code wasn’t interpreted or a symbol/variable was missing.","relevance_rating":2,"relevance_review":"As mentioned in the Comprehensiveness section, the first few topics of typical introductory textbooks very briefly introduced and then derivations commence. The relevance/case studies that typical texts provide are not present. The author does move into gas dynamics and multiphase flow (which has a much more thorough introduction than most of the chapters.","clarity_rating":2,"clarity_review":"I echo a previous reviewer that undergraduate students learning Fluid Mechanics for the first time would most likely be intimidated by the presentation of this book. The lack of analogies to common experiences or case studies of recent or historical events does not seem to engage the reader.","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"The RTT sections (Mass, Momentum, and Energy) seemed to be a great opportunity for the author to provide the reader with a consistent approach to the respective derivations. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Other sections seem relatively consistent in their approach.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The length of sections are typical for a textbook of this type. However, because of some of the derivations, most of the section could not be reorganized without confusing the reader.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The chapters were in an appropriate order as well as the sections. As for being clear, see my comments above on Clarity and Accuracy.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"There were several figures where the font size for the axes titles was very small to the point of being unreadable. Plots were inconsistent in their formatting throughout. Parts of equations and citation were not interpreted correctly. The lack of white space also made the material feel overwhelming.","grammatical_rating":2,"grammatical_review":"There were a multitude of grammar and spelling errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Since the presentation was heavily equation/derivation based and analogies to common experiences or case studies of recent or historical events were not included, the presentation is relatively neutral toward cultural relevance.","overall_rating":6,"overall_review":"In the \"About the Book\" section, the author makes some bold statements:  \"In writing the chapter on fluid statics, there was a realization that it is the best chapter written on this topic.\" \"With all the above, it must be emphasized that this book is not expected to revolutionize the field but change some of the way things are taught.\"\n\nI appreciate the author's confidence and there might be some truth of the second statement in his overall approach of reaching back to thermodynamics and then continuing beyond to multiphase flows. Unfortunately, the bridge between these areas is weak, though,  with time and continued revisions, the author may develop the text to a point for larger consumption.","created_at":"2018-06-19T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-06-19T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2386,"first_name":"Lin","last_name":"Liu","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"University of Kansas","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book covers many basic and important concepts of fluid mechanics, such as fluid statics, potential flow, compressible flows in one-dimensional and two-dimensional, and multi-phase flow. They are adequate for an entry-level course. The title of the book “Basics of Fluid Mechanics” seems inaccurate since many other concepts are not introduced (e.g., internal flow, external flow, laminar and turbulent flow, lift and drag, etc). The coming edits may cover above important and basic concepts, however, the update on the book stopped in 2013. ","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Besides a few of missing symbols and inconsistencies in nomenclature, the book seems accurate. ","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"The book is quite relevant to the field of fluid mechanics. Unfortunately, the book is a little bit outdated, which doesn’t contain recent development of fluid mechanics.  Some important, basic concepts of fluid mechanics, such as micro/nano flows should be introduced to students. ","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"The book is somehow confusing, especially in equations. All terminologies should be properly introduced. Some most important dimensionless number, such as Reynolds number, should be introduced earlier in the book.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book is pretty consistent except for some minor errors or typos.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The book is well organized.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Overall, the structure and flow seems fine. The author may want to keep working on the chapter of fluid statics. ","interface_rating":2,"interface_review":"The interface needs to be improved to engage students more. Some of the figures are too small to read, such as Fig. 1.10.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"It seems fine, some minor errors or typos don’t cause significant confusion.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"N/A","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"I teach mechanics regularly, but I don’t have extensive research in fluid mechanics. I think the author did a great job to provide students with quick review of thermodynamics, mechanics, and appendix of mathematics for fluid mechanics.  It could be more helpful to add more examples and end-of-section problems. ","created_at":"2018-11-15T11:28:34.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-11-15T11:28:34.000-06:00"},{"id":34913,"first_name":"Nadim","last_name":"Zgheib","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"University of Texas Rio Grande Valley","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book covers practically all fluid mechanics topics of interest for an undergraduate course. These include fluid statics (buoyancy, stability, surface tension), integral analysis including conservation of mass, momentum, and energy (including Bernoulli's equation), differential analysis with Navier-Stokes equations, internal (viscous pipe flow), and external flows, as well as similarity analysis. The book also covers compressible flow, and other topics that are usually covered as technical electives or in a graduate level fluids course. A main issue however is the lack of sufficient problems to solve. There are only a few problems for each chapter.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The text is generally accurate similar to classical fluid mechanics books usually taught at the undergraduate level. However, it appears to have more typos than your average intro to fluids books.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This is a classical fluid mechanics book. The content has been around for decades and centuries, and as such the issue of material becoming obsolete does not apply for this introductory fluid mechanics book.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"I find the book can be hard to read for a typical undergraduate fluid mechanics student. The topics are very appropriate for an undergraduate course, but the delivery is more appropriate for a graduate level student as it is math heavy.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"I could not identify any major issues with consistency. However symbols referring to the same variable can take on different forms, which is not ideal. For example g in mathscript and non-mathscript forms.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"I found the delivery to be appropriately similar to other classical fluids courses at the undergraduate level.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book starts with an introductory chapter to fluid mechanics, then jumps to fluid statics, integral analysis, differential analysis, dimensional analysis, ... I find this organization to be suitable. At any rate, instructors do not necessarily follow the same layout as the book.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I did not identify and major issues.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"There are more grammatical errors than other books I have used.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This book is not culturally insensitive.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"The book can be made more readable to undergrads and it should include more problems at the end of each chapter.","created_at":"2024-03-03T11:55:31.000-06:00","updated_at":"2024-03-03T11:55:31.000-06:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/basics-of-fluid-mechanics","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:12:15.000-06:00"},{"id":86,"title":"Fundamentals of Compressible Flow Mechanics","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2004,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Free Documentation License (GNU)","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"This book deals with an introduction to the flow of compressible substances (gases). The main difference between compressible flow and almost incompressible flow is not the fact that compressibility has to be considered. Rather, the difference is in two phenomena that do not exist in incompressible flow. The first phenomenon is the very sharp discontinuity (jump) in the flow in properties. The second phenomenon is the choking of the flow. Choking is when downstream variations don't effect the flow. Though choking occurs in certain pipe flows in astronomy, there also are situations of choking in general (external) flow.","contributors":[{"id":2822,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Genick","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Bar-Meir","location":null,"background_text":"Genick Bar-Meir holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from University of Minnesota and a Master in Fluid Mechanics from Tel Aviv University. Dr. Bar-Meir was the last student of the late Dr. R.G.E. Eckert. Much of his time has been spend doing research in the field of heat and mass transfer (related to renewal energy issues) and this includes fluid mechanics related to manufacturing processes and design. Currently, he spends time writing books (there are already three very popular books) and softwares for the POTTO project (see Potto Prologue). The author enjoys to encourage his students to understand the material beyond the basic requirements of exams. In his early part of his professional life, Bar-Meir was mainly interested in elegant models whether they have or not a practical applicability. Now, this author’s views had changed and the virtue of the practical part of any model becomes the essential part of his ideas, books and software. He developed models for Mass Transfer in high concentration that became a building blocks for many other models. These models are based on analytical solution to a family of equations. As the change in the view occurred, Bar-Meir developed models that explained several manufacturing processes such the rapid evacuation of gas from containers, the critical piston velocity in a partially filled chamber (related to hydraulic jump), application of supply and demand to rapid change power system and etc. All the models have practical applicability. These models have been extended by several research groups (needless to say with large research grants). For example, the Spanish Comision Interministerial provides grants TAP97-0489 and PB98-0007, and the CICYT and the European Commission provides 1FD97-2333 grants for minor aspects of that models. Moreover, the author’s models were used in numerical works, in GM, British industry, Spain, and Canada. In the area of compressible flow, it was commonly believed and taught that there is only weak and strong shock and it is continue by Prandtl–Meyer function. Bar–Meir discovered the analytical solution for oblique shock and showed that there is a quiet bu?er between the oblique shock and Prandtl–Meyer. He also build analytical solution to several moving shock cases. He described and categorized the filling and evacuating of chamber by compressible fluid in which he also found analytical solutions to cases where the working fluid was ideal gas. The common explanation to Prandtl–Meyer function shows that flow can turn in a sharp corner. Engineers have constructed design that based on this conclusion. Bar-Meir demonstrated that common Prandtl–Meyer explanation violates the conservation of mass and therefor the turn must be around a finite radius. The author’s explanations on missing diameter and other issues in fanno flow and “naughty professor’s question” are used in the industry. In his book “Basics of Fluid Mechanics”, Bar-Meir demonstrated several things which include Pushka equation, dealing with the pressure accounted the slight compressibility (a ?nite Bulk Modulus effect), speed of sound in slightly compressible liquid. He showed the relationship between the wavy surface and the multi–phases flow. The author lives with his wife and three children. A past project of his was building a four stories house, practically from scratch. While he writes his programs and does other computer chores, he often feels clueless about computers and programing. While he is known to look like he knows a lot a lot about many things, the author just know to learn quickly. The author spent years working on the sea (ships) as a engine sea officer but now the author prefers to remain on a solid ground."}],"subjects":[{"id":13,"name":"Engineering \u0026 Technology","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"TA145","visible_textbooks_count":119,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/engineering"},{"id":56,"name":"Mechanical Engineering","parent_subject_id":13,"call_number":"TJ1-1570","visible_textbooks_count":20,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/mechanical"}],"publishers":[{"id":107,"url":"https://www.potto.org/downloadsGD.php","year":2021,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:37.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-01-20T18:58:41.000-06:00","name":"Potto Project"}],"formats":[{"id":877,"type":"Online","url":"https://zenodo.org/record/5523349#.YeCjQYpME-0","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":2594,"type":"PDF","url":"https://zenodo.org/record/5523349#.YeCjQYpME-0","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"3.5","textbook_reviews_count":2,"reviews":[{"id":1819,"first_name":"Brian","last_name":"Maicke","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Penn State University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook covers the major topics one would expect in an introductory textbook.  Major topics from an introductory compressible flow course like the speed of sound, Rayleigh and Fanno flow, variable area flows, normal and oblique shocks, and Prandtl-Meyer expansions have their own chapters.  The book also includes a review of thermodynamics and basic fluid mechanics.\n\nThere are several chapters that do not appear in standard compressible flow textbooks. These chapters deal with evacuating chambers and isothermal flow but these chapters are not as polished as the more standard chapters. As a work in progress, there are some sections of the textbook which are unfinished or have notes to the reader to ignore incomplete sections.  \n\nThe textbook only mentions computational fluid dynamics briefly in the introduction and does not have any in-depth material on CFD issues related to compressible flow.\n\nThe book has some compressible flow tables included within the body of the text, but no dedicated appendices like most compressible flow textbooks. The webpage for the textbook does have links to HTML, PDF, and the latex source files for compressible flow tables but they are on a supplemental download page and may not be immediately obvious to the reader.  The download page also features a compressible flow equation reference and a computer program for gas dynamics calculations.\n\nThe book includes a good table of contents, list of figures, and list of tables.  There is a subject index, but the coverage could be improved.  For example, there is a chapter on Isentropic flow but the word isentropic does not appear in the subject index.  There is also an authors index for readers that are interested in the work of a specific researcher.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"The content of the book is generally accurate.  I found no significant errors during my read-through, though over the course of the revision process typos have been found and corrected.  Unfortunately, the textbook has not been updated since 2013 and there are still unfinished chapters included in the manuscript.  In the main compressible flow chapters (normal and oblique shocks, Prandtl-Meyer expansion, Rayleigh and Fanno Flow, variable area flow, isentropic flow), the chapters are more polished and accurate.\n\nWhen dealing with the mathematics and science of compressible flow, the text is unbiased.  In the introduction and in some of the supplemental materials the author takes a more argumentative tone that may be off-putting to some readers.\n\n","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"I see no issues with the relevance or longevity of most of the text.  The only places with issues are the unfinished chapters that are not part of a traditional compressible flow course.  The revision log was active from 2006-2013, but updates to the main textbook page and to the text seem to have stopped.  The source files for the textbook do not appear to be available on the main download page any longer, so anyone looking to modify or update the text may find it a challenge to do so.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"The mathematics of the text are presented clearly and often in more detail than is found in other compressible flow textbooks.   The text itself is written in a generally accessible style, but there are often typographical or grammatical issues that may distract the reader from the meaning of the text. A nomenclature is included at the beginning of the text but could be expanded to give more comprehensive coverage.","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"The book is consistent with terminology both internally and with generally accepted nomenclature.  Important equations are consistently boxed and highlighted to set them off from the rest of the text.  \n\nThe only significant inconsistency is in the state of the incomplete chapters, as they are significantly shorter and presented in less detail than the main compressible flow chapters.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The book is very modular and could be easily reorganized.  Long chapters are broken up into sections and subsections.  Example problems are spread throughout the text to break up explanations. ","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"The organization of the book is logical with each chapter representing a major topic in compressible flow.  Unlike most compressible flow textbooks, the tables for isentropic, normal shock, one-dimensional heat addition, one-dimensional friction, and Prandtl-Meyer expansions are not included as an appendix.  Example table appears within the text, with the reader often referred to the Potto-GDC, a gas dynamics calculator available for download on the site, which can calculate the properties for a given case. There are supplemental tables available for viewing or download on the textbook webpage.","interface_rating":1,"interface_review":"The most recent PDF version of the book has fewer interface issues and would rate a higher score on its own.  Unfortunately, when performing a web search for the book, most readers will find the online textbook which has several significant issues.  First, the book is several revisions behind the PDF version of the text.  This could cause difficulties with students viewing the online textbook vs. the PDF version.  Second, at the time of this review, the PDF download of the textbook does not seem to be available on the Potto project page.  This reduced availability for the latest revision of the text greatly decreases the usefulness of the book as the later revisions added much-needed example problems and polish to the main compressible flow chapters.\n\nIf the availability of the latest PDF were corrected and the webpage updated, this score would increase.","grammatical_rating":2,"grammatical_review":"The text has many grammatical and typographical errors throughout the text.  Some of these issues were caught and corrected when the textbook was revised more frequently; however, a significant number of issues still remain.  In the main compressible flow chapters, these issues are relatively minor but could confuse a first-time reader as they have to work harder to parse the text. ","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I did not find any issues with the cultural relevance of the text.","overall_rating":6,"overall_review":"This review is for the PDF version 0.4.9.8.  The online version of the textbook is several revisions behind and does not have many important revisions and content additions that the PDF version does.  Unfortunately, the textbook website has not been updated since 2013 and the more recent PDF version is not available on the textbook webpage at the time of this review.  It is a promising start to an open compressible flow textbook, but I would have reservations adopting it as a sole or primary text for a course until the availability issues were addressed.","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":3017,"first_name":"Qiyue","last_name":"Lu","position":"research scientist","institution_name":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book is supposed to talk about the fundamentals or introduction level of compressible flow, but the authors don't provide definitions on lots of concepts. ","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Typos are found across the text. Some paragraph is not smooth logically.  ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The author gives references when arguments are mentioned. And new material should be easy to appended into it. ","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Some paragraphs are not logically clear. And some grammar mistakes can be found across the  book.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The author definitely has his understanding on compressible flow and the sketch of this book is fine. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Modularity is fine. However, some basic concepts are not well explained. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The structure is good. Covering the basics of thermal dynamics and fluid mechanics, then followed by the compressible topics. ","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"I would suggest using a profession typeset software like latex to re-format this book. The margins on odd and even pages are not same and this brings additional labor for readers. ","grammatical_rating":3,"grammatical_review":"Unfortunately, some grammatical errors are found, across the whole book. And there are typos as well. ","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I didn't see any sign of this. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I would suggestion to re-format this book using Latex.","created_at":"2019-06-26T04:08:51.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-06-26T04:08:51.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/fundamentals-of-compressible-flow-mechanics","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:33:45.000-06:00"},{"id":96,"title":"Sustainability: A Comprehensive Foundation","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2015,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"With “Sustainability: A Comprehensive Foundation”, first and second-year college students are introduced to this expanding new field, comprehensively exploring the essential concepts from every branch of knowledge – including engineering and the applied arts, natural and social sciences, and the humanities. As sustainability is a multi-disciplinary area of study, the text is the product of multiple authors drawn from the diverse faculty of the University of Illinois: each chapter is written by a recognized expert in the field. This text is designed to introduce the reader to the essential concepts of sustainability. This subject is of vital importance seeking as it does to uncover the principles of the long-term welfare of all the peoples of the planet but is only peripherally served by existing college textbooks. The content is intended to be useful for both a broad-based introductory class on sustainability and as a useful supplement to specialist courses which wish to review the sustainability dimensions of their areas of study. By covering a wide range of topics with a uniformity of style, and by including glossaries, review questions, case studies, and links to further resources, the text has sufficient range to perform as the core resource for a semester course. Students who cover the material in the book will be conversant in the language and concepts of sustainability, and will be equipped for further study in sustainable planning, policy, economics, climate, ecology, infrastructure, and more. Furthermore, the modular design allows individual chapters and sections to be easily appropriated without the purchase of a whole new text. This allows educators to easily bring sustainability concepts, references, and case studies into their area of study. This appropriation works particularly well as the text is free downloadable to anyone who wishes to use it. Furthermore, readers are encouraged to work with the text. Provided there is attribution to the source, users can adapt, add to, revise and republish the text to meet their own needs. Because sustainability is a cross-disciplinary field of study, producing this text has required the bringing together over twenty experts from a variety of fields. This enables us to cover all of the foundational components of sustainability: understanding our motivations requires the humanities, measuring the challenges of sustainability requires knowledge of the sciences (both natural and social), and building solutions requires technical insight into systems (such as provided by engineering, planning, and management). Readers accustomed to textbooks that present material in a unitary voice might be surprised to find in this one statements that do not always agree. Here, for example, cautious claims about climate change stand beside sweeping pronouncements predicting future social upheaval engendered by a warming world. And a chapter that includes market-based solutions to environmental problems coexists with others that call for increased government control. Such diversity of thought characterizes many of the fields of inquiry represented in the book; by including it, we invite users to engage in the sort of critical thinking a serious study of sustainability requires. It is our sincerest hope that this work is shared freely and widely, as we all struggle to understand and solve the enormous environmental challenges of our time.","contributors":[{"id":3549,"contribution":"Editor","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Tom","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Theis","location":"University of Illinois, Chicago","background_text":"Tom Theis is Director of the Institute for Environmental Science and Policy, and Professor of Civil and Materials Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago."},{"id":3550,"contribution":"Editor","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Jonathan","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Tomkin","location":"University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign","background_text":"Jonathan Tomkin is the Associate Director, School of Earth, Society \u0026 Environment, an Associate Research Professor with the Department of Geology and Director, ESE Online."}],"subjects":[{"id":13,"name":"Engineering \u0026 Technology","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"TA145","visible_textbooks_count":119,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/engineering"},{"id":45,"name":"Political Science","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"JA71","visible_textbooks_count":41,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/political-science"},{"id":8,"name":"Natural Sciences","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"QH301","visible_textbooks_count":252,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/natural-sciences"},{"id":9,"name":"Social Sciences","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"H1","visible_textbooks_count":285,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/social-sciences"}],"publishers":[{"id":323,"url":"http://cnx.org/content/col11325/latest/","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:38.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:38.000-05:00","name":"OpenStax CNX"}],"formats":[{"id":345,"type":"Online","url":"https://cnx.org/contents/F0Hv_Zza@45.1:HdWd2hN5@2/Foreword","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1742,"type":"PDF","url":"https://cnx.org/contents/F0Hv_Zza@45.1:HdWd2hN5@2/Foreword","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4","textbook_reviews_count":27,"reviews":[{"id":97,"first_name":"Dan","last_name":"Philippon","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"University of Minnesota","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"As its subtitle indicates, \"Sustainability: A Comprehensive Foundation\" aims for comprehensiveness. The book description claims that the text allows first and second-year college students to begin \"comprehensively exploring the essential concepts from every branch of knowledge--including engineering and the applied arts, natural and social sciences, and the humanities.\" This is a huge book--almost 600 pages of text in the PDF version--collectively written by a team of faculty members from the University of Illinois. The book features 11 chapters, each with multiple sections and sub-sections, treating such subjects as climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, waste management, and energy use, along with disciplinary approaches such as history, economics, public policy, and ethics. It also includes more than ten short case studies. Like any good textbook, each section (or \"module\") has a set of learning objectives at the beginning, as well as a set of review questions at the end, which are helpful in keeping students focused on the information conveyed in each section. The book also has a glossary at the end, and links to further resources appear throughout, either as URLs in the PDF version or hyperlinks in the HTML version. The book description claims that \"the text has sufficient range to perform as the core resource for a semester course\" (3), and this is true, but it would also be challenging to assign as a single textbook. At times, the book reads more like an introductory environmental science textbook than an introduction to sustainability, and many of the sections go into far more detail than \"first and second-year college students\" would ever want to know, much less be able to process. This is undoubtedly the consequence of having each chapter be \"written by a recognized expert in the field,\" as experts are not always the best judges of what ordinary readers need to know about their subjects. To give an example, the section on \"Environmental Challenges in Energy, Carbon Dioxide, Air, Water and Land Use\" is written at just the right level of accessibility for a general audience, whereas the section on \"Risk Assessment Methodology for Conventional and Alternative Sustainability Options\" appears to be written for a specialist audience. This latter point is a particular shame, because risk assessment is one of the most important and least understood aspects of sustainability, and it deserves to be more widely understood. That this section includes no reference to the Precautionary Principle, which is only briefly referred to in another section, should give some indication of the drawbacks of a more limited, specialist approach to the subject. (Similarly, it might be off-putting to some students to begin with an equation-heavy introductory chapter.) For this reason, the dual purposes of the text are sometimes at odds, as it is difficult for a text to be useful as both \"a broad-based introductory class on sustainability\" and \"a useful supplement to specialist courses which wish to review the sustainability dimensions of their areas of study\" (3). While there is much to be praised about the volume's attempt at comprehensiveness, it also seems somewhat tone-deaf at times to the larger conversation about sustainability taking place around the world. If it is true, for instance, that \"at the center of the sustainability paradigm\" is the fact that \"human behavior is a social and ethical phenomenon, not a technological one\" (11), it is remarkable that the book does not include a chapter on behavioral psychology, which has made so many contributions to sustainability, such as Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein's idea of the \"nudge.\" The book gestures toward the importance of human behavior in the chapters on economics and ethics, culture, and history, but it lacks a more thoroughgoing treatment of the subject. Likewise, it is surprising that the chapter on economics does not address ecological economics, whether Herman Daly's idea of the \"steady-state economy,\" Paul Hawken's exploration of \"natural capitalism,\" or other allied formulations. Similarly, there is no historical or theoretical treatment of the corporation, and--incredibly--the word \"capitalism\" does not appear once in the entire text. Other gaps include no mention of William McDonough's work on sustainable design (which would have been a natural fit as part of the discussion of life-cycle analysis in chapter 9), no reference to Aldo Leopold's \"land ethic\" (which surely belongs in a chapter on ethics, culture, and history), and little attention to indigenous perspectives, environmental justice, and the outsized role that poverty plays in preventing sustainability from being achieved.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The text is largely accurate and unbiased, particularly in its excellent overview of \"Climate and Global Change\" (Chapter 3) and sensitive discussion of CO2 emissions in developed countries vs. emerging economies. The only exception is the conclusion that \"we are essentially changing the climate faster and in a different direction than natural processes have intended,\" as natural cycles do not have intention (88). The section on \"The Sustainable City\" in the final chapter is also arguable in some of its utopian visions, such as: \"In our sustainable city everyone will be watching everyone else. Video surveillance webcams might be everywhere, and everyone would have access to them\" (534). Edward Snowden might beg to differ.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content is mostly up-to-date, with limited exceptions, such as the reference to the EPA being given the authority \"to regulate greenhouse gases through a series of findings, hearings, rulings, and regulations in accord with terms set out in the Clean Air Act\" (267). The text notes that \"this process is underway at the present time\" (267), but it will soon be complete. Otherwise, the book is highly relevant.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Because many of the sections within each chapter are written by different authors, this lends the book a certain stylistic discomfort, but overall the book description is correct that the text covers \"a wide range of topics with a uniformity of style\" (3). This leads to rather workmanlike prose, of course, although there are some exceptions, such as Gillen Wood's elegant chapter on ethics, which is rendered in the first-person singular (e.g. \"In terms of the evolutionary argument I am outlining here...\" (482).","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book description notes that \"readers accustomed to textbooks that present material in a unitary voice might be surprised to find in this one statements that do not always agree\" (3), but this is not a major issue; the variations in style and approach are more significant. Some sections, such as the list of major environmental laws in chapter 7 on \"Modern Environmental Management,\" read more like Wikipedia articles than interpretive or analytical summaries, while other sections take a more narrative approach.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is highly modular; indeed, because of its multiple authorship, the book would be overwhelming to read all at once. As the book description indicates, \"the modular design allows individual chapters and sections to be easily appropriated--without the purchase of a whole new text. This allows educators to easily bring sustainability concepts, references, and case studies into their area of study\" (3). More likely, this modularity will allow teachers of introductory sustainability courses to pick and choose which sections to assign. The presence of a glossary helps the book maintain a certain level of self-referentiality, but it is not overly self-referential.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The book is well organized overall, although one could argue with how the chapters and sections are ordered. The section on \"Soil and Sustainability\" could just as well have been placed in the chapter on \"Physical Resources\" (rather than in the chapter on \"Biosphere\"), for example, and the many sub-sub-subsections in some chapters (e.g. Section 8.4.3.1.8) can become disorienting. More broadly, one could imagine a framework that separates those chapters that address broad principles (such as policy, economics, and ethics) from those that address particular subjects (such as biodiversity, energy, and climate change). It would also be nice to see more attention given to the case studies, which appear in chapters 5-11 but not in chapters 1-4. If, as Gillen Wood argues, \"sustainability is best viewed through specific examples, or case studies\" (494), these stories of sustainability in action deserve more prominence, perhaps as openings to each chapter that illustrate the main points under discussion.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"While the PDF version makes for easier reading, especially offline, it also has some weaknesses: the authorship of the various sections does not appear in most sections, for example, and the presence of numerous footnotes makes the book look more like a series of law review articles than an introductory textbook. Likewise, many of the HTML references in Chapter 8 on \"Sustainable Energy Systems\" are orphaned (e.g. \"For more information about this, click here\" [326]), some tables not rendered correctly in Chapter 11 on \"Sustainable Infrastructure,\" and dashes are rendered so thinly that they appear almost invisible in the PDF version. In both the HTML and PDF version, graphs, charts, and illustrations are of varying quality, depending on their source.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No obvious errors.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"The book could do better on this count. Many of the sections focused on science and technology seem to assume a universality of application, rather than recognizing that sustainability takes place in a diversity of cultural frameworks.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"A very worthy text, most of the problems of which are the consequence of multiple authorship.","created_at":"2014-07-15T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2014-07-15T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":98,"first_name":"Kate","last_name":"Lajtha","position":"Professor","institution_name":"Oregon State University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text covers many, although not all, aspects of environmental science and sustainability. To be fair, no single book could ever be completely comprehensive, as hte subject is simply too large. This text is more geared towards policy, and explaining some fo the science behind current policy, with a focus on climate change. Many topics that I cover in my class, including agriculture, livestock, biodiversity, are not covered adequately in this text. Agriculture is mentioned very very briefly in chapter 4, but not to a level that any real class would cover it. Nothing about GMOs or alternate cropping systems for sustainability in the future. Biodiversity is covered in slightly less than 4 pages, and it is very dry: the red list, categories of species, and so on -- nothing for students really to sink their teeth into.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I would give this book a great rating on accuracy -- the authors did a fabulous job with their research, and did great summaries of the topics that they covered. I have no problem at all sending students this way, to get accurate updated information on the topics covered in this book.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"The climate section is so well written that I believe that this has at least 5 years of life in it, before it might become painfully obvious that it needs updating. The policy sections are written in a general enough way that I also think they will stay current. This field is so new, and is moving so quickly, that updating frequently will be critical. Other topics that change rapidly -- such as alternative energy -- are described here so briefly, and in such general terms with few specifics, that they will need updating less than once a year as well.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Although the writing style is VERY dry, with an emphasis on gneralizations and take-home points, with fewer specifics and examples, I find the writing to be very clear and easy to read. The section on mining, starting with basic geology concepts, was particularly easy to read.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book does a great job with consistency, and it reads as if if one author alone wrote the whole thing. The level of detail is about the same throughout, the glossary at the end of each chapter is detailed, and the level stays consistent.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The modularity is EXCELLENT and is what might make this book most useful. I looked at several chapters of this book that are not covered well by my lectures, and the chapters seem to be complete as stand-alone chapters. I have no problem assigning individual chapters of this text.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Because the chapters really are stand-alone units, the flow is almost irrelevant. But in any case, chapters internally are very well organized and flow very well. Chapters start with general introductions, lead us through the history and background of a problem, and move us to specifics and more advanced material. It is a very clear text.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"I had to read the book through iBooks, because the PDF download did not work -- at least on the 2 Macs I tried. Everything in teh text displayed perfectly. The only annoyance I had -- and this may be due to my complete lack of experience with iBooks -- is that I could only page through things page by page, and so skipping around from chapter to chapter, and back to the table of contents, was annoying. I found that I left the table of contents open in Firefox, and then paged through iBooks to the right place after I looked up where I wanted to go on the web site. It is easier to jump around with a printed book.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"perfect.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"It is very culturally sensitive! Sustainability is a global concern, and they address this well.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"On one hand, I really wanted to love this book. However, I don't think I will be able to use it. It is very dry -- few examples, few things that are provocative, and I don't think that htis book will really capture and excite freshmen students, which is my audience. Everything is accurate, but I wanted pictures, specifics, controversy.","created_at":"2014-07-15T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2014-07-15T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":109,"first_name":"Linda","last_name":"Vanasupa","position":"Professor","institution_name":"California Polytechnic State University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text occurs to me as comprehensive in terms of approaching sustainability as a issue of environmental management. It contains a single chapter (10) that draws some of the connections between the social and cultural. The chapters that address intersections, such as Environment and Resource Management, largely occur to me as speaking about these issues from an analytical view of patterns of behavior and resources use as \"objects,\" distinct from history and emotion. For example, Chapter 2, which discusses the evolution of enviornmental policy in the U.S., makes no reference to native American experiences; it treats the \"beginning\" as colonialists' ownership and use of land. More emergent views that include reslilience and complexity (e.g., C.S. Holling and L.H. Gundersen) are not omitted. The majority of the chapters reflect issues of environmental science in a way that occurs to me as reductionist, rather than holistic. Having said that, the chapters on the individual issues (e.g., Global climate change, Biosphere) seem comprehensive in terms of the present science. The chapter titles do address the broad range of issues within sustainability. It's hard to address such a complex, interconnected set of issues in the linear media of a book. So, I think the book largely does a nice job of this.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"In terms of the disciplinary sciences that are represented here, the book occurs to me as accurate. As I read it, there is a way in which the chapters are written from a disciplinary mindset, rather than an holistic mindset. In this way, I do not consider it \"unbiased\". All viewpoints, in the arguments of J. Habermas (which seem logical to me), necessarily contain a biased point of view, since they include a \"viewer\".","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"There is relevance and longevity, it seems to me, in the sections that address the biophysical world, even though they do so in a traditional, reductionists view. I don't see this text as being obsolete any time soon. However, for me, the text would serve as a starting point from which to begin conversations in class about what is potentially missing, the tacit mental models represented in different chapters, and so on.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"The text seems to be straight forward and clear in the prose. Technical jargon is defined when included. There is a way in which the text occurs to me as less of an overview and more of a deep dive into the distrinct disciplinary perspectives. However, I suspect that this is appropriate for a college-level audience.","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"The text seems fairly consistent in the layout, although it varies from chapter to chapter in terms of the granularity of the sections and the scope that is addressed in each chapter. I suppose this is expected in an edited compilation. There are also inconsistencies in presentation of viewpoint, but this is acknowledged and explained in the preface.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The chapter headings are such that the book can easily be used in a modular way.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"From my point of view, the text seems to place a priority on environmentalism, with the social dimensions of sustainability residing at the margins. In this way, the text represents what occurs to me as a U.S. centric view of sustainability. The more European/global views that look at the holistic picture that include histories that brought the planet and its peoples to this point are largely absent from the text. It does this by focusing largely on the environmental issues and resources for the bulk of the book and then include a single chapter on the social (10) at the end. So, if I were to use the text, would start with Chapter 10, or put chapter 10 early in the text.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The interface is quite good for a free text. There do not appear to be significant issues. From an academic standpoint, there are places where the references are not as robust or present as one would expect, but there are references to the on-line content at Connexions which might have a more comprehensive referencing. There is also some inconsistency with the reference use, but all in all, it is sufficient as a interface.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Fine.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"As mentioned above, the embedded cultural base-line is the U.S., white man's story. The perspective of native Americans or more global regions is largely omitted. In this way, the book occurs to me as \"offensive\" in its ethnocentricity. I don't think this can be \"fixed\" by including, say, a Chinese person in an example. It's my view that the assertions in the book are made unconsciously, without an awareness of one's own cultural milieu. As an example: p. 24 assertion: \"If the sustainability paradigm is to be believed, then economic viability is of paramount concern and the engagement of industrial forces must of necessity be part of its enactment. These are the engines that provide employment, and that control large quantities of capital for investment.\" These statements are made as if they are the truth. The value system of the military-industrial complex, consumption as 'way of life' and concentraion of profit for the few, are embedded in this statement as if these things were God-given, rather than socially-defined. In this way, the text is limited in its cultural relevance. However, it certainly has a lot of value as a source of a particular point of view. Readers can deconstruct and question the assumptions implicit in the text. So the text is very useful, regardless.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"For a free text, this book is excellent. No text is free from bias. No text is complete comprehensive for all uses. I commend the authors and editors.","created_at":"2014-07-15T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2014-07-15T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":114,"first_name":"Joel","last_name":"Light","position":"Biology Associate","institution_name":"University of Northwestern - St. Paul","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This textbooks seems to cover the same information and depth as other texts on the same subject. Its depth and coverage of topics in sustainability would be appropriate for a non-majors, general science course in the environmental sciences. Some of the chapter titles are uniquely titled which may make them harder to connect to the organization of Environmental Science courses but a little deeper inquiry into the chapter subheadings help bring more clarity to what the chapters are about. Each of the main subjects of the multidisciplinary text seem to be written by an expert in that particular discipline.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Each of the main content areas within this multidisciplinary text has been written by a content expert in the particular field represented. This means that each of these content areas is well represented and written from the perspective of that discipline.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"I appreciate the use of case studies in this text. Case studies provide real world examples of the material represented in the chapters. This would give the ability of the authors/editors to continually update the text with more up-to-date information. However, about half of the case studies are a bit dated. They are classic examples but there are more relevant and current examples for the same material. Also I would love to see even more case studies available for students and professors to utilize. Students appreciate the ability to see why the material they are studying matters and that is relevant in the real world.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"The text is mostly easy to read; however, the figures, picture examples, and frankly unappealing and simplistic design in several of the chapters will cause most students will loose interest in reading it. It reads like many research articles and for the non-major student especially will not be excited and engaged in the text. I was fine to read it coming from a science background and interest in the subject matter, but someone who is taking the course to fulfill a requirement will mostly likely skim the chapters instead of reading them in depth. This is one of the more important things I look for in a text so currently this would not displace the paper copy text I use in my course.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The text terminology and framework is fairly consistent. You can tell that each of the authors had a specific framework to follow in order to maintain the consistency of the text. You can tell that different people are writing each chapter; however the format is the same throughout. It may be one of the downfalls of the many author design of the text that each chapter will read slightly different but the consistent format helps to alleviate most of it.","modularity_rating":3,"modularity_review":"It is broken into smaller sections take can aid in its readability however at times this is distracting and the sections are overly divided. There are other sections that are not divided enough. I think the simplistic design of the subheadings makes for more dry reading and disinterest for the reader. Even having some different colors of subheadings could help with this problem.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The topics seem to be organized well with the chapters building on each other well. The chapters do the same as they start with introduction material and then build into more complex concepts and ideas. The text ends with what the future could hold in regards to sustainability. I think it does well to end on positive subject matter.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"I do think that the interface is more clunky compared to a paper text. On a laptop using a PDF is not as easy to skip to specific parts of the text. On a reader app this would be more helpful but still would not be as easy as a paper text. This may frustrate students and professors alike. I could also see that the diagrams and pictures may not look as clear on all devices.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found no grammar errors.","cultural_rating":2,"cultural_review":"It is definitely written from an American cultural background. Almost all of the case studies are from the US which I believe should be remedied. I would not choose this particular text if cultural relevance is important, which it happens to be. This is however a common problem of many text available for this subject which I believe is limiting its affect on those outside the eurocentric viewpoint.","overall_rating":7,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2014-07-15T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2014-07-15T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":162,"first_name":"Lee","last_name":"Fithian","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"University of Oklahoma","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text is billed as an introduction to the essential elements of sustainability suitable for first or second year college students. Some topics are remedial in light of current standards in K-12 curriculum; however, this is necessary to account for the variety of backgrounds of incoming college students. Any text using the term \"comprehensive\" is suspect, but as an introductory text that balances social, economic and environmental underpinnings this one does a good job. As others have noted, there are elements missing that bear direct relation to equity issues such as agriculture and water rights in light of corporate sovereignty, but as a holistic introduction to primary issues this text is well thought out.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"As far as the science and economics are presented in an elementary fashion, there is little to be disputed in its accuracy. At times the text displays a tendency to preach, but this presents the opportunity for further discussion.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"As a primer and introduction to current approaches and issues the text serves admirably. But, as I have mentioned earlier, timely discussions of agriculture, GMOs, water rights and the entire economic interdependency with Corporate sovereignty is missing from the discussion. Chapter 8. Sustainable Energy Systems is focused on alternative biofuel and PCM systems, which I suspect are in the author's research areas, with limited review in others. The built environment's use of alternative energies is lightly touched on but lacking in passive systems and review of current technological advances. These areas could use an updating to keep the text current.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is quite lucid, and accessible. Jargon is inherent to the topic, but definitions and interrelated descriptions are well managed and coordinated.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The \"voice\" of the book is very consistent. However, from the standpoint of providing a holistic interrelation of topics as well as content, the book is best used in a modular form.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This is where I believe the text shines. Each chapter can stand alone and the learning objectives, coupled with well-considered illustrations and chapter review questions, makes for an easy transition to classroom presentation and discussion. For example, the chapters on 3: Climate and Global Change and 6: Environmental and Resource Economics are valuable introductions to topics that are not the focus of many courses but are necessary to any discussion on sustainability.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"If the text is regarded from a modular perspective, it is well organized. As an overall treatment of the subject of Sustainability some chapters would be well served by reorganizing and put into more immediate context.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"The ePub version was slow and did not link quickly via its table of contents using Internet Explorer 11. The PDF version needs to have the table of contents and index linked.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"Text and captions were well written and used language suitable for College courses. Captions to figures suffered from some overlay issues with the footer in the PDF version.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"Individual chapter discussions should address economics in light of multi-national corporations and governmental policy influences highlighting their impacts on equity issues including food and water. This will add to the discussion and broaden the readers understanding of their individual role within the framework of civic responsibility. ","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"I will be using some of the chapters from this book to augment my courses.","created_at":"2015-01-12T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2015-01-12T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":210,"first_name":"Natalie","last_name":"Hunt","position":"Postdoctoral Research Associate and Lecturer","institution_name":"University of Minnesota","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text covers a broad range of social and physical science principles that underpin sustainability and illustrates them well using relevant historic examples and case studies.  It is broad in its scope and covers most topics included in many Sustainability and Environmental Studies textbooks.\r\n\r\nI would have liked to see a more thorough section on Agriculture.  The impacts of agriculture are mentioned briefly in the Soil and Sustainability section, but I believe merit greater discussion - particularly in the Modern Environmental Management or Environmental and Resource Economics chapters.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The content was accurate, error-free, and was appropriately cited throughout.  I did, however, find it bothersome that Wikipedia topic pages were cited as content references (e.g.  Chapters 7, 9).","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The case studies, graphics, and figures included recent data that have several years left in their relevancy.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"For a book aimed at first and second year students, I found the first two chapters (Introduction, Evolution of Environmental policy in the US) to be well articulated and effective at providing an introductory framework for a new student to the field.  The history of the sustainability movement would be attractive to a reader new to the field by giving a better sense of the historical and social context under which Sustainability science operates.  The use of images of artistic and historical relevance in Chapters 1, 2, and 10 was a good way to draw in the reader, particularly those new to Sustainability studies.\r\n\r\nFor a reading audience with a deeper background in Sustainability, I found the chapters to be clear and comprehensive and this book could be used as a helpful reference for scientific and social principles instruction.  The glossary was very thorough and a welcome supplement. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The layout of the text is consistent, opening each module with a set of learning objectives, and following up with review questions.\r\n","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The modularity of this textbook is its greatest strength.  The modular nature of this book lends itself to opportunities for supplementing and/or updating with more current case studies and examles.  Each module's framework also lends itself to a logical progression of classroom discussion (e.g. introduction to basic principles, illustrative examples, \"Sustainable Solutions\", and case studies).  It is both comprehensive and flexible.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Chapters 1 and 2 do a thorough job of introducing the first or second year student to the overall Sustainabiltiy context and set the stage for further exploration into the scientific principles and concepts covered in later chapters.  Chapter 10 could easily be moved to the beginning (between Chapters 2 and 3) by engaging the new Sustainability student to where humanity fits in.\r\n","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I read this book through a .pdf viewer (Preview on a Mac), an eBook application on an iPad and desktop computer.  When reading on a desktop computer through the eBook application, I found the format to be more streamlined and easy to follow.  The visual layout is much less clunky (e.g. the extensive 1.2.3.3. subsection notations do not appear) in the eBook application on a desktop/laptop than it is on a mobile device.\r\n\r\nSome images used throughout were of lower quality, and showed up poorly resolved on my pdf viewer.  In addition, some image and table captions were unclear or obscured by figure or table content in the pdf viewer.\r\n","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The grammar was consistent and accurate throughout.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is very US-centric, which may exempt its use for courses geared more towards global scale issues.  However, the modular nature of this text lends itself to integrating more international or global case studies and examples.  Aside from the US focus, the text does not communicate any insensitive or offensive messages.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I would incorporate several modules into my own teaching, the authors did an admirable job of including substantial information for such a broad and comprehensive topic.","created_at":"2015-06-10T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2015-06-10T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":224,"first_name":"John","last_name":"Duke","position":"Professor of Damage Science and Mechanics","institution_name":"Virginia Tech","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"For an evolve subject matter area the book covers most of the important areas which ought to be considered, an area omitted is that related to the traditional engineering design paradigm which was a response to a compact with the owner/manager to remove the engineering structure or system from service after the expiration of the design life.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Within the knowledge based of this reviewer the topics covered are factually error free.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"In that the concept of \"sustainability\" is a contemporary hot topic, and the nature of this compilation might make subsequent comprehensive revision problematic I suspect the longevity will be short.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The sections of the book vary a bit but not to the point where this is a distraction.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"As compilation this is inherently a weak spot, but on the important concepts there is consistency","modularity_rating":3,"modularity_review":"no comment","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Apart from the area, in the opinion of this reviewer, which is quite important being omitted the topics seem to be organized in a logical fashion.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The document can be navigated without aggravation within Adobe Reader.","grammatical_rating":3,"grammatical_review":"This is outside my expertise.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"I was not offended, but cannot comment on whether others might be offended.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"It is quite a challenge to develop a comprehensive document for an area of subject matter which is under formulation.  This document does a commendable job regarding the topics it addresses.  An important omission is the part played by the classical engineering design paradigm developed in response to the inherent owner/manager and engineering designer compact.  This compact implicitly suggests that a system or structure will be removed from service after the design service life has expired.  The engineering design paradigm which has resulted is to develop designs which avoid fundamental problems during the service life and as such any “maintenance” is minor where expendable elements are routinely replaced, eg., motor oil, tires, light bulbs, paint, etc.  While failing to honor such compacts might be suggested to align with sustainable drivers it is based on the false premise that failing to recognize the design approach might afford a basis for “extending the life” of these engineered systems. Because the engineering designer has generally honor the compact, no serious consideration was given during design to any efforts to “preserve” the system… to monitor the inevitable deterioration of the system or structure and repair or replace the necessary elements to sustain it.  Clearly the compact was born in an age when sustainability was not considered, but ignoring the fact that the products of this compact are all about us because the manner in which we design is not being deliberately altered to a sustainable design paradigm is an oversight which should be corrected in this comprehensive foundation.  ","created_at":"2015-06-10T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2015-06-10T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":227,"first_name":"Nathaniel","last_name":"Springer","position":"Postdoctoral Associate and Lecturer","institution_name":"University of Minnesota","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook follows an issue-based structure, which accurately reflects way sustainability problems are addressed across disciplines, or “metadisciplinary” as the authors describe it.  In this sense, it is very comprehensive, covering both breadth and depth more than most textbooks would attempt.  Yet it remains difficult to be comprehensive regarding all relevant issues and disciplinary perspectives while also giving each one the depth it requires (even in a 600+ page textbook).  Hence some topics receive more focused coverage than others (climate change, energy, sustainable infrastructure), but those that received this focused coverage are also charged with achieving substantial depth in a very short span (such as the resource and environmental economics chapter, which attempts to squeeze pieces of a microeconomics and an environmental economics course into 33 pages).  Furthermore, specific issues are often covered using specific disciplinary perspectives and are not always integrated across modules.  For instance, the climate change chapter is strictly climate science, while the social science and climate policy pieces are sporadically spread throughout other chapters.  Still, the scope of this text is very ambitious and provides a nice basis upon which additional modules can be supplemented.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The modules appear well researched and accurate (although there are unfortunately many references to Wikipedia articles). ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"It will be difficult for this textbook to retain its longevity since sustainability encompasses a diverse set of fast developing “metadisciplines”.  But its relevance will only increase and again hopefully modular structure is conducive to future updates and supplementation in the coming years.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The authors write clearly, but again, the multi-disciplinarily approach of the text will make technical jargon stand out for those modules outside a given student’s background.  The extensive glossary is useful in this regard.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The layout and presentation is very consistent, although them modular approach means that the conceptual framing of each chapter can vary dramatically.  But this variability is in fact ideal for a sustainability perspective, for students will find that addressing sustainability problems requires remaining open to different framings of research and policy solutions.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The modularity is probably the best feature of this textbook.","organization_rating":2,"organization_review":"Again, due to the diverse nature of this field, creating a nice flow to the book is extremely difficult, and in this case in inversely related to its modularity.  Many of the topics are interwoven throughout the book (for instance, climate change is introduced in Environmental Risk Management and later expanded upon in Chapter 3), but others are relegated to minor roles when if fact they may be more broadly relevant (such as Industrial Ecology being mentioned in the context of life-cycle assessment in Chapter 9 but entirely absent from the waste sections in Chapter 7).  The placement of many of the chapters seems very arbitrary.  It is probably best to simply ignore the chapter numbers and reorganize the text to fit the flow of the particular course one is teaching.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The formatting is a bit clunky at times with empty space on some pages because of photos on the next, only a space between section breaks, and some tables that don’t translate well to PDF.  But overall, the numbering of sections and subsections is consistent and useful.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Didn’t see any problems.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"Very relevant to our place and time, both for a global community that will need to address all these issues and for the sustainability community that is quickly developing an interdisciplinary field across natural sciences, social science, and humanities.  The choice to use the U.S. perspective as the main historical basis for the emergence of environmentalism and sustainable development is arguably regionally limiting, but again, it provides a good basis for discussing the development of the same or similar ideas in other cultural contexts.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"Nice to see an open source book on this important subject, sets a much needed standard!","created_at":"2015-06-10T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2015-06-10T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":242,"first_name":"Dale","last_name":"Gentry","position":"Associate Professor of Biology","institution_name":"University of Northwestern - Saint Paul","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"Sustainability: A Comprehensive Foundation excels in some facets of comprehensiveness but is lacking in others.  I am impressed by their inclusion of social and policy details that are missing in many environmental science and sustainability texts.  This is probably the result of having a separate “expert” author for each chapter which is different from most texts on this subject which are authored by natural scientists that are less well versed in social and policy issues. I was especially impressed with their coverage of Climate Change as many texts I’ve reviewed do not contain sufficient detail.  This text is lacking in comprehensiveness in that it does not adequately cover some topics, most notably for me, agriculture.  This topic is so intimately tied to habitat loss, water management, the carrying capacity of humans and numerous other issues that it deserves more attention than it was given.  Also of note is a lack of figures in some chapters that are pervasive through some published texts.  This does not necessarily devalue the text but will require an adjustment for some students.  ","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"I found no information that was inaccurate for the time that this text was published.  This is the benefit of having separate authors for each chapter.  However, some of the data are already outdated simply based on publication date.  For example the reported distribution of crude oil reserves has changed recently with the advent of hydraulic fracturing.  This text will need to be updated regularly to maximize effectiveness.  ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The text is notably out of date in a few spots (e.g. it reports the current human population of 6.8 billion, pg. 14).  This is a nagging issue for Environmental Science texts because the data are constantly changing and they matter to the debate.  For instance the percentage of the world’s energy that comes from renewables is quickly changing and the data matter to the debate.  The text appears to be written in a way that it could be updated by the authors if they are motivated to do so.  ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is very clearly written.  Students should not struggle to understand the contents, however it is not terribly engaging.  Classes that require students to rely heavily on the text may not find it a suitable resource simply because it fails to draw in all but the very dedicated students. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The nature of this text with its unique authors for each section results in an inconsistent voice that occasionally appears contradictory.  However, the editors realize this and acknowledge it in the introduction.  This is actually one of my favorite parts of the text and may help students to understand the difficulty of solving environmental problems.  As long as the format for the text is clearly explained at the start of a class it should not cause problems.  ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This editors and authors of this text did an excellent job of arranging the chapters into digestible and well labeled sections.  It would be very simple to specify which sections should be read and which should not.  Very well done.  ","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"I found the organization of topics to be odd.  However I hesitate to be overly critical because there is no universal view on how these diverse topics should be ordered and associated.  Chapter 7 was especially confusing. Its title is “Modern Environmental Management” which is too vague.  I thought it might include sections on management of wildlife and habitats but instead it was about waste management, government policy, and environmental risk assessment which seems like a strange marriage of topics.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I reviewed the book as a .pdf and found no issues.  While it is utilitarian, I can’t imagine adopting this text without a paper copy for myself.  I am happy to read off a screen but for a 600+ page text, the luddite in me wants a hard copy. Of course this can be achieved so we can all have our cake and eat it too.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not find any errors in the text.  It is very well written and edited. ","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"This subject requires a genuine world view but most of the chapters are written with a North American bias.  Cultural sensitivity was probably not a high priority for the authors and edits of this text.  However, there was nothing notably insensitive and this is a common problem for books on the topic.  Inclusion of case studies from other regions would help as would more discussion of environmental policy around the world.  ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I am searching for an open source text for my environmental science course and while this one is not perfect, the authors have done a very good job and I think I could make it work.  Well done. ","created_at":"2015-06-10T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2015-06-10T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":279,"first_name":"Kelly","last_name":"Curl","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Colorado State University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"As the title portrays, this is a very comprehensive collection of subjects and topics related to sustainability. Sustainability is a large topic though. As a professor of landscape architecture, there are many more topics, lessons, sustainable systems, both rural and urban that we discuss that go beyond this book. I do enjoy the case studies as excellent precedence for specific topics.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"The topics are accurate. However, for some subjects, I believe that further descriptions and in depth research on advanced topics would give the reader a deeper connection to the content. ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Our world and research is continually changing. With the subject of sustainability, I would imagine that there would need to be constant edits and update to chapter contents and relationships between chapters.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"It is a very simple writing style for most parts which reads clear in content. I would be looking for a bit more discussion on further relationships between topics overall. I wish that beyond the text, there were more visual imagery to set the visual framework for the topics being discussed.","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"It is not as consistent in the writing as expected. With the amount of various authors, it is very hard to have it be the same through this lengthy book.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The topics/subjects are largely covered by each chapter.  Because of the range of topics, each chapter could be broken out quite easily. I do not favor this and would rather a greater connect between each topic.  ","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"The think the structure of the book is okay. Again, sustainability covers such a broad range of topics. But as a landscape architect, I would have preferred a layout that maybe ranges in scale and scope. Chapter 11 covers some of what I teach, and it took a long time to get there. \t ","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"I originally tried to open the PDF and depending what server or online system I was on, it was often too large to download. I ultimately was able to open it and use it as the resource for this review. I wish the original website topics listings would show all books under each subject. Until you click into each do you then get to scroll and find the subjects with the title. ","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"I think this was fine. However, the formatting of some of the pages on the PDF had streaming sentences that were not graphically laid out properly.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"I believe this text is more about domestic issues than global problems. I would expand with more global case studies and the connections of topics at a larger scale.","overall_rating":7,"overall_review":"There are so many overall generalities on this topics within the book. For landscape architecture students, sustainability is deeply rooted into all aspects of our designs from the over planning of cities, the layouts of conservations developments, ecological planning, and urban agriculture. We design at varying scales and detailed descriptions were missing on subjects like extensive versus intensive greenroofs, designing healthy landscapes and sustainable cities through park design, vegetated streetscapes, permeable paving, and new inventing engineered hydrological systems that support a native plant palette.   ","created_at":"2016-01-07T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2016-01-07T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":293,"first_name":"Sean","last_name":"Bryan","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"Colorado State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book has \"comprehensive\" in the title, and it delivers on that promise. The book covers a full range of topics relating to the multi-disciplinary nature of sustainability. On a chapter level, I found the book covered most if not all of the concepts I would consider relevant.  The book also provides an effective table of contents, index and glossary. This book would be appropriate for an introductory-level, multi-disciplinary course on sustainability or environmental studies.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content in this book seems accurate to me. The chapters that I have the most expertise in (climate science and physical resources) are accurately written and well documented. The graphics that are used come from reliable sources and are appropriate for the text. ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The content is up-to-date at this time. However, due to the rapidly evolving nature of many of the topics covered, e.g. global change and environmental policy, the text will need updating every few years or risk becoming obsolete. Updates to the text should be relatively straightforward for the authors. ","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"The most of the text is written in an easy to understand, clear prose. It can be dry at times. The use of jargon is moderate and in most cases, jargon is defined in the text. The use of acronyms is excessive in some chapters. Acronyms are pervasive in environmental policy; however, their use in an introductory level text makes reading the text slow and disjointed. One needs to go back and find out what the acronym stands for each time they come across it until that acronym is memorized. This process uses unnecessary mental energy, which should be spent on understanding important concepts.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"I found the consistency of this book fairly good. As noted below, the book is highly modular. Sometimes a modular book can suffer in consistency in tone and formatting from chapter to chapter. This is noticeable to a small extent in this book. In particular, you can tell that each chapter was written by different authors. There are some differences in the tone, level of jargon used from chapter to chapter. However, the editors did a good job maintaining consistency in the formatting and structure of the book from chapter to chapter. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The book is written in a very modular way. Individual chapters could easily be extracted and used on their own or in association with other resources. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book is highly structured with many subsections. Each subsection has a title. Some of the headings could be more descriptive, but overall, the organization is clear. Because of the shallow and broad nature of the book, topics do not generally build upon each other, but they are broken up in logical ways. ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I used the pdf file of the book. I had no issues downloading and reading the file. There were a few issues where the formatting is off; i.e. unnecessary spacing or tables that extend off the page.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No noticeable grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive. It does have a U.S. centric focus, which may or may not be appropriate based on the goals of the course in which it is being used.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I like that the authors are including learning objectives and review questions in each module. However, many of the the learning objectives are very broad and vague, using terms like \"understand.\" It would be helpful for the student to have more specific learning objectives. The review questions should also relate back to the learning objectives. In some cases, they do; however, often the connections are not obvious. I like the use of case studies in many of the chapters; these could be effectively used as jumping off points for classroom investigations. Overall, this seems like a good, comprehensive, introductory-level book. ","created_at":"2016-01-07T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2016-01-07T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":461,"first_name":"Jennifer","last_name":"Cochran-Biederman","position":"Instructor of Biology","institution_name":"Winona State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"As a foundational resource on the field of sustainability, I find this book to be reasonably comprehensive. I think that certain chapters provide more detail and depth than others – and in a magnitude that’s necessarily consistent with the amount of information available. In particular, I think that the chapter on Environmental and Resource Economics could have provided more insight into the concept and application of ecosystem services in conservation, as well as some discussion about alternative methods for quantifying economic health and wellbeing (e.g. inclusive wealth). I would certainly, however, find that this resource is comprehensive enough to be used as the primary resource for a course – as it would be easy to cover certain topics in greater depth during lecture or with ancillary reading materials.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The textbook seems remarkably accurate with respect to factual content. In particular, I think the credibility and expertise of each chapter is strengthened by that fact that it was written by an expert or leader in the given corner of the discipline. In addition, each chapter provides several citations for data and references to research – which adds another layer of transparency and opportunity for students to dive further into various topics. The only exception is that I think Wikipedia is referenced a bit too much – I most cases I think better sources could be identified. I didn’t find any evidence of bias in the text.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"necessary updates will be relatively easy and straightforward to implement.\nThe case studies provide a nice context for the information in the chapters – and I think these will be easy to update with newer or more relevant examples in future editions. Overall, the field of sustainability is advancing quite quickly in comparison to other fields (e.g. anatomy), so I think it’s safe to assume that this book will need frequent revisions and updates to maintain consistency. The use of different authors/experts for various chapters will undoubtedly make the process of maintaining relevance and longevity much more feasible than if the text were written by only one or two. \nInfographics, data, and other images are sparse in some chapters. On one hand, this will may provide more “longevity” in the book as these items don’t exist to be updated, but it think that more graphics would be useful to the student.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Overall, most chapters are written very clearly – although the style in prose does vary a bit from chapter to chapter (to be expected with so many authors).  Unlike traditional textbooks, I think  readability, in general, was not a priority in making the textbook as some pages feature many, many long paragraphs and very little white space. The text can be a little dull – which for the typical scientist is perfectly fine, but may be especially dry to the student who is reading textbooks from some of the major publishers – who seem to be favoring a more engaging journalistic style in many texts. \nThere are few infographics that seek to elucidate complicated topics, ideas, timelines, processes, etc – but I think that can be filed under “you get what you pay for.” I still find that the content is clearly articulated in most passages, and although some students may struggle with the text, I think the average upper level college student will have no problems.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book seems fairly consistent in that each chapter provides learning objectives and review questions. Most chapters feature case studies, although not all of them. And some chapters have multiple case studies whereas others may only have one. The placement of the case study(ies) is not always the same – but I don’t think that this matters much. \n\nThe text varies in breadth and depth, and in prose/style, from chapter to chapter. I didn’t find it to be super obvious – and it probably won’t be a distraction to students. Such is the nature of having multiple authors. Also, the use of infographics varied among chapters – on the whole, I would find it beneficial to have more.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I think the modularity is a strength of this textbook. I can definitely see using this textbook in such a way that I might only assign certain chapters or sections of chapters – or perhaps I might assign them in a completely different order. Overall, the content seems as if it would be easy to reorganize and realigned, or used in conjunction with other ancillary course materials.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The nature of the discipline as well as the style of the book with distinct authors for each chapter makes for a disrupted flow, to some extent. I think the book may benefit from a bit of reorganization – but with regard to my comments for #6, I think the modularity of if it is a benefit – even if it may not be flow in a 100% sensible way. \n\nAlso, there is some inconsistency with the placement of the case studies within chapters, and in certain chapters, I think the placement could be modified. But overall, the organization/structure/flow is suitable for an open source textbook of this nature.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I viewed the book as a PDF in preview, and some of the text was a little distorted. The images and infographics were all nicely colored and in the proper proportion to the text. As a plain-Jane textbook, I think it is suitable – there are certainly not the interactive bells and whistles that you’d find in a more “modern” ebook from a major publisher.  If I were to use this textbook, I would recommend that students download and print the book – as it cannot be annotated electronically. (Although the new generation of learners are perhaps better able to read, absorb, and retain material from such a plain, non-interactive PDF format much better than I).","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"Perhaps this is the nature of the field or a reflection of the authors, but the book is indeed very US-centric in how it describes the background and application of sustainability as a scientific discipline. It would be nice to see more references to the international case studies, policy, research, etc. As the field develops and expands, I think there will be broader ability to explore many of these issues in a more culturally inclusive or expansive way.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2016-08-21T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2016-08-21T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":483,"first_name":"Kolson","last_name":"Schlosser","position":"Assistant Professor of Instruction","institution_name":"Temple University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text is nothing if not comprehensive. It is so comprehensive, in fact, that one wonders about whether there exists an upper threshold after which it is simply too much. One student could not really consume this much in one semester. That probably is not the authors' intent either; it is intended to be incorporated chapter by chapter, section by section. Chapters 5 (physical resources) and 8 (renewable energy) themselves are a little longer than they need to be, at the risk of turning off students. However, the other chapters are consumable individually.\n\nThe only topic that is not covered, and that really should be, is environmental justice. It is mentioned twice in the book but never covered thoroughly.","accuracy_rating":2,"accuracy_review":"The book is so vast there are bound to be disputable points. I will first stick to what are a few blatant inaccuracies. In chapter 6 the idea of Tragedy of the Commons is explained but misrepresented. It mentions that Elinor Ostrom found counter examples, but then is dismissive of them. It uses North Atlantic fisheries as an example of the Tragedy of the Commons, when Ostrom and her team helped disprove that. Those fisheries were fished sustainable for at least 300 years before they were overfished, starting in the 1950s. What that shows is that it was technology and the market that did it - social forces quite different from whether property is owned privately or publicly (which is what Garret Hardin was getting at with his thesis). \n\nThe Tragedy of the Commons surfaces again in chapter 10. I liked a lot of this chapter, but again the authors seem oblivious to critiques of the idea. Figure 10.3 is a cartoon suggest that the Tragedy of the Commons \"lacks dialogue.\" Unfortunately it seems the authors did not get the joke. The long standing and various criticisms of the Tragedy thesis are that it assumes actors who do not communicate with each other, and that in real world examples of common pool resources they typically do. That was how Ostrom showed the flaw in the theory. The authors seemed to interpret the cartoon as saying that the Tragedy of the Commons thesis argues that people don't communicate enough. The issue is that ignores their actual communication. \n\nChapter 6 refers to the idea that consumers behave rationally and balance costs/benefits as an \"uncontroversial axiom.\" That is controversial to say the least. Plenty of dispute about that. \n\nLove Canal is discussed without ever mentioning Lois Gibbs or environmental justice. That seems like a huge omission. \n\nChapter 7 refers to the Clean Air Act of 1955. At that time it was the Air Pollution Act, and was renamed the CAA in 1963. But the components of it recognizable as what we call the CAA were added in 1970, so it seems questionable to refer to it as a 1955 act. \n\nThe use of graphs, charts and maps are generally a strength of the book, except that some of them are outdated, at least as of this review. Worldmapper was once great, but reflects 2002 data. There charts in chapter 5 for example that have data from 2000.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The book is so long I doubt it will be easy to update in any way. I didn't see much that was outdated except for the graphics. They also rely on the Brundtland report for virtually all definitions of sustainability which can be problematic.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The writing is clear overall. The only exception is the first chapter, which starts off invoking ideas that introductory students will not be familiar with. It is not well situated in the literature. The chapters following are all much better about that. The entire thing is fairly dry though, and is not inquiry-focused (meaning it provides information but doesn't bring the  readers' direction back to a central question).","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book is consistent overall.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"With the exception of chapter 1, the book is very modular. Chapters 5 and 8 are on the long side, but otherwise any chapter can work on its own.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"I don't see any problem with the structure of the book.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"No significant problems in terms of interface, except the minor exception that the way inset charts and figures are referenced in text is a little odd and clunky. The only major exception is that the whole thing is a single PDF on white background, and can be tiresome and dull reading. I doubt the authors could do much about that though.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"There are a few grammatical errors, but the frequency of them is somewhat chapter specific. Most chapters are pretty clean.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"I'm not sure this is about \"cultural relevance,\" but those considering the adoption of this book should be aware of a couple things. First, chapter 6, on resource and environmental economics, takes an orthodox neo-classical approach, seemingly without being aware there are other approaches. Hence the authors take rational behavioralism as an \"uncontroversial axiom.\" As another example, the authors mention the Coase theorem and all the ways it becomes obsolete in the real world, but then goes on to suggest that it should be the guiding principle of policy, before rapidly changing subjects. In short, the authors of that chapter are clearly economists of a neo-classical stripe. \n\nAnd second, I liked a lot about chapter 10, sustainability and society, and in fact would've preferred it if this was a bigger focus of the entire text. The chapter's case study on Colony Collapse Disorder was excellent. However, it takes a long term evolutionary approach to the issue, which notoriously obscures an incredible amount of geographic and historical specificity. This really comes through when it mentions the J-curve without qualifying it. The J-curve is actually very misleading, because a more historically specific understand of it shows that population growth is leveling off. In fact it didn't grow in the first place because humans are hard wired for that, as an evolutionary approach would assume. Population in general is not discussed adequately in the text.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"It has its strengths and weaknesses. In general though, it trends on the technical and policy-wonk side. The discussion of transcendentalism in chapter 2 and some of the case studies in chapter 10 were exceptions to this, but overall it reads like an Encyclopedia of the Environment. Like a massive information dump without much focus or punch. The authors were going for comprehensiveness, which they achieved, but which ultimately created something that feels like a basic reference text for an undergraduate environmental course.","created_at":"2016-08-21T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2016-08-21T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":528,"first_name":"Alison","last_name":"Olcott Marshall","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"University of Kansas","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book is relatively comprehensive, especially considering the breadth of the topic. However, as some have noted, the book gives short shrift to some issues, such as agriculture, that are important facets of sustainability discussions. Given that the book covers a wide (very wide) range of topics, it provides an initial overview of the field, and thus the book might be more useful for a survey course than for a specialized higher-level class, and I think a professor might want to supplement the text with additional resources to fill some of these gaps. The book does provide a nice glossary and large index, although I found the index confusingly organized in the PDF version of the book and unhelpfully broad in the ePub version of the book. The PDF version is unlinked to anything and creates a confusing system of \"keywords\" and \"terms\" that I did not quite understand, which the ePub index links would only go to the start of the section that contained the word. Finally, although I applaud the use of Learning Objectives throughout the book, some were too broad to be useful for a student.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The content is very accurate for when it was written, but this is a fast-moving field and some of the content seems to be in need of updating (for instance, the figures on global population are already 600 million people to small). Additionally, in some chapters the references are from more general sources (Science, Nature, National Geographic) rather than from more specialized sources, reinforcing the fact that this is more suited for a survey course than a specialist course.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Most of the content is up-to-date, but some things could probably already be updated. However, the book is written in such a way that it should be relatively straightforward to update the facts and figures. Given how fast Climate Science and Climate Policy changes, though, if parts of this book do not get revised at some point in the next few years, the book itself will not be as useful.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is very clear, especially given the number of authors. Technical terminology is explained well; there are glossaries in each section as well as at the end of the book. Although the prose would be accessible to students, it does tend to be rather dry, though.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"This book is very consistent; the framework from chapter to chapter remains the same, as does the terminology. This is particularly impressive given how many authors were involved in the creation of this book.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The modularity of this book is one of its strongest features. Each chapter could stand alone, and in fact each one has its own URL, glossary, and reference list, making it very easy for a professor to fit the book to their class.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book is well organized. The organization builds towards a policy focus, rather than a science focus, but given the modularity this could be changed on a class to class basis.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"Both the PDF and the ePub look nice, as things are generally nicely laid out in both formats. However, I had problems with each format. The PDF has no internal links, so the index entries and table of contents provide page numbers that can not be clicked on and do not correspond to the PDF number, so they are practically useless. Similarly, I could not get the links in the ePub table of contents to go anywhere; clicking a chapter or section heading would just return me to the top of the table of contents. The index entries, as mentioned above, would just take me to the start of the section where the word is found, which was not particularly useful.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found no errors.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"This book is not offensive, but it is very America-centric, as the case studies and example tended to be American. This is particularly odd given the inherent global nature of sustainability; given that this is an issue that effects everyone, it would be nice if the examples provided illustrated this fact.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2016-08-21T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2016-08-21T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":865,"first_name":"Nilmani","last_name":"Pramanik","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"University of Northern Iowa","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book \"Sustainability: A Comprehensive Foundation\" contains a vast amount of matter on sustainability and it does cover the entire range as it claims. However, some chapters and contents are very specific and may not be suitable for freshman/sophomore lever college students, specifically as a text for engineering technology or technology students. In the context of the course that I teach (Lean and Sustainable Operations), several chapters will be effective for the sustainability aspect of the course and so I would go with a modular approach, adopting specific chapters that are relevant.  ","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The book as a whole is very accurate on the content. Each chapter has been written by subject-matter experts with good research. However, Wikipedia, as has been used as reference in some cases, is not a reliable source and could have been avoided.  ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The content is very relevant and up-to-date at the point time when the chapters were written but this is an evolving subject and would need periodic updates, including updating case studies and/or adding new case studies, to keep it relevant.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is quite straightforward in terms of presenting the technical matter and overall writing/presentation style is very good.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Although the book is a collection of chapters written by different authors, and as such, there is bound to be some difference is presentation style but surprisingly, overall it is very consistent in its presentation of the matter.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The book is modular and I think each chapter stands on its own as a module. As I mentioned in the Comprehensiveness section, I am planning to use select chapters to serve as modules in my course and it would fit nicely.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The sequence of the chapters is consistent and follows more or less a natural order although some might like to re-arrange some chapters without affecting overall flow of the book, particularly since chapters are modular. ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"Interface    \nThe pdf format was good for ease of readability and also for creating modules from individual chapters. However, couple of items in my wish-list: a) It would be nice to add names of the authors for each chapter at the beginning of each chapter so that when the chapters are used as individual modules, they still get the authorship cited. b) Clickable link for index items page numbers.\n","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I didn’t notice any.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The book is written with the US in the perspective; it could add more global flavor by including relevant work being done in other parts of the world. However, as a technical person, I do not see much cultural conflicts in the book.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This is a nice book and although it would be too much to use the whole book as a text for a semester course, I would use the modular approach to adopt relevant chapters for my teaching and also use the book as a good reference. ","created_at":"2016-12-05T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2016-12-05T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1200,"first_name":"Martin","last_name":"Hubbe","position":"Professor","institution_name":"North Carolina State University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The word \"comprehensive\" is in the title of this open textbook, and the editors and authors have made an effort to include numerous aspects of the topic without leaving anything out.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I was impressed that the authors were consistent throughout the book in documenting their sources.  At the same time, the field of sustainability science is clearly in a state of rapid evolution.  So in addition to documenting the accuracy of the information, and its sources, the book provides a healthy appreciation of how knowledge in the field is continuing to be refined.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Because the field of sustainability science is in rapid development, I would expect either one or both of the following to happen within about 4 to 8 years:  (a)  Another groups of editors and authors will compile a \"successor\" or \"competitor\" book, or (b) the present editors and authors will revised the chapters within such a time frame.  I expect that interest in this field of study will grow briskly within the next decade.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The book has different styles, as you would except in the case of a collection from different contributors.  Some of the chapters are more blunt, others more descriptive.  Overall, the level of clarity is very high throughout the text.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"•\tThe Forword to the book mentions that, according to some of the contributing authors, “the text does not necessarily present a self-consistent set of ideas.”  The discipline of sustainability is still in a state of rapid evolution and internal debate.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"Yes.  In fact, the book is set up such that one could easily assign individual chapters to students.  They would not have had to read other chapters.  Each one can stand on its own.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"For such a broad-ranging topic, the editors have done a really good job in arranging these chapters and prescribing their content so that the open textbook works as a unit.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The interface worked great!  No problems.  Maybe the interface needs to be better known to the public.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The grammar was great.  Kudos to the editing team!","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The topic did not have much to do with aspects of human culture, other than environmental aspects of it.  An exception was that there was good discussion about environmental harm tending to occur in the \"back-yard\" of low-income people.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"What a wonderful resource for teaching!  If I were teaching a course related to sustainability, I would be very tempted to assign readings from this book to my students.  Since the students can view it or download it for free, I would feel no regret in assigning just a few pages.  Alternatively, I could assign a series of essay questions, asking students to use the open textbook as their main resource. I could ask different teams of students to consider a specific issue, such as paper recycling, from the perspective of different chapters in the book, e.g. chapters on environmental policy, sustainable energy, ethics, and sustainable infrastructure.  It would be fun to have such teams give back-to-back 20-minute presentations. I imagine that each team could become intrigued at how one set of processes can be perceived quite differently by people focusing on different aspects.","created_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1232,"first_name":"Ephraim","last_name":"Massawe","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Southeastern Louisiana University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This is an outstanding book on Sustainability.  It is discussed in a detailed way under the title \"Sustainability: A Comprehensive Foundation\".  However, this textbook is aimed at students pursuing undergraduate degrees, in particular those who are in their first and second year of their degree program.  These students may have had prior lessons on civic education, geography (exploring the biospheres) and perhaps some aspects of the hydrological cycle as discussed in textbook under the theme of water pollution: sources etc.  From my own experience, it can be difficult, at this level, for students to think very critically and infiltrate into the minds concepts such as externality (environmental economics – pp239-241) in a detailed way as the authors have presented it in the textbook.   For this audience, this part and others should be explained in as simplistic manner as possible (and suggested that additional case studies –common goods – be presented). The textbook is comprehensive in a sense that for each of the 11 chapters, the authors have presented the main objectives to be accomplished upon completion of each chapter, and at times, these are also included in the sub-chapters of the book.  The textbook is well equipped with the review questions, which in my opinion, are helpful to students; however, the authors needed to come up with some hints to help students answer these questions or possibly provide comprehensive solutions to these questions.  \n\nSub-title: 2:3.5:  Risk Management as a Basis for Environmental Policy:  the authors should consider giving an introductory remark to the risk assessment process; and its genesis and application to various agencies.  I believe that a genesis of this framework and a statement to that effect, that this framework was conceived in the early 1980s is necessary.   Specifically, the authors have missed an opportunity to discuss how the risk assessment framework is being used as the basis for making regulations (both occupational and non-occupational) and also for making policy in the US.; what additional items, other than the risk assessment elements, needs to be considered for policy making are as important for discussion.  For example, at some point in time in the past, it was a norm to use the concept of Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) as the basis for making rules, regulations and standards at the EPA and other federal agencies. It was also a part of the NEPA’s policy statement on environmental important statements (EIS) that the CBA be part of these EIS or environmental impact assessment (EIA) reports.  This view of CBA should have come out clearly in this section.  In my opinion, I am guessing that the authors have concentrated too many issues in one chapter -   thus making it difficult for potential young readers to capture all in one lesson or in one semester.  The authors could have given one of the two examples which, again in my opinion, would have sufficed. For example when the authors addressed the question of energy: multiple examples are given taking too much time, and space in the textbook. It would have been more appropriate cite these examples, or to use them as case studies for students to work and solve them.  Another example is that of the dust pollution in the Philadelphia area.  I would suggest that instead of presenting all those figures,  only one figure with a, b, and c would have been appropriate in that case.   As a result, this would not only have reduced the more than 600 page-volume textbook, but it would also have made it easier for students to read as well. Another example is that of the CFLs presented on pp 557-558 - Fig 11:20 and SSL – on Fig 11:21 (the authors could have combined both of these figures into one figure i.e. 11:20a/11:20b which would then appear on one Fig. Again, this would have significantly reduced the number of pages.   Contemporary issues, such as the extraction of shale gas to meet the growing energy demand – and which obviously affect sustainability and development – availability of drinking water or water for irrigation - are covered with some specific examples: hydraulic fracking (pp320).  Issues related to the BP oil spill – resulting from our quest for energy sources in the Gulf of Mexico area also have shown in some parts of the textbook (pp497-498)\nAccording to the authors, or at least the author of chapter1: at the intersections of the three themes of sustainability: economic, social and environment – lies the following three: bearable, equitable and viable (pp7). It is gratifying to note that these terms, which form the backbone of the term “sustainability”, have been used throughout the textbook by all the authors – regardless – e.g. equitable: pp7; 260; 485; 512; 515. Viability: pp519; 553; 565. \n\nFinally, it is of my opinion that the glossary, as written in the document, is complete and thorough. However, it could be beneficial to change the order of some of the chapter headings. For example, instead of assigning the chapter titled “Sustainability: Ethics, Culture, and History” to be read as chapter 10, it may make more sense to assign it to a chapter at the beginning. This way the history and culture behind sustainability can be understood before diving into a chapter about modern day environmental management.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The introduction lays out clear expectations for the document which is helpful to the reader, but the title page should have a stand-alone title.  The authors have attempted to balance their textbook with some science-based facts. It is gratifying to note how each of the individual authors’ chapters have avoided to use any of the jargons or the doctrines of the extreme left or right or any visible inclination to that effect to communicate their researched subject matter with the reader.  The Climate Change topic, which is vulnerable to this challenge, has kept away of this and used the data and science generated by agencies, such as NASA, to support their observations, and in some cases, the authors have encouraged reliance on using “proxy data” pp64.  \nA few noted exceptions however:  the unnecessary blank page on page two and other interruptions such as random blank pages found throughout the textbook. It has incorrect spacing on page four. Furthermore, the textbook contains page numbers that are inconsistent throughout its entirety. Some page numbers can be found in the upper left corner while others are found centered on the bottom of the page.   The present title is ambiguous as to what type of sustainability the document is referring to and what the text will contain, and surprisingly all sub-topics and sub-titles that make up sustainability appear in the textbook.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The text is up to date, but also provides information regarding previous times in history i.e. the evolution of the various environmental policies in the U.S..  It appears that the textbook would be easy to update with a newer edition as time evolves.   I am concerned, however that the chapters are just too long – but the relevance, as far as the content is concerned, is just fine (with a few exceptions as pointed out earlier) for the audience (undergraduate) that is intended","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The text is clearly written and does not use such accelerated terminology that an average person would not be able to understand the text. In fact, most readers regardless of their level of education would be able to read the document and take valuable information away from it. When jargons or initials were used, and explanation was given so that it would be easy to do further research on the word.   A few exceptions though:  It seems the clarity is lost where too many examples, and too many figures are being introduced in the text as a way to clarify a specific point e.g. a section on air pollution or energy efficiency e.g. the solid state lighting (SSL) and the compact-fluorescent light bulbs [CFL] (pp 557-558).  The clarity, especially noting this book is intended for young audience is lost in the process and may lead into losing focus of the objectives and sub-objectives of each section and chapter.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The choice of words used to communicate points throughout the document are consistent throughout its entirety.  Thus, there seems to be consistency throughout the textbook. For examples: (there is a preamble in a form of the objectives to be met once a chapter is completed, followed questions for review). A section to point out to the direction of the potentially the right answers or the solutions to these problem questions as expected of the reader, guidelines on how to answer these questions will make this textbook an easy to ready and ready-to-use textbook for undergraduate students.  A few notable exceptions are minor as stated elsewhere, issues with spacing, the fonts and format of the paper are consistent.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The textbook’s strongest area is the appropriate use of section divisions. This has made the book easy to focus on specific sections of subject matter of sustainability.  It also allows the reader, at least upper graduate level to make clear distinctions between new points of reference. When one section closes, it is made obvious so that the reader can then focus attention to the next section, allowing for convenient reading.  In a summary, the chapters are well separated and independent from one another – they are all inter-linked to the larger subject matter of sustainability.  For undergraduate readers though,  I look at the entire textbook as being too much of information to read and too many topics spread out for this audience to comprehend all at once, and perhaps in one semester.  This may be the main objective of the authors, but the information is way too much for this audience.  As a recommendation, perhaps it would be wise to use this textbook as supplemental material for some selected topics e.g. energy or population growth or policy making and introduction to the concepts of climate change.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The 11 chapters of the textbook are independent of one another but all addressing the larger picture of sustainability.  Although the presentation, structure and the flow are clear, too much emphasis has been placed on giving too many examples, either in the form of figures or sub-sections that its “taste of sustainability” all of a sudden disappears as one navigates through the textbook.  However, a minor suggestion would be to consider rearranging the order of the chapters so that they flow in a more chronological order i.e. some chapters may need to precede others (e.g. chapter 4 should perhaps be used to build upon background information that leads to the understanding of what is in chapter3)","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The PDF version of the textbook is easy to read offline. However, upon sharing this information with myself (through email), I found it was difficult to access – the share access portal was a requirement in order to download the file.  Perhaps the size of the file was a limiting factor in this respect.  I did not download the book in any other version, but the PDF is easily readable.   In addition, on pages seven and eight there are display interferences in the text. It appears that two separate texts are overlapping one another causing it to be illegible. The remainder of the textbook is just fine. All of the tables and illustrations are appropriately labeled and explained. The pictures presented in the text are of good quality allowing the reader of the viewer to clearly see without confusion.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Only minor small typos: for example line7, Foreword section, pp#1 (know # known).  Perhaps the only other errors that I noticed is the lack of the full meaning of an acronyms: For example, the acronym, which appears at section 1.3 pp8, IPAT in the 1.3 The IPAT Equation is not defined in this section.  The glossary of the terms used in the textbook are appropriately described.  There are also some noticeable mistakes in the references by adding unnecessary spacing between words.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The textbook has taken bold steps to address all stakeholders in the society, including the academia (for example the use of the equations related to sustainability, and the trends of the climate changes and data). The textbook has little inclination to the local politics and therefore, I see little or no evidence at all of confinement or boundaries for not being able to use this textbook in other cultures.  The textbook does discuss the social aspect to sustainability and dives into more specific factors such as ethical, background, and human values.   The authors state very strongly that sustainability is based upon a series of social movements. The authors go on to list movements such as human rights, racial equality, gender equality, labor relations, and conservation. By pointing out these topics it can be concluded that the authors are inclusive of race, ethnicity, and background since a portion of their text is based on this theory. \nAlthough a larger number of the illustrative examples in the textbook appear to have been drawn from the U.S. (dust explosion in Philadelphia, the Love Canal in NY – pp209-211, the hydraulic fracking or the extraction of shale gas; Exxon Valdez Oil Spill – in Alaska – 00287; BP Oil spill---pp200\u0026amp;pp288 etc.), these are typical examples that also affect sustainable development around the world.   An equally large number of illustrative examples are also drawn from other countries and cultures as well: – e.g. algal bloom in China - pp. 196; Hg-mercury poisoning – Minamata-Japan (pp201), hydraulic gold mining in New Zealand (pp229); the largest cyanide leaching in Romania – pp229-230 and the open pit mining in Russia –218 among others.   One point, which seems, at least from my point of view, to be controversial however is that of bottled water: the author of this topic seems to be addressing the U.S. readers ignoring the fact that millions around the world cannot afford clean potable water-pp207!   It is interesting to see that the authors have incorporated a section that compares the carbon footprint (pp446-447) and the water footprint (pp447-448) of various countries.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This book is worth reading.  I am impressed how the authors have been able to come together to produce such a great textbook. It is an impressive work.   Although the textbook has covered, so far, a great deal of issues of sustainability, it still would be a nightmare to ask the authors to include all of the aspects of sustainability in this one textbook because it would include too many concepts and perhaps too many volumes to cover them all.   It would great if a list of the issues affecting sustainability are presented in the introductory chapters; then focus on a few of them and refer the reader of the other topics to other relevant textbooks.","created_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1407,"first_name":"Rachel","last_name":"Goodman","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Hampden-Sydney College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"I do not teach a course specifically called Sustainability; rather I teach and Introductory Environmental Science course.  With this disclaimer in mind, I found this text to provide a thorough overview an in-depth coverage of the topics contained therein.  The index is very effective and the glossary seems like it would be useful to students.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Textbook seems to be accurate (again, disclaimer that I do not teach in the areas of policy or environmental economics in ayn depth). I did not find any factual or conceptual errors.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"I believe the content is up-to-date, but the nature of this topics demands that it be revisited and revised substantially every 3-5 years.  I’m not sure how an environmentally-oriented textbook can be organized such that updates are easy and straightforward to implement, since so much of this content is being updated with new research and governments reports published annually.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The language used in the text is clear, but not overly simplistic.  It seems similar to that used / reviewed for in my current Environmental Science course, although the Sustainability text goes into greater depth and technical detail than my current texts.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The textbook is consistent in its terminology, structure, and organization.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"While presented as a cohesive unit, I think the textbook demonstrates excellent modularity.  I can imagine using one of the chapters in one of my courses (I do not teach an entire Sustainability course), since they easily stand alone.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The outline of title and subtitle structure may be useful in orienting students within the chapters.  However, the structure may be getting carried away with the many, many numbered sublevels (for example, 9.3.2.1.4).    I don’t think anyone will be able to keep track of how point 9.3.2.1.4 nests under whatever topic was 9.3.2.1.  Perhaps some formatting distinctions (fonts, underlines, bolds, boxes) can be used to subdivide the text, rather than using the elaborate numbering system?\n\nI like the inclusion of review questions throughout the text, although they might more accurately be described as “Review \u0026amp; Application Questions.”","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I looked at some of the textbook online, then downloaded it as a PDF.  When viewed as a PDF in Acrobat, the serif font (and maybe the resolution of the main body text?) made for difficult reading.\n\nChapter 2 would benefit from a timeline with dates of important historical events and passage of major pieces of environmental legislation.\n\nSome figures seem unnecessarily large (for example, Figure 3.41 \u0026amp; 5.26), whereas others are much too small to read easily (for example, Figure 3.44 \u0026amp; 5.28 text at bottom \u0026amp; Fig 11.16).\n\nSmaller, specific notes:\n\nFigure 3.1 is unnecessary to illustrate the simple point.\n\nFigure 3.22 would be better if represented / drawn from some of the major studies of surveys of American citizens, scientists, and climate scientists (rather than just a group of students).\n\nThe legend in Figure 3.29 has some overlapping/jumbled text lines when I viewed it as a PDF in Acrobat.\n\nIn Figure 3.39, I cannot read the x- or y-axes without zooming in many times over.\n\nTable 7.2 has some overlapping, unreadable text as viewed in PDF form in Acrobat.\n\nFigure 8.47 is difficult to read (because of resolution?)\n\nFigure 9.11 seems to be distorted (the height-width ratio is off).\n\nFigure 9.12 seems to have a large unnecessary block of black in the background.\n\nFigure 9.15 has a distorted (or just difficult to read) set of labels on the x-axis.\n\nThere is a weird formatting issue on pp. 535-537 and pp. 545-549.    I’m not sure if these are supposed to be tables (?), but in my reader they just looks like a list with lots of odd spaces and blank lines.\n\nThere is an unnecessary line break at the top of p. 531 (between lines 3 and 4).","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text is composed of elegant yet straightforward writing appropriate to a collegiate resource. I did not find grammatical errors or rhetorical weaknesses.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I did not notice anything that would be deemed culturally insensitive or offensive in this text.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1604,"first_name":"Nicole","last_name":"Barclay","position":"Teaching Assistant Professor","institution_name":"University of North Carolina at Charlotte","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text holds true to its title, \"....Comprehensive Foundation.\" Sustainability is a broad topic that applies to a wide range of fields. However, the authors discuss the foundation concepts of sustainability.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The text was found to be accurate through the use scientific based information throughout.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The text is mostly relevant since it presents foundation concepts in sustainability. However, the last chapter on Sustainable Infrastructure includes explanations and demonstrations of technologies that are constantly advancing.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"This text can reach a wide audience due to the clarity and conciseness of the language.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"This text is consistent.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is broken down into well defined sections. Also, images help to add context and meaning to the text.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The topics follow a logical fashion. ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"Images are generally clear. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text contains no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is not culturally insensitive.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1616,"first_name":"Courtney ","last_name":"Green","position":"Lecturer","institution_name":"University of North Carolina at Charlotte","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook provides a comprehensive study of sustainability.  The book includes chapters on history, policy, energy, and sustainable infrastructure that would be well suited in an engineering technology undergraduate class in sustainability.  The end of chapter and end of book glossaries provide comprehensive technical terminology related to sustainability.  Cost and economic issues could have been addressed more.  However, supplemental resources could be used in the classroom to make up for this.  ","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"At the time of publishing this book is accurate.  Sustainability is an every changing field and several topics should be updated to reflect these changes.  More research has been published on climate change and policy has been revised since the publication date.  The authors write from an unbiased tone throughout the textbook.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"At the time of publishing this textbook was up to date.  If the text is not updated to reflect population, policy, and climate science changes it is possible that the text could be outdated in the next few years.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is well-written and all technical terminology is well defined.  The end of chapter glossary reviews is an excellent resource for students.  Given the number of authors of the text, it is surprising how cohesive the text is from chapter to chapter.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The terminology and framework are consistent from chapter to chapter.  The authors and editors did a great job in maintaining consistency based on the number of authors in this textbook.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The ability to use a modular approach with this textbook is one of the most defining features of the text.  It would be easy for the instructor to limit the course to certain chapters of the book.  Given the breadth of the text, this is an attractive feature of the book.  ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book is well structured and organized.  Starting with the definition of sustainability, to the history, and then sustainable infrastructure the flow of the book is well thought out and easy to follow.  ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The text and figures are easy to read and have little to no interface issues.  Some of the text on graphs and charts is slightly distorted but are legible.    ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found no grammatical errors in the textbook.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The text and examples given are US centric but are not culturally insensitive or offensive.  Since sustainability is a global issue, it would be nice if more global examples or prospectives were given.  ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This is a great option for an undergraduate course in sustainability.  The chapters could easily be used as modules and supplemental resources could be used to bring the text up to date.  ","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1658,"first_name":"Kang-Won","last_name":"Lee","position":"Professor","institution_name":"University of Rhode Island","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"It was relatively complete.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Since each chapter was written by corresponding author, content was relatively accurate.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Although the content appears to be up-to-date, sustainability needs to be updated as time goes.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The text was relatively clear.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Since the book was written by several authors, it was not totally consistent but relatively consistent. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text was easily and readily divisible into smaller reading sections because each chapter was written by different authors.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Each chapters are relatively presented in a logical, clear fashion.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"There was a little interface issue because each chapter was written by different authors.  ","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"The text contains relatively no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"Over all a good introductory open book.","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1692,"first_name":"Sujata","last_name":"Bhatia","position":"Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering","institution_name":"University of Delaware","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book provides a comprehensive introduction to sustainability that incorporates engineering, economics, history, and ethics, and it will be of interest to students in all of these fields.  Each chapter has an effective glossary.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is written by experts in the field and is accurate.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The book has longevity in terms of its descriptions of quantitative models for environmental impact, economics, and externalities; these models will remain relevant.  The book will likely need to be updated regularly for new developments in energy policy as well as new data on climate change, as well as new case studies.  However, the text is arranged in such a way that updates can be straightforward.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is written in a clear manner that is engaging and easy to read.  The book is interesting and provides definitions and background for new concepts.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The book is relatively consistent.  Some chapters use a more quantitative approach while others use a more descriptive approach.  It would be great to see quantitative data and/or models throughout the book rather than in just a few chapters.  Some chapters use case studies whereas others do not; it would be great to have case studies throughout the book.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The book is highly modular.  An instructor can choose which chapters or subchapters are relevant for the course, and can easily select these sections for reading and distribution to students.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"This is a well organized book and the chapter titles are appropriate.  The writing flows well together.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I very much enjoyed the textbook interface.  Rather than being presented as one long PDF, it is presented as a clickable table of contents which can be maximized or minimized.  If a chapter or subchapter is of interest, it can be read online in HTML format or downloaded as a PDF for distribution to students.  The images and charts are all clear.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"There are no grammatical or spelling errors that this reviewer detected.  The book is very well written.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"There is no more relevant issue of our time than sustainability and climate change.  The book is relevant to all cultures and inclusive of the concerns of all.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Overall this is an excellent book and a useful resource.  I will certainly make use of this book in my classes on Grand Challenges for Engineering, as well as my classes on innovation.","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1857,"first_name":"George","last_name":"Loumakis","position":"Lecturer","institution_name":"Glasgow Caledonian University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This is a very rich book that tackles the many aspects of sustainability. Everything is written in an easy to understand language and the inclusion of some case studies (for example Chicago's climate action plan) makes things more relatable. Chapter summaries and glossaries are also very well thought out and overall make for an interesting read. ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I find the content very accurate, at least for the parts that i am involved in. I cannot comment on US environmental policy for example but given the quality of my topics, i would assume that the whole book follows the same level of accuracy.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The content is fairly recent, but in a rapidly changing field such as energy, references from 2010 (specifically talking about chapter 10 might become a bit more irrelevant. Having said that, for an introductory book it is more than adequate. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Going hand in hand with the comprehensiveness of this book, clarity is also a high point. Language is appropriate for the undergraduate level that is is intended and there is enough here to make students want to know more.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Nothing to mention here, everything is consistent and explanation is given beforehand for units used - Celsius instead of Fahrenheit is one example that comes to mind.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I feel that almost every part of the book can be read separately, hence the modularity is excellent. This is also helped by the well integrated reader provided by openstax cnx","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The topic of sustainability is very vast hence a good flow is needed. This books succeeds mostly in that aspect although there is some room for improvement. A specific example that comes into mind is the chapter about US environmental policy, which although well written - given my comments on the accuracy of the content- could fit better at the end of the book.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"No comments on this, as all links seem to work perfectly and i didn't come across any issues  regarding display etc. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Grammar is on point, no comments here.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"Although the book treats sustainability on a global scale, there is a greater focus on the US market/approach. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I felt that the sustainable energy systems chapter could be a bit longer with perhaps more relevant case studies. The case study regarding a net zero energy home (13.7) might be better suited in the above chapter as well and could be a bit more thorough. But other than that, the book is a very good read and introduces the concept of sustainability very well to undergraduate students. I also feel that it can cater to technical and non technical courses alike.","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":2748,"first_name":"Kathryn","last_name":"Roberts","position":"Substitute Lecturer","institution_name":"New York City College of Technology","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"In my opinion, this book does a great job in providing a thorough framework for the topic of sustainability. In discussing the subject with my students, I’ve realized that they often have an extremely narrow understanding of what that term encompasses. The holistic view taken by the authors in explaining sustainability make this book a great starting point for students who are new to the topic.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content appears to be accurate.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Very relevant, but as other reviewers have pointed out, the technology around sustainability is moving swiftly. This will need semi-regular revisions if it is to remain up-to-date.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The authors make each of the topics extremely clear and accessible, even for students who are new to sustainability.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is consistent throughout.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Very easy to separate into sections. As my students would likely only be engaging with specific chapters of this book, this feature is critical to my choosing to include it as a supplemental text.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Well organized with a clear logical flow.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I found the interface very easy to navigate.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors found.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"My only real complaint is that I wish that this had more of a global perspective. The coverage of sustainability in the U.S. is thorough, but it would be helpful to supplement with information about how this topic is being approached by other countries. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This is a great resource.","created_at":"2019-04-08T14:19:48.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-04-08T14:19:48.000-05:00"},{"id":3092,"first_name":"Margaret","last_name":"du Bray","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Augustana College","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"This critique goes to both comprehensiveness and organization (see below). I think there is slightly more from the \"human dimensions\" of sustainability presented in this text, and while I am a social scientist by training, I am teaching an ecological dimensions course, and as a result, I had hoped to have a much more substantial and comprehensive perspective on sustainability from the natural sciences represented in this text. There are basics in ecosystem services and function that I think are missing, and that need more explanation, particularly for students who are not strong in the natural sciences of sustainability. ","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The content is unbiased, and presents students with accurate information about a range of topics in sustainability.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content of this book reflects both historic as well as current data, which is very important in sustainability (and most disciplines). The ability to understand, for example, how our understanding of climate change has improved over time is very helpful.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The text is well-written, but there are times where terms are not adequately explained and defined, and more importantly, there are places where the language may be slightly too advanced for and introductory course. This happens relatively rarely, but when it does happen, it's certainly noticeable. ","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"As with my comment about clarity, I think there are times when it is clear that multiple authors contributed to the writing of this book. Overall, it is very consistent, and authors did a good job using language consistent with each other, and consistent with the overall goals and tone of the text. There are some times, however, where it does seem very obvious that a different author has taken over the writing.","modularity_rating":2,"modularity_review":"Perhaps one of the most frustrating pieces of this books is the tremendous difference in chapter length. Some chapters are incredibly long, and some are quite short. While one might expect that the Introductory chapter, for example, might be shorter, one would expect the other chapters to be of a similar length, which is not the case here. It makes it more difficult when figuring out how to assign crucial sections for the length to be variable (on the order of 20 pages!).","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"From my perspective, and the way I like to structure my Introductory course, the organization of this book doesn't necessarily make sense. There are separate chapters on the \"human\" and \"ecological\" dimensions of sustainability, which could work fine, but the separation of them doesn't necessarily follow a reasonable order. For a \"comprehensive foundation,\" it seems that the human and ecological dimensions should either be completely split out, or more properly integrated.\r\n\r\nI also feel that the organization often differs between chapters, and even between sections. Some sections are very good at presenting additional references, or providing discussion questions, but others are not. From an internal consistency perspective, this seemed odd.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The book is well-formatted, and is easy to follow along.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The book's grammar is consistent and easy to understand. I found very few issues.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"This book seems to primarily focus on sustainability issues in the U.S. While this is not necessarily a flaw, I do find it disappointing that it doesn't provide insight into how, for example, colonization and globalization are profoundly effecting the sustainability outcomes of other countries. I do think students often relate best to understanding sustainability issues from the U.S., but to not dedicate more time to global sustainability surprised me.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"I really wanted to be able to use this whole book for my course, but ultimately found that it is not a good fit for a class that focuses on the ecological dimensions, or natural science dimensions, of sustainability. It may work very well for course that is designed more around the social dimensions of sustainability, as it does provide a much more comprehensive foundation of those topics. Additionally, the ecological dimensions it *does* cover creates good scaffolding for the social dimensions; it's just not comprehensive enough for the class I had hoped to use it for.","created_at":"2019-07-15T16:35:52.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-07-15T16:35:52.000-05:00"},{"id":3310,"first_name":"Jane","last_name":"Rice","position":"Teaching Specialist","institution_name":"Michigan State University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"There are many impressive qualities of this text in terms of its comprehensiveness (discussed below).  However, I have one over-riding suggestion that I think would greatly increase the impact of this text on college students.  My suggestion has to do with inverting the order in which information is presented within each section in each chapter.  Sustainability is so important to human civilization that I think a journalistic approach (headline news first) rather than a scientific approach (methods and results followed by conclusion) would help students focus on the big idea.  For example, the big idea of Section 3.4 is that even when technology improves our efficiency at using resources we just end up consuming more of those goods or services.  It is not until the very end of this section that we learn “in a world of finite resources such consumption patterns cannot continue indefinitely.”  By the time a college student gets to that sentence, it has no more power than the preceding sentences.  Imagine instead a chapter section that began with the startling fact that our consumption patterns can’t continue because our resources are finite.  This “headline news” approach is actually what engages most people in reading a news article.  It’s especially fitting for college students who get so much of their knowledge of the world through social media.\r\nNow on to other points.  As the editors point out, the text can used for a broad introductory course on sustainability or as a supplement to specific disciplinary courses needing a sustainability lens.  There are 11 content chapters, yet these are not chapters in a traditional textbook sense.  The chapters consist of well-sequenced, interesting, and relevant sections, usually between four and eight sections per chapter.  However, sections are often only 4-5 paragraphs long (about 800-1000 words) and so are much shorter than a section in a traditional textbook.  Thus, while the topics covered in this text are comprehensive, their exploration is relatively short.  For the most part, though, the individual chapter authors have done an excellent job in distilling their topics down to the most essential core ideas.  However, the brevity of these sections does lead to a lack of students being able to practice using concepts as illustrated in multiple examples.  Conceivably, students could believe themselves to be proficient in understanding concepts without any evidence of doing so by using that knowledge in applied problems.\r\n\r\nThis minimalist approach is which students learn by reading but not doing is mirrored in the objectives and review questions of most, but not all, chapters (see Section 3.6 for a good example of review questions that address the big ideas of the section.) Many chapter objectives are for students to learn or understand.  Neither of these verbs imply that students will do something with the knowledge gained in the chapter.  Best practices in the assessment of learning involve performance expectations in which students will be able to apply knowledge, whether in making predictions, solving problems, or designing new solutions.  All of the chapters could easily have deeper-level objectives (think Bloom’s taxonomy) that are assessed through application-type review questions \r\n\r\nSection 4.5 on Public Health and Sustainability focuses mostly on the impacts of global warming, but it never explains the causal connection of burning fuels to global warming.  Perhaps this section would fit better in the following section (Climate and Global Change)\r\n","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Almost without exception, the text is accurate and complete.  This is no easy feat for a text that covers such a wide range of topics in an equally wide range of disciplines.  For the most part, even the choice of language used to convey concepts accurately is well done.  The authors seemed to have taken care to phrase their thoughts in such a way that it's hard to quibble with their word choices.  This is actually very important because it allows the reader to focus on the main point being communicated.\r\n\r\nOne section, however, does contain an error that is definitely worth fixing, not just for the sake of clarity but for an accurate understanding of a foundational core idea.  Section 5.4 - Modern Climate Change - contains an error in this sentence.  “There are two primary mechanisms for sequestering carbon dioxide that is released into the atmosphere: it can be captured by the respiration of plants, or dissolved in the ocean.”  The underlined phrase should read “captured by the photosynthesis of plants”.  While the mistake here may have just been a word error, it does bring to light a misconception that many people, including scientists, have.  Respiration is merely the burning (or combustion) of food molecules (mainly, sugar) inside all cells of living things.  As is true with the burning of any fuel, the fuel molecule and oxygen molecules change into carbon dioxide and water molecules.  Thus, respiration of plants adds carbon dioxide to the air.  The sequestering of carbon dioxide in plants occurs when leaf cells take in carbon dioxide from the air and water from the soil and change these substances (using light energy from the sun) into sugar molecules with a lot of stored chemical energy (thus making sugar a fuel) and oxygen molecules.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"There can hardly be a topic more relevant to college students than the future livability of the planet.  Thus, the topic necessarily lends relevance to the writing of each chapter.  However, it is difficult to rate this text high in relevance because the authors and editors have missed an incredible opportunity to make their topic relevant to the day-to-day decision-making of college students.  Almost every topic relates to a person's daily activities, yet reading this text for the most part only lends itself to knowledge, not to doing something with that knowledge.  For example, the chapter on Climate and Global Change explains climate processes and cycles as well as modern climate change and climate projections.  Even though the topic is complex and can appear to be overwhelmingly complicated to students, the explanation is clear, simple, and compelling.  Yet, by the end of the chapter, I didn't feel a deep concern about the impacts of climate change nor did have a sense of urgency that I need to do things differently.  I know this is a college textbook and many authors may feel the need to constrain themselves to the usual ways of communicating with students. Yet these are not usual times.  As Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teenage leader of the global climate change strikes, says, \"Our house is on fire.\"  It doesn't seem prudent to me that we spend our time not loudly advocating personal and societal change for a sustainable future.\r\n\r\n","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Even though the text has multiple authors contributing various chapters, the text as a whole reads with remarkable clarity.  For the most part, the authors did an impressive job in communicating concepts clearly and in simple terms.  Simplicity is important in a text such as this because it allows the reader to build a conceptual understanding without getting lost in terminology or quantitative manipulations.  The one exception to this clarity of communication is Section 9.5 on Risk Assessment.  Perhaps there is no other way to communicate the basic concepts of risk assessment, but I fear most students will not gain a conceptual understanding of this concept from reading this section.  Some other sections are dense, but not because of the writing.  Rather, the concepts are complex and take careful thought to follow.  Yet, even here, the authors carefully walk the reader through a step-by-step development of understanding.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The editors warn in the preface that the text is not a “self-consistent set of ideas”.  Yet, this does not seem to pose a problem, even for a person who reads the text from the beginning straight through to the end.  Each author is very careful to document the evidence for statements made.  Additionally, several authors present evidence and reasoning for two sides of an argument.  Any inconsistency in the text is actually a reflection of the real world in which we live and the limits of human knowledge in trying to unravel complex issues such as climate change and economic development.  Much better to present this accurate portrayal of the changing environment in which we live than to present a falsely secure picture.  Only with accurate information and knowledge of the limits of our certainty can students be empowered to make well-informed decisions about actions that affect the environment.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The chapter-and-section organization of the text lends itself very easily to using selected modules for instruction.  Sections are so short that the use of sub-headings is not even needed.  A section only takes a few minutes to read and, for the most part, not much more time to comprehend to the level set by the chapter objectives.  While content chapters occasionally refer to previous chapters in the text, embedded links direct the reader to the exact location of a clear, simple explanation of the concept referenced.  Since chapters and sections are really quite short, it would be essential for an instructor to fully flesh-out the ideas covered in a chapter with the use of examples, application questions, and integrated assessments.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Following a brief forward and preface there are 11 content chapters, each of which is sub-divided into sections.  The sequence of chapters follows a logical, orderly progression of concepts, generally using science concepts for a broad foundation for understanding economic, social, and political issues.  The glossary is user-friendly, both in terms of embedded links, but also for its simplicity of definitions.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"There are no interface issues other than navigation problems with external links.  For example, these external links no longer work:\r\n\r\nSection 4.2 Emerson’s Nature essay\r\nSection 4.3 Hull House\r\nSection 4.3 Chlorination\r\nSection 4.3 National Environmental Policy Act (link works, but isn’t specifically relevant to the text \r\nSection 4.5 National Resource Defense Council\r\nSection 5.4 The Cryosphere Today \r\n\r\nIn Section 3.4 there seems to be an important word (rebound) missing in the glossary.  This causes a problem in that the word “overconsumption” is linked to its glossary definition, but the word “rebound” is not in the glossary.  It’s not clear to the reader what the difference is between “increased consumption” (rebound) and “overconsumption”.\r\n","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"There are no grammatical errors that I found other than one.  Section 3.4 contains this text which seems to be a mishmash of two sentences.  “Whether or not gains in eco-efficiency yield genuine savings in resources and lower environmental impacts depends on how much, over time, society consumes of a given product or service (i.e. the relative efficiency gain, Δee) must outpace the quantity of goods and services delivered ΔQQ.”","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"I didn't come across any culturally insensitive or offensive comments in any of the text's chapters.  On the other hand, I didn't find very many examples of inclusion of diverse cultural viewpoints or practices.  For example, there is a reference to per capita carbon footprint in different countries; yet there is no discussion of the different lifestyle choices that lead to vastly different impacts on the environment.  Even an easy comparison between the U.S. and the U.K. or the Netherlands (two countries with similar lifestyles in similar climates) would show that there are cultural differences in daily decision-making that leads to the U.S. having twice the per capita carbon footprint.  This, of course, is just the beginning of including cultural differences.  There is so much that could be gained by an exploration of the ways of life of people from vastly different cultures, races, ethnicities, and backgrounds.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Well done! Definitely a text worth continual quality improvement.","created_at":"2019-11-22T19:29:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-11-22T19:29:00.000-06:00"},{"id":4077,"first_name":"April Ann","last_name":"Fong","position":"Biology and Environmental Studies Instructor","institution_name":"Portland Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book is fairly light on much of the science science side of sustainability. The book could have more on agriculture, disease (wow even more relevant now), population dynamics, forestry, fisheries, conservation, and climate change (updates).","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I have not encountered any errors, biases, or inaccuracies.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The content could use updating regarding food systems, disease, climate change, and some other recent topics (even systemic racism), but the text provides a good basis for discussion and bringing in these topics to delve further.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The writing is a tad wordy, but clear enough. The author uses vague nouns (it, this, there) often, so sometimes clarity is lost and overuses concluding terms, such as hence, therefore, and thus. The terminology is explained, but often could use more examples, especially recent examples.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Yes, the terminology and framework is consistent throughout this text.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I like the chapter divisions and the subdivisions within chapters. Each chapter stands alone pretty well. I have typically used 4-5 chapters in a one quarter term and jumping from chapter to chapter has not caused comprehension confusion for my students.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"The organization is different from my logic, but I do like ending with sustainable infrastructure. For me having the economics and policy together would make more sense. Two science chapters are together, but I would put the action chapters (problem solving and metrics and sustainable infrastructure) together. The history chapter seems out of place to me and could be placed earlier in the text.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"Many of the graphs are very difficult to figure out, such as Figure 11.18 and many are blurry. One of my frustrations was trying to find OER figures and graphs to fill in some of these gaps. Many of the photographs seem irrelevant (cherry blossoms are pretty, but not so necessary and a CFL?), yet the photos are very clear compared to the mostly pixelated figures and graphs.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not find grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"The text largely ignores systemic racism and environmental justice, which are very important parts of triple bottom line that continue to be ignored. The richer countries are compared to less economically developed countries, but even those comparisons could be improved.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"This textbook has nice questions embedded into each chapter to help guide students learning. With such a long textbook, the table of contents could use hyperlinking to each chapter. The online text includes the forward and preface as numbered chapters, which caused problems for my students accessing the text with their phones, using the chapter numbers only (not matching the assigned chapter titles) to guide their reading. The online text and downloaded pdfs should match seamlessly.","created_at":"2020-06-24T21:28:40.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-06-24T21:28:40.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/sustainability-a-comprehensive-foundation","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:26:57.000-06:00"},{"id":173,"title":"Elementary Differential Equations with Boundary Value Problems","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2013,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"Elementary Differential Equations with Boundary Value Problems is written for students in science, engineering, and mathematics who have completed calculus through partial differentiation. An elementary text should be written so the student can read it with comprehension without too much pain. I have tried to put myself in the student's place, and have chosen to err on the side of too much detail rather than not enough. An elementary text can't be better than its exercises. This text includes 1695 numbered exercises, many with several parts. They range in difficulty from routine to very challenging. An elementary text should be written in an informal but mathematically accurate way, illustrated by appropriate graphics. I have tried to formulate mathematical concepts succinctly in language that students can understand. I have minimized the number of explicitly stated theorems and definitions, preferring to deal with concepts in a more conversational way, copiously illustrated by 250 completely worked out examples. Where appropriate, concepts and results are depicted in 144 figures. Although I believe that the computer is an immensely valuable tool for learning, doing, and writing mathematics, the selection and treatment of topics in this text reflects my pedagogical orientation along traditional lines. However, I have incorporated what I believe to be the best use of modern technology, so you can select the level of technology that you want to include in your course. The text includes 336 exercises – identified by the symbols C and C/G – that call for graphics or computation and graphics. There are also 73 laboratory exercises – identified by L – that require extensive use of technology. In addition, several sections include informal advice on the use of technology. If you prefer not to emphasize technology, simply ignore these exercises and the advice.","contributors":[{"id":3682,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"William","middle_name":"F.","last_name":"Trench","location":"Trinity University","background_text":"William F. Trench, PhD. Andrew G. Cowles Distinguished Professor, Trinity University (Retired)."}],"subjects":[{"id":13,"name":"Engineering \u0026 Technology","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"TA145","visible_textbooks_count":119,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/engineering"},{"id":84,"name":"Calculus","parent_subject_id":7,"call_number":"QA150-272.5","visible_textbooks_count":31,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/calculus"},{"id":36,"name":"Pure","parent_subject_id":7,"call_number":"QA37.3","visible_textbooks_count":83,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/pure"},{"id":7,"name":"Mathematics","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"QA1","visible_textbooks_count":177,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/mathematics"}],"publishers":[{"id":257,"url":"http://digitalcommons.trinity.edu/mono/9/","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:38.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-01-17T11:30:26.000-06:00","name":"A.T. Still University"}],"formats":[{"id":72,"type":"PDF","url":"https://digitalcommons.trinity.edu/mono/9/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":2229,"type":"LaTeX","url":"https://digitalcommons.trinity.edu/mono/9/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":9,"reviews":[{"id":250,"first_name":"Keith","last_name":"Stroyan","position":"Professor","institution_name":"University of Iowa","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text gives a very thorough treatment of the topics in a traditional beginning course in ODE.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The book is carefully written.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The topics are completely in line with the topics in the traditional course such as our Engineering Math IV Differential Equations.  I don't envision changes in the basic material any time soon.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is very well written.  The most difficult thing for an instructor will be in selection the portions of the text to include in a course.  There is more there than can be carefully treated in one course.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book is carefully written in the standard mathematical style.","modularity_rating":2,"modularity_review":"The book was not written as electronic materials.  While the .pdf production is beautiful and does have numerous hyperlinks, it is one long scroll...","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book is very well organized mathematically.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"As a .pdf of a print book, the eBook is beautiful.  But it is not modular and there is no \"back\" button for links.  This is a general weakness of this technology.","grammatical_rating":3,"grammatical_review":"It's fine.  The questions here should have been: How's the math? and How are the applications?\r\n\r\nAt a student level, the mathematical presentation is pretty good.  Some instructors may want it to include proofs of things like existence and uniqueness, but I'd say the author made sound choices of what to omit and what to include.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"I didn't notice anything culturally sensitive.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"This is a good book for the intended course, but I think most students would want it printed.","created_at":"2016-01-07T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2016-01-07T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":2162,"first_name":"Vicki","last_name":"Sealey","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"West Virginia University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text adequately covers the topics expected in an introduction to differential equations textbook. It seems to be quite comparable to other intro to ODE books that I've seen (ones that students pay a lot of money to use). A couple of differences between this book and others are the use of variation of parameters, which is introduced early and used throughout the book, and the separation of application problems into their own chapters.  Separating the application problems allows for instructors to skip these chapters if they wish. My personal preference is to integrate them into the other chapters, but separating them is a valid choice. A comprehensive index is included, and I particularly like that page numbers in the index are links to those pages in the text.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I have not, yet, used the text to teach a semester-long course, so don't feel prepared to answer this at this point. However, I looked closely at a couple of the chapters and found the content to be accurate.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content of this course has been the same for many, many years, and I don't see it changing in the near future. That being said, some nice application problems are included in the text that are relevant to today's students. On another note, I know that some instructors feel strongly that technology should be included in a differential equations course, while others feel just as strongly that it should not. The author does a nice job of providing an adequate number of problems that don't require students' use of technology, while providing several others that do. These are marked clearly in the text so that the instructor can know at a glance.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"The author claims that the text was written so that students can easily read it and states that he erred on the side of caution when deciding how much detail to include (in other words, the author claims that lots of details are provided, making it an easy text for students to read). I agree that it isn't difficult to read, but I would actually have liked to see it written at an even more elementary level. For example, in chapter 2, the author uses language like \"y=0 is obviously a solution to the homogeneous equation\" (page 30). From my own teaching experience, I can firmly say that this is not obvious to students at the beginning of a course. There are similar statements throughout as well as statements about things they \"know\" from their calculus classes. I don't think this is a fatal flaw in the book; proper instruction during class time can address these common student questions. However, I would have preferred to see more details provided in the first few chapters.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Since I have not read the entire book, I don't feel qualified to answer this definitively, but the chapters that I read carefully and the chapters that I've skimmed seem to be consistent.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"There are 13 chapters, broken into smaller subsections. They seem to be appropriately named and are standard for intro to ODE books.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The text is organized in a clear fashion. The preface to the book nicely clarifies which chapters can be rearranged. For example, the book is written so that Fourier Solutions and Boundary Value Problems (Chapters 11, 12, and 13) can be covered in any order, as long as Chapter 5 (Linear Second Order Equations) is covered first.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The book has no interface issues that I noticed. Navigation was fairly easy, with some links to exercises as well as links to information on Wikipedia. My only trouble was when I clicked on one of these links, it wasn't always easy to go back to where I had been in the text. I later learned how to view the table of contents on the left side of my screen at all times, so this made this much easier. As mentioned earlier, I particularly like that the page numbers in the index are all links to those pages.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not find any grammatical errors in the text.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I found no issues with regards to cultural relevance.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"n/a","created_at":"2018-06-19T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-06-19T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2581,"first_name":"Brian","last_name":"Burns","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Thomas Nelson Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This a complete book for an introductory differential equations course. It has everything you want and more. ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"This is an excellent professional standard textbook. The author clearly developed this product with careful thought and meticulous detail.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The textbook does not highlight specific software, which I wish it did at times, but it also makes it timeless as the content will not age.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I think this is an excellent book with a narrative explanation style that makes things both clear and precise when need be. The author went to great lengths to use language relatable to students at this level. I found other textbook options were either too basic or too complex. This one is excellently written and by far my top choice. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Terminology is very consistent throughout. The author goes to great length to connect sections for smooth transitions.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The textbook is broken down in manageable pieces very well.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The author had a very clear flow and organization with a desire to integrate ideas as he goes along. Excellent textbook.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"No Issues. Ebook even has hyperlinks to student solutions manual. Works very well.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Very Well Written.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The author knows his audience and has tailored it to them well.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"One area not mentioned here that is relevant are homework exercises. There is an extensive set of exercises of vary degrees of difficulty with a comprehensive student solution manual. ","created_at":"2019-02-23T21:19:28.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-02-23T21:19:28.000-06:00"},{"id":2769,"first_name":"John","last_name":"Iskra","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Emory and Henry College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"I'm going to hedge this review by confessing that I am not a specialist, either by training or by inclination, in differential equations.  I know the subject well enough to teach it well to undergraduates, but I don't consider myself to say authoritatively that any textbook of differential equations, in particular, this one, prepares the student well for further studies.  \r\n\r\nSo, the reason I give it a 4, instead of a 5, is that 1 is the degree of my own uncertainty about its comprehensiveness. ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I've taught introduction to differential equations using this text twice now.  Both times I covered at least the first 5 chapters.  Among that material I found no errors.  I imagine that the rest of the book is as tight.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Again, I do not specialize in differential equations, so, take my take on this with at least a grain of salt.  But as far as I can tell, any math major who learns differential equations from Professor Trench's text will be well prepared for the mathematics which comes next.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"My students, and I , have found this book to be both easy to comprehend and interesting.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"I found no contradictions.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I think this book is organized as well as or better than any other text I've used in my nearly 30 years of teaching.  This is not to say, however, that it could not be improved.  There is a tension between organizing the introduction to a subject into bins based on its parts similarities and organizing it into parts based on what one can cover in a class meeting or two.  I think this text favors the former over the latter.  This may or may not be right for you.  Choose accordingly.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The subject of each section builds on those of the previous, and in a natural way.   Good job.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"No complaints.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I noticed no grammatical errors in the first six chapters.  There may be some, but they are not glaring.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Examples are not culturally insensitive.  On the contrary.  I've taught a diverse group of students from this text and have received no complaints. They may exist, but I don't think they are glaring.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Good text.  If you, like me, are working at a college which serves, principally, poor students, this is text is a good choice.  It covers what they need to know for future courses, it offers interesting supplemental material and the exercises represent a wide range of difficulty.  Next time I teach Diff Eq, I'll, again, be using this text.","created_at":"2019-04-11T18:52:46.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-04-11T18:52:46.000-05:00"},{"id":2793,"first_name":"Mau Nam","last_name":"Nguyen","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Portland State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"With 13 chapters covering standard topics of elementary differential equations and boundary value problems, this book contains all materials you need for a first course in differential equations. Given the length of the book with 797 pages, the instructor must select topics from the book for his/her course. I believe that materials from Chapter 1 to Chapter 10, except possibly Chapter 7,  should be covered in the course, while the last three chapters could serve as additional reading materials for students. ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The book was very carefully written. I did not find any inaccuracy in the book.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"As the book covers standard topics of differential equations and boundary value problems, the contents of the book will continue to serve students for a long period of time. Without specifying what technologies should be used, the instructor can choose the computer software to use in his/her course. This is great for the future use of the book given that technology is rapidly changing.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"This book was carefully written. Each topic is accompanied by several well-chosen examples. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The notation and terminology are used consistently throughout the book. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Topics of the book are divided into small sections of appropriate lengths. A brief overview of the topics to be covered in each chapter is presented  at the beginning of each chapter. This is very convenient for both instructors and students to read.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book is very well-organized. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The hyperlink navigation in the textbook is very helpful. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The book was very carefully written. I did not find any grammatical error in the book.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"As a mathematics book, this book contains no cultural relevance issue.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I highly recommend this book for a first course in differential equations. It is also an excellent choice for a sequence of two courses in introductory differential equations and partial differential equations. I read another textbook by this author and I like both of the books.","created_at":"2019-04-15T18:18:22.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-04-15T18:18:22.000-05:00"},{"id":3329,"first_name":"Shelley","last_name":"Poole","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Colorado State Board of Higher Education","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"Most of the content is present, and appropriately indexed. Its use would depend heavily on the content covered at your institution. I could not find Lotka-Volterra equations (Predator-Prey), which is a significant topic in our Differential Equations course. Bifurcations and Lorenz equations were limited and missing, respectively. These were less important topics, but still missing. The content of Chapter 10, Linear Systems of Differential Equations, seemed too compressed and may benefit from expansion to multiple chapters. This is a large topic in Differential Equations that would benefit from more examples and explanation. I agree with another reviewer that, although the author is writing for the students, there are a lot of skipped steps and language where a student at the introductory-level would struggle to follow along.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"No content inaccuracies were found. Some things were presented in a way that is not standard, but many of those were positively connecting to other material in the course. I found it refreshing.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The material presented is consistent with differential equations, and is not going to become obsolete. Any necessary updates appear to be straightforward to implement.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Most of the material is presented very well. The language is clear and accessible, and the mathematical content is appropriate for the variety of levels entering differential equations students have.  Several sections have summary sections outlining the processes of the different techniques, which seem very student-friendly. However, there are also sections that are particularly short, or not articulated as clearly (Ch. 10 in particular).","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The author has been mostly consistent in language and framework. There are some sections that do not contain the summary sections that clearly articulate the techniques, but the style is similar otherwise. The blue text is used for multiple things (links, theorems, summaries), and may be confusing to the reader.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text appears modular. Some of the solutions and links in the index may not be modular, but the text itself appears easy to subdivide and rearrange as needed for teaching the course. The authors choice to use colored subsection titles may prove to not be easy to subdivide, but without attempting this myself I cannot say.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Most of the topics are presented in a clear and logical fashion. Personally, there appears no reason for the ordering of chapters 3, Numerical Methods, and 4, Applications of First Order Equations. Since the topics of chapter 4 use the material in chapter 2, it would seem more logical to flip these chapters, or integrate the applications with the techniques in chapter 2.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The navigation of the links in the index and in the actual text appear to be functional. The images and other displays seem appropriate.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"I did not spot grammatical errors in the text. However, there are several typos in the Table of Contents. There were not many errors spotted in the actual text, but when the table of contents has errors, that appears very grim to the reader.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I found no cultural biases in the content.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Much of this book is great, but it is unfortunately not sufficient for our first-semester differential equations course. The text would need modifications to include all the appropriate content and applications. Personally, the colored subsections (in red) make the subsections blend into the rest of the text. This may be a problem if printed, and may be difficult for color-blind readers. Additionally, the first chapter has few problems compared with the later sections, and it seems that would be a good place for many problems, as it is the students' introduction to the content. The errors seem particularly confusing in the table of contents, and I would like to see those fixed.\r\n\r\nDespite all those comments, this author has presented several concepts in an enlightening manner that I think will be beneficial to students. Variation of parameters and integrating factor in particular. I would certainly consider modifying this text with attribution to use sections of it in a differential equations course. There are a lot of good problems throughout the text, and good examples.","created_at":"2019-11-28T16:34:01.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-11-28T16:34:01.000-06:00"},{"id":3529,"first_name":"Anna","last_name":"Ghazaryan","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Miami University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This textbook contains all of the topics that are usually covered in an undergraduate course on ordinary differential equations and has a section devoted to partial differential equations of the second order. The text does satisfy the requirements of the Ohio transfer module. It can be used for a course targeting math majors as well as a course on elementary differential equations for engineering majors. Comparison of different methods and their limitations provided in the text is very useful.  It is a fine quality textbook. There are only two topics that I would add or modify.  (1) I would add  a discussion of the application of the Laplace transform to the higher order equations and systems. In the current edition it seems to be covered only for the equations of the second order due to the placement of the section on the Laplace transform.  (2) I would add the concept of the equilibria and their stability for the first order autonomous equations as well as introduce traditional terminology for the equilibria in two-dimensional systems (saddles, nodes, ...) and a discussion of their stability. ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"This text appears to be accurate, well-written, and error-free.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This textbook contains  a solid foundation in differential equations for students of mathematics, physics, and engineering. The level of rigor is appropriate for an undergraduate audience.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The terminology that is used in the text is explained and the definitions are clear. A topic of equilibrium solutions and their stability are explained without introducing common technical terminology which is an omission, in my opinion. Overall, the explanations are not on the easier side: a reasonable level of effort is expected from the reader. The author does not make complicated topics seem elementary. Important details are not omitted; they are pointed out and discussed.  ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The author uses consistent notation and vocabulary. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The material is presented in sections of reasonable length each focused on a well defined topic. After each section there is a problem set on a content of the associate. Answers to a selection of problems are provided at the end of the book.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The order of the material differs from the order of the material in some of the popular textbooks on the topic. For example, higher order equations do not immediately follow the second order systems but come after the series solutions and  the Laplace transform. Overall, the order is reasonable.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I did not notice any interface issues. The presentation and typesetting of formulas and equations is well-done. The figures and images are clear and conveniently placed.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This is a textbook on basic differential equations. There is not cultural context to discuss.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2020-01-21T16:33:50.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-01-21T16:33:50.000-06:00"},{"id":3991,"first_name":"Kathy","last_name":"Smith","position":"Professor of Mathematics","institution_name":"Central Oregon Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This is a great book for a 1 quarter term (10 week) class on introductory ODE theory and application. I appreciate the complete index - an index is often lacking in an OER but there is a useful one in this book, along with an accurate TOC.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"All content I read is error free. I suppose I will not truly know this until I use it in my course. :)","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This textbook has all topics normally covered in a one term ODE course. It was originally published 7 years ago so I imagine the errors have been corrected.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Great explanations. I appreciate the way that some examples are included seamlessly as part of the text and others are called out by an easily understandable numbering system that includes the section number and example number.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"I have not found any inconsistencies. The ordering of the topics is straightforward and similar to other ODE textbooks.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I believe this text was originally published by a \"typical\" textbook publisher and so has a very detailed level of organization. This is extremely helpful for students as well as for faculty in their planning of the course coverage.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"As mentioned above, a typical organization of topics that can be rearranged if desired. I will likely teach \"as is\" the first time and then make my own adjustments as needed.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The pdf version contains clickable links in the textbook that jump to the page where there is a specific image or example. This is a level of \"interactiveness\" that I have not seen in many OERs and I really like this feature.\r\nThe presentation of the images is great - no issues.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I have not noticed any grammatical errors thus far.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Again, I have not noticed any issues on this front. This book is not one that includes examples with race, ethnicity, and background featuring in the examples.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I am excited to try this book in Fall 2020. It seems to be the most organized OER I have investigated and I think that it will be easy to use and easy for students to follow. I also plan on using an associated MyOpenMath homework course to go with the Trench textbook.","created_at":"2020-06-16T16:34:52.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-06-16T16:34:52.000-05:00"},{"id":4391,"first_name":"Seonguk","last_name":"Kim","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"DePauw University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"I have used this book as the main textbook in the differential equation course in Spring semester 2020. Overall, the book consists of well-organized chapters and connects with each chapter smoothly. I think it is a good textbook when teaching the undergraduate level course, ordinary differential equations during one semester. Some who want to cover partial differential equations chapters may need one more semester.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I could not find the error in the contents when reading the book.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Overall, the contents fit the undergraduate students. But some explanations look substant and so the instructor needs to choose the necessary parts to make more effective lectures.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The author's description is clear and makes the student understand easily.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Almost all are correct and concise. But, some terminologies made students confused because it mixed the concepts repeatedly using the same terminology. I expect it would be updated in the future.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"Every content was clear and transparent. But I thought it would be much better if several more techniques using Laplace Transform was added in the Chapter 10 Linear Systems of Differential Equations.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The text book contains necessary contents students should know when taking the differential equation courses. But, instructor should focus on 8-9 chapters if they want to complete the course only one semester.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I do not know exactly but I felt the text size was small and the spacing was a little bit narrow. I think it could be updated when modifying the platform.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I could not find the grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Usually, the math books are neutral and do not have personal biased thoughts. Of course, I could not find it.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I liked to use the book when teaching the differential equation course. The solution key was so helpful to create my answer key for homework, quizzes, and tests. Students also felt convenient because they could check their answers immediately.","created_at":"2020-11-17T21:34:40.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-11-17T21:34:40.000-06:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/elementary-differential-equations-with-boundary-value-problems","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:31:39.000-06:00"},{"id":211,"title":"Notes on Diffy Qs: Differential Equations for Engineers","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2014,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":"","accessibility_features":[],"description":"A one semester first course on differential equations, aimed at engineering students. Prerequisite for the course is the basic calculus sequence. This free online book (e-book in webspeak) should be usable as a stand-alone textbook or as a companion to a course using another book such as Edwards and Penney, Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems: Computing and Modeling or Boyce and DiPrima, Elementary Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems (section correspondence to these two is given). I developed and used these notes to teach Math 286/285 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Sample Dirichlet problem solution (one is a 4-day-a-week, the other a 3-day-a-week semester-long course). I have also taught Math 20D at University of California, San Diego with these notes (a 3-day-a-week quarter-long course). There is enough material to run a 2-quarter course, and even perhaps a two semester course depending on lecturer speed.","contributors":[{"id":3292,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Jirí","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Lebl","location":"Oklahoma State University","background_text":"Jirí Lebl, Mathematician at OSU, wearer of hats and colored socks (odd pairs only). Degrees: PhD from UCSD (2007), BA and MA are from SDSU (2001, 2003). Spent 2007-2010 as a postdoc at UIUC, the 2010-2011 year visiting UCSD, and 2011-2013 postdocing again at UW-Madison."}],"subjects":[{"id":13,"name":"Engineering \u0026 Technology","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"TA145","visible_textbooks_count":119,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/engineering"},{"id":36,"name":"Pure","parent_subject_id":7,"call_number":"QA37.3","visible_textbooks_count":83,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/pure"},{"id":7,"name":"Mathematics","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"QA1","visible_textbooks_count":177,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/mathematics"}],"publishers":[{"id":82,"url":"http://www.jirka.org/diffyqs/","year":2020,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:37.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-01-03T17:49:45.000-06:00","name":"Jirí Lebl"}],"formats":[{"id":105,"type":"Online","url":"http://www.jirka.org/diffyqs/htmlver/diffyqs.html","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":106,"type":"PDF","url":"https://www.jirka.org/diffyqs/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":107,"type":"Hardcopy","url":"http://www.amazon.com/Notes-Diffy-Differential-Equations-Engineers/dp/1505698197/","price":{"cents":1149,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1983,"type":"LaTeX","url":"https://github.com/jirilebl/diffyqs","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":6,"reviews":[{"id":476,"first_name":"Carlos","last_name":"Montalto Cruz","position":"Postdoctoral Researcher","institution_name":"University of Washington","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book covers many of the material that is usually covered on an undergraduate engineering course on Differential Equations. It also was an extensive index. However, the book does not cover some important topics (e.g., more applications of the theory of ODEs, study of non-diagonalizable systems of DE). Overall, the material main material is there but it sometimes lacks depth in the presentation.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"This are lecture notes, not exactly a book. As lecture notes they do emphasize on the most important parts of the material. However there are some explanations that required revision (e.g., discussion on antiderivatives, hypothesis on some theorems). I think this lecture notes will benefit of a proper definition of concepts and a careful statement of theorems.  I would not recommend this lectures for self study since they lack of some precision for the careful reader.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This is a classic material and will hardly get obsolete","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"While most of the books is written in a lucid and accessible way. Some parts of the book are written in an informal way (e.g., “Do note that the definite integral and the indefinite integral (antidifferentiation) are completely different beast” or “Here is a good way to make fun of your friends taking second semester calculus. Tell them to find the closed form solution. Ha ha ha (bad math joke). It is not possible (in closed form)”).  Also, there are some explanations that need further improvement.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"I could not find inconsistencies in terminology while doing a fast read of the book. There are however many typos in the text and theorems.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"As lecture notes (not book) the modularity of the are very good. There is a natural flow of the material.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"Overall, the organization of the material is standard. However, I found that the books goes back and forth in the topic of partial differential equations (PDEs). I prefer the more classical approach where the theory of  PDEs are presented after covering ordinary differential equations (e.g., Boyce-Di Prima’s book).  But this might be a matter of taste.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The images on the book are good. I think the book could benefit of a more interactive interface with back and forth interlinks. Also, it will be nice to have reference to the web material produce by the author (see additional comments at the end)","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"I could find some minor grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"Is hard to attest cultural relevance on mathematics notes like this ones. I could not find relevant culturally plural examples.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"There are two very useful and important highlights about this book that I did not mentioned before. First, the LATEX code of the notes are provided by the author on his website. That in itself, makes the book a great contribution since it will allow improvements and extensions in a very smooth fashion. Actually, as mentioned on the author’s website there are already Portuguese notes that are a partial translation of this ones.  Second, the author provides with many SAGE demos to illustrate some parts of the theory (e.g., Euler’s method, mechanical vibrations, resonances, etc). I would be nice if the additional material is mentioned when relevant during the text.","created_at":"2016-08-21T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2016-08-21T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1855,"first_name":"Andrew","last_name":"Zimmer","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"William and Mary","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text is not a reference book, but an introduction to differential equations. It contains the topics commonly covered in a standard sophomore level undergraduate course. The index appears to be effective. Further, at the start of each section the author references corresponding chapters in two of the commonly used books: Boyce and DiPrima’s \"Elementary Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems\" and Edwards and Penney's \"Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems: Computing and Modeling.\"","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"On a high level the book appears to be mostly error free - the main theorems are stated correctly, mathematical notation is used in the standard way, and historical attribution is accurate. \n\nI have not read every section closely, but the in sections that I have the calculations and examples appear to be error free.\n","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This is standard material for an undergraduate course in Ordinary Differential Equations. I don't think the text will become obsolete in the near future.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"As the word \"notes\" in the title suggests the book is fairly terse when compared to other textbooks. When used in a classroom setting I think this is fine. However, for self study a text with longer explanations may be preferable. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The notation seems consistent. ","modularity_rating":3,"modularity_review":"The nature of mathematics restricts the ability for the book to be completely modular. However, the author describes the interdependency between the chapters in the introduction. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"There are no issues with the book's organization/structure/flow.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I saw no \"interface\" issues. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I noticed no grammatical errors that significantly impacted the readability of the text. ","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"not applicable. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I have not used this text as an instructor. The last time I taught an differential equations course I used Boyce and DiPrima’s \"Elementary Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems\" (which is the standard text at the institution I was teaching at). Through out the quarter, I also read through Jirí Lebl's text to see if it would appropriate to use the next time I taught the course. Overall I think Lebl's book compares well to Boyce and DiPrima’s text and the next time I teach I will probably use Lebl's book.\n\nThe book has several attractive features. First, there are many problems given in each section. Second, each section contains a reference to the corresponding material in two of the standard textbooks in ordinary differential  equations. As an instructor this makes it easy to update lectures if one switches from one of these text. For students, this gives them as easy to find reference for an alternative approach or more detailed discussion. Perhaps the most attractive feature is that the book will never go out of print and there will be no pressure to update to a new edition. \n\n","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":2152,"first_name":"Uttam","last_name":"Chakravarty","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"University of New Orleans","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text is written in a comprehensive way although it is an extension of the class notes. It covers required topics as the first of differential equations for engineering students. This is a useful book, but many concepts are not explained in detail. It’s good if students read this text as well as follow another textbook, e.g., “Edwards and Penney, Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems: Computing and Modeling” to understand the concepts clearly.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content seems accurate.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The text covers differential equations for undergraduate students and will not be obsolete within a short period of time.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"The text is an extension of the class notes. Overall, the content is easy to understand although some materials are not explained in detail.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text seems consistent.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The modularity of the text is quite well. The sections of the book are mostly independent to each other.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The topics in the text are presented in a fairly, organized way.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"There are no significant interface issues.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"The text seems almost free of grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The text covers differential equations for engineering students. The book does not have any cultural issues.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"This is a well-written, well-organized text that was initiated from the class notes. This text can be used as a one-semester first course on differential equations, especially for engineering students. This text could be used as a stand-alone textbook. But students would read this text as well as a comprehensive textbook, such as “Edwards and Penney, Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems: Computing and Modeling” or “Boyce and DiPrima, Elementary Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems” to understand the concepts clearly.","created_at":"2018-06-19T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-06-19T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2285,"first_name":"Alim","last_name":"Sukhtayev","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Miami University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book covers all the material one might want in an introductory Differential Equations course aimed at engineering students. The book provides plenty of examples and well-constructed exercise sets. Overall, the textbook is well-organized and written in the form of lecture notes. Even though the table of contents is well-structured, I would still have the existence and uniqueness section as a separate section of the first chapter and I would also mention Peano's existence theorem in that section.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The book is well written and edited. I found the presentation of the material to be objective and clear.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The text is up to date.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text of this book is clear and easy to understand.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The notation seems consistent.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The textbook is divided into chapters, sections, and subsections with plenty of excises at the end of each section.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The text is organized in a clear fashion. My personal preference would be to have the existence and uniqueness section as a separate section of the first chapter.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"As for a pdf book, navigation is fairly easy.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found the text to be clear and I did not notice any grammatical errors throughout the book.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text covers the standard differential equations topics aimed at engineering students. The book does not have any cultural issues.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This is a good book for the intended course. It has a few nice features. In particular, it is concise and written in the form of lecture notes with a lot of exercises of different levels at the end of each section.","created_at":"2018-08-02T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-08-02T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":3559,"first_name":"Barbara","last_name":"Shipman","position":"Associate Professor and Distinguished Teaching Professor","institution_name":"University of Texas at Arlington","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The selection of topics is extensive and well chosen, and the material is easily viewed and accessed from the table of contents at the left.  The coverage is broad enough to give the instructor freedom to design various course outlines, depending on the needs and interests of the students.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is accurate and well explained.  The figures and examples are beautifully integrated into the explanations to help the reader understand why the techniques work and how to use them.  ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Yes, this is relevant to modern-day problems, with real-world examples and explanations.   The text is enhanced with figures drawn with modern software that makes the concepts clear and easy to visualize.  The book will remain current for many years but is also easy to update if needed.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Clarity, lucidity, and readability are highlights of this book. The style is friendly, pleasant, and easy to learn from.  There is a perfect balance between conciseness and completeness that keeps the reader engaged and wanting to read more.  ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The notation and layout of the headings, examples, and figures is clean, consistent, and easy to follow.  ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is nicely subdivided into sections and subsections, with the examples and figures clearly marked.  It is easy to look back or ahead and find what one is looking for.    ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The flow of ideas is natural and engaging, keeping the reader’s interest in every section.  Ideas in later sections refer conveniently to topics in previous sections.  There are meaningful applications in every part of the book.  ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The navigation is easy and effortless, and the displays are beautifully presented.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The excellent grammar and friendly, colloquial style are perfect for engaging with undergraduate readers.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The book is beautifully presented for anyone interested in learning about differential equations and its applications.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This is an amazingly well crafted book.  Thank you to the author for making it available!","created_at":"2020-01-31T20:21:21.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-01-31T20:21:21.000-06:00"},{"id":35446,"first_name":"Filippo","last_name":"Posta","position":"Mathematics Faculty","institution_name":"Phoenix College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book covers all of the topics typical of a standard book of ordinary differential equations using a perspective that fits Engineering students, but also provides enough theoretical insight for Mathematics majors. For example, variation of parameters is developed using a general approach rather than providing the typical two integrals formula.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The textbook is free of errors and has no bias relative the layout and progression of topics. We do not follow the order of Chapters in the book and that is not problematic. In fact, the book is written in a way that can be adjusted an Instructor preferences.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Notes on Diffy Qs is a comprehensive text that provides the theoretical insight comparable to all standard texts on the subject. No updates are needed and integration of extra numerical example and practical examples can be easily incorporated by using the provided Latex files.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Clarity is one of the strongest points of the textbook. The students at our community college often comment about how the text is one of the easiest to read for them. This is particularly true for the first couple of Chapters and sets the \"mood\" for the remainder of the course.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"All content is consistent within the textbook but also with the most typical notation used in most Differential Equations textbooks and other resources. This is particularly important to our students that often research the web to find videos to improve their learning.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The book's chapter and section organization is easy to adapt to many Instructor's preferences. We prefer to have Laplace transform (Covered in Chapter 6) after second-order differential equation (Chapter 2) and then continue with Linear (Chapter 3) and nonlinear (Chapter 8) systems of ordinary differential equations. This choice is easy to deliver and students have no problem following this course organization.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book is very modular and allows different Chapter order, but each chapter is well organized and self-contained. For example, the first order differential equation chapter covers everything from integrable odes to numerical methods and ends with a section on first order partial differentia equations (which we skip).","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The book comes in many different formats, online, pdf and even latex source code so that students and instructor alike can take advantage of the format that best suits them and their devices. All graphs/charts are clear, well annotated, and can be easily embedded in slide presentations.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The book does not contain grammatical errors and it is written in a plain language that is suitable to all undergraduates including ESL ones.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This is a plain mathematical text that is culturally agnostic. It focuses on math and scientific application that are physics and engineering based without delving into more social applications which are left to the adopter to add to the curriculum.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"We have used this book for three years (since 2022). It is comprehensive, well organized and provides enough theoretical context  for Instructors to explain the development from basic principles of the various methodologies that students will use to solve differential equations. It compares to standard texts such as Boyce et al. and standard resources such as Pauls' Notes. There is also a series of videos in the mathispower4you website that used the book as template for videos of content and selected exercises.","created_at":"2025-04-18T23:07:16.000-05:00","updated_at":"2025-04-18T23:07:16.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/notes-on-diffy-qs-differential-equations-for-engineers","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:01:32.000-06:00"},{"id":337,"title":"Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering I","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2014,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"The course focuses on the creation, manipulation, transmission, and reception of information by electronic means. Elementary signal theory; time- and frequency-domain analysis; Sampling Theorem. Digital information theory; digital transmission of analog signals; error-correcting codes.","contributors":[{"id":3610,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Don","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Johnson","location":"Rice University","background_text":"Don Johnson received the S.B. and S.M. degrees in 1970, the E.E. degree in 1971, and the Ph.D. degree in 1974, all in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He joined M.I.T. Lincoln Laboratory as a staff member in 1974 to work on digital speech systems. In 1977, he joined the faculty of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Rice University, where he is currently the J.S. Abercrombie Professor Emeritus in that department and Professor Emeritus in the Statistics Department. At MIT and at Rice, he received several institution-wide teaching awards, including Rice’s George R. Brown Award for Excellence in Teaching and the George R. Brown award for Superior Teaching four times. He was a cofounder of Modulus Technologies, Inc. He was President of the IEEE’s Signal Processing Society, received the Signal Processing Society’s Meritorious Service Award for 2000 and was one of the IEEE Signal Processing Society’s Distinguished Lecturers. Professor Johnson is a Fellow of the IEEE."}],"subjects":[{"id":54,"name":"Electrical Engineering","parent_subject_id":13,"call_number":"TK1","visible_textbooks_count":24,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/electrical"},{"id":13,"name":"Engineering \u0026 Technology","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"TA145","visible_textbooks_count":119,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/engineering"}],"publishers":[{"id":247,"url":"http://cnx.org/contents/d442r0wh@9.72:g9deOnx5@19","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:38.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:38.000-05:00","name":"OpenStax CNX"}],"formats":[{"id":402,"type":"Online","url":"http://cnx.org/contents/d442r0wh@9.72:g9deOnx5@19","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":403,"type":"Hardcopy","url":"http://www.lulu.com/shop/don-johnson/fundamentals-of-electrical-engineering/paperback/product-20639587.html","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":404,"type":"PDF","url":"https://www.ece.rice.edu/~dhj/courses/elec241/col10040.pdf","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":1,"reviews":[{"id":875,"first_name":"Hong","last_name":"Nie","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"University of Northern Iowa","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook covers all areas on \"the representation, manipulation, transmission, and reception of information\nby electrical means.\"","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The contents in the textbook are accurate.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The contents in the textbook will not be obsolete within a short period of time.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"Because the textbook covers areas on \"the representation, manipulation, transmission, and reception of information\nby electrical means,\" the discussions on each area are brief and in general. Thus, the students may have difficulties to fully understand the knowledge points in the textbook.  ","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The textbook has a great internal consistency on processing information by electrical means except Chapter 3, which is focusing on circuit analysis instead of information process. Removing Chapter 3 from the textbook and expanding the discussions on the rest chapters may improve the clarity and consistency of the textbook.    ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The textbook is great in modularity.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The textbook is well organized by focusing on \"the representation, manipulation, transmission, and reception of information\nby electrical means.\" ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The textbook does not have interface issue. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The textbook contains no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The textbook is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"More Matlab examples (with Matlab codes) may help students better on understanding the discussions in each technical area.","created_at":"2017-02-08T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2017-02-08T18:00:00.000-06:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/fundamentals-of-electrical-engineering-1","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:02:07.000-06:00"},{"id":338,"title":"A First Course in Electrical and Computer Engineering","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2009,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"This book was written for an experimental freshman course at the University of Colorado. The course is now an elective that the majority of our electrical and computer engineering students take in the second semester of their freshman year, just before their first circuits course. Our department decided to offer this course for several reasons: we wanted to pique student' interest in engineering by acquainting them with engineering teachers early in their university careers and by providing with exposure to the types of problems that electrical and computer engineers are asked to solve; we wanted students entering the electrical and computer engineering programs to be prepared in complex analysis, phasors, and linear algebra, topics that are of fundamental importance in our discipline; we wanted students to have an introduction to a software application tool, such as MATLAB, to complete their preparation for practical and efficient computing in their subsequent courses and in their professional careers; we wanted students to make early contact with advanced topics like vector graphics, filtering, and binary coding so that they would gain a more rounded picture of modern electrical and computer engineering. In order to introduce this course, we had to sacrifice a second semester of Pascal programming. We concluded that the sacrifice was worth making because we found that most of our students were prepared for high-level language computing after just one semester of programming. We believe engineering educators elsewhere are reaching similar conclusions about their own students and curriculums. We hope this book helps create a much needed dialogue about curriculum revision and that it leads to the development of similar introductory courses that encourage students to enter and practice our craft.Students electing to take this course have completed one semester of calculus, computer programming, chemistry, and humanities. Concurrently with this course, students take physics and a second semester of calculus, as well as a second semester in the humanities. By omitting the advanced topics marked by asterisks, we are able to cover Complex Numbers through Linear Algebra, plus two of the three remaining chapters. The book is organized so that the instructor can select any two of the three. If every chapter of this book is covered, including the advanced topics, then enough material exists for a two-semester course. The first three chapters of this book provide a fairly complete coverage of complex numbers, the functions e^x and e^jand phasors. Our department philosophy is that these topics must be understood if a student is to succeed in electrical and computer engineering. These three chapters may also be used as a supplement to a circuits course. A measured pace of presentation, taking between sixteen and eighteen lectures, is sufficient to cover all but the advanced sections in Complex Numbers through Phasors. The chapter on \"linear algebra\" is prerequisite for all subsequent chapters. We use eight to ten lectures to cover it. We devote twelve to sixteen lectures to cover topics from Vector Graphics through Binary Codes. (We assume a semester consisting of 42 lectures and three exams.) The chapter on vector graphics applies the linear algebra learned in the previous chapter to the problem of translating, scaling, and rotating images. \"Filtering\" introduces the student to basic ideas in averaging and filtering. The chapter on \"Binary Codes\" covers the rudiments of binary coding, including Huffman codes and Hamming codes. If the users of this book find \"Vector Graphics\" through \"Binary Codes\" too confining, we encourage them to supplement the essential material in \"Complex Numbers\" through \"Linear Algebra\" with their own course notes on additional topics. Within electrical and computer engineering there are endless possibilities. Practically any set of topics that can be taught with conviction and enthusiasm will whet the student's appetite. We encourage you to write to us or to our editor, Tom Robbins, about your ideas for additional topics. We would like to think that our book and its subsequent editions will have an open architecture that enables us to accommodate a wide range of student and faculty interests. Throughout this book we have used MATLAB programs to illustrate key ideas. MATLAB is an interactive, matrix-oriented language that is ideally suited to circuit analysis, linear systems, control theory, communications, linear algebra, and numerical analysis. MATLAB is rapidly becoming a standard software tool in universities and engineering companies. (For more information about MATLAB, return the attached card in the back of this book to The MathWorks, Inc.) MATLAB programs are designed to develop the student's ability to solve meaningful problems, compute, and plot in a high-level applications language. Our students get started in MATLAB by working through “An Introduction to MATLAB,” while seated at an IBM PC (or look-alike) or an Apple Macintosh. We also have them run through the demonstration programs in \"Complex Numbers\". Each week we give three classroom lectures and conduct a one-hour computer lab session. Students use this lab session to hone MATLAB skills, to write programs, or to conduct the numerical experiments that are given at the end of each chapter. We require that these experiments be carried out and then reported in a short lab report that contains (i) introduction, (ii) analytical computations, (iii) computer code, (iv) experimental results, and (v) conclusions. The quality of the numerical results and the computer graphics astonishes students. Solutions to the chapter problems are available from the publisher for instructors who adopt this text for classroom use. We wish to acknowledge our late colleague Richard Roberts, who encouraged us to publish this book, and Michael Lightner and Ruth Ravenel, who taught \"Linear Algebra\" and \"Vector Graphics\" and offered helpful suggestions on the manuscript. We thank C. T. Mullis for allowing us to use his notes on binary codes to guide our writing of \"Binary Codes\". We thank Cédric Demeure and Peter Massey for their contributions to the writing of \"An Introduction to MATLAB\" and \"The Edix Editor\". We thank Tom Robbins, our editor at Addison-Wesley, for his encouragement, patience, and many suggestions. We are especially grateful to Julie Fredlund, who composed this text through many drafts and improved it in many ways. We thank her for preparing an excellent manuscript for production.","contributors":[{"id":3611,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Louis","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Scharf","location":"Colorado State University","background_text":"Louis Scharf received his Ph.D. from the University of Washington, Seattle. From 1971 to 1982 he served as Professor of Electrical Engineering and Statistics at CSU. From 1982 to 1985 he was Professor and Chairman of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Rhode Island, Kingston. From 1985 to 2000 he was Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Colorado, Boulder. In January 2001, Professor Scharf rejoins Colorado State University as Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Statistics. Professor Scharf has held several visiting positions here and abroad. He has developed particularly close ties with Ecole Superieure d'Electricite (Gif-sur-Yvette), Ecole Nationale Superieure des Telecommunications (Paris), and EURECOM (Nice). He is a recognized expert in statistical signal processing, as it applies to adaptive radar, sonar, and wireless communication. His most important contributions to date are to invariance theories for detection and estimation; matched and adaptive subspace detectors for radar, sonar, and data communication; and canonical decompositions for reduced dimensional filtering and quantizing. His current interests are in rapidly-adaptive receiver design for space-time signal processing in the wireless communication channel. Professor Scharf is a Fellow of IEEE. He chairs the Fellow Committee for the IEEE Signal Processing Society, and serves on its Technical Committees for Theory and Methods and for Sensor Arrays and Multichannel Signal Processing. He has received numerous awards for his research contributions to statistical signal processing, including an IEEE Distinguished Lectureship, an IEEE Third Millenium Medal, and the Technical Achievement Award from the IEEE Signal Processing Society."}],"subjects":[{"id":3,"name":"Computer Science","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"QA76","visible_textbooks_count":137,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/computer-science-information-systems"},{"id":54,"name":"Electrical Engineering","parent_subject_id":13,"call_number":"TK1","visible_textbooks_count":24,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/electrical"},{"id":13,"name":"Engineering \u0026 Technology","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"TA145","visible_textbooks_count":119,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/engineering"}],"publishers":[{"id":248,"url":"http://cnx.org/contents/fpkWedRh@2.3:tQa_RWkY@3/Dedication-of-A-First-Course-i","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:38.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:38.000-05:00","name":"OpenStax CNX"}],"formats":[{"id":405,"type":"Online","url":"http://cnx.org/contents/fpkWedRh@2.3:tQa_RWkY@3/Dedication-of-A-First-Course-i","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":406,"type":"PDF","url":"http://cnx.org/contents/fpkWedRh@2.3:tQa_RWkY@3/Dedication-of-A-First-Course-i","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1601,"type":"eBook","url":"http://cnx.org/contents/fpkWedRh@2.3:tQa_RWkY@3/Dedication-of-A-First-Course-i","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":5,"reviews":[{"id":891,"first_name":"Kim","last_name":"Jovanovich","position":"Assistant Dean of Engineering and Professor of Practice Electrical Engineering","institution_name":"University of New Orleans","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book actually does a great job of collecting and presenting those areas that are known to be problematic for first introductory courses in electrical and computer engineering. In fact, we have been working on an introductory course and the EE department has been listing those areas that should be reviewed, provided, and studied prior to the entry into the major EE courses. This book clearly \"hit the nail on the head\" in terms of the topics covered.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"During my review I found the content to be excellent and accurate. While I thought some areas may have had issues, a closer review of the assumptions made rendered the results to be accurate and correct.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Content is so basic and fundamental that the text will likely not become obsolete any time soon. The only area of the book where obsolescence may eventually appear is because MatLab is used, and that program may eventually be superseded.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I found the book writing to be easy to understand and clear. Of course, being an Electrical Engineering professor myself, it was easy to interpret as I read the content. I do however believe this would be a good text to help students in an introductory course where if read, would allow easy understanding of the content. ","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"I found the terminology throughout the book to be consistent. I would have preferred to see ej? (with j? superscripted)  used instead of e^j?. Most equations are written as the first form but much text is written as e^j?. There are other similar examples as well. Minor point but can be confusing. Most of us recognize the ^ as an exponential operator, but the text is not always consistent when its formulated.    ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This book is easily modularized so that pieces of the book can be extracted as separate study materials without much difficulty. In fact, this is a distinct advantage of the text.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"I do believe the topical areas are well connected and the material flows from one chapter to the next easily. The chapters seem to be well connected. We all would have our personal preferences as to the order of the material being presented, but overall this is a clear and efficient organizational structure will logical segues. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The book's interface is fine.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"While the majority of the book is mathematical, the text surrounding the equations and their applications appear to be free from grammatical error.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The material and presentations in the text show no signs or tendencies to be exclusive or offensive to race, ethnicity, or creeds. None of the examples are offensive in any way.  ","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I was impressed with the presentations of the material and the connectivity between the chapters. I believe this is a very useful text for an introductory/preparatory course for electrical and computer engineering. It covers those areas and expertise that we at our university have found to be lacking in many of our entering students. For those universities with preparatory courses covering those fundamental engineering mathematical principles and software applications like MATLAB this would be an ideal text.","created_at":"2017-02-08T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2017-02-08T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1154,"first_name":"Zhifang","last_name":"Wang","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Virginia Commonwealth University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book covers all the essential areas that need to be included in a first introduction ECE course.  Including Matlab is a great PLUS. Besides, a lot of example problems in the book are given as test-runs in Matlab, which are very convenient and helpful for students.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"As I read though the book, most contents have been accurately presented, except some figures with multiple plots, e.g. Fig. 2.4 and 2.5. The figures use different colors for the plots but the print copy will loose the clarity if without a color printer. It is suggested that using different \"dash types\" or \"line width\" to depict multiple curves in a figure.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This will be a good introductory textbook that can be used for years.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Very clearly written and arranged in a well-organized structure.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The terminology of exponential functions in Chap 2 should be formulated consistently. Otherwise the book is consistent in termes of terminology and framework.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is easily and readily divisible into smaller reading sections that can be assigned at different points within the course .","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Very well organized.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text is free of significant interface issues. Just some figures, which contain multiple plots, if could be redraw with different dash types, line width, or legends, will be more convenient and less confusing for users without a color printer.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The book contains no obvious grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Chap 9 is very short and also seems to be not very necessary. It can either be inserted into Chap 8 as a section, or just moved to appendix. Chap 10 is very useful but also be moved to appendix.","created_at":"2017-04-11T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-04-11T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1244,"first_name":"Radian","last_name":"Belu","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Southern University Baton Rouge","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book covers some of the essential areas that are need to be included in a first introduction ECE course, such as complex numbers, phasors or linear algebra. However I rather prefer to see included topics such as: Electrical Quantities, Circuit Principles, Signal Processing Circuits or Error Analysis of Experimental Data, rather than Binary Codes or Vector Graphics. Including MATLAB and a lot of exercises and problems in the book is very convenient and helpful for students. Notice also that chapter 9 has no relevance in the economy of this textbook.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Most of the book contents are accurately presented, except some figures and diagrams. The figures use different colors for the plots but the print copy is losing the clarity if without a color printer.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Content is basic and fundamental and is likely not become obsolete in short run. The only area of the book where obsolescence may eventually appear is because MATLAB is used, and that program may eventually be superseded and replaced with a Computer Algebra Systems.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Clearly written and arranged in a well-organized structure, being easy to be understand by the students.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The book is consistent in terms of terminology, presentation and framework with the exceptions of chapter 2, which is not using standard notations","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"This book is easily modularized so parts or sections of the book can be extracted as separate study materials, a distinct advantage of this textbook. Each such module can be assigned at different points within a course.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Very well organized textbook, topics are well connected and the material flows from one chapter to the next easily, in a logical segues. However, some issues maybe with chapter 5 to 7","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The book's interface is fine and free of significant interface issues. However, some figures, containing multiple plots need to be redraw to be more convenient and less confusing for users without a color printer.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The book contains no obvious and significant grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is strictly technical, is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. None of the included examples are offensive in any way.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I was impressed with the presentations of the material and the connectivity between the chapters, especially first four book chapters, covering areas needed in many other ECE courses. It is a very useful text for an introductory or preparatory course for electrical and computer engineering. However, chapter 9 is very short is not strictly needed. It can either be inserted into Chapter 8 as a section, or moved to appendix. Materials of Chapter 10 are useful but are more appropriate to the appendix section.","created_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":4094,"first_name":"Chengyu","last_name":"Xiong","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Bristol Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book provides a good and effective introduction to electrical and computer engineering (ECE). With this book, students can be well prepared to grow into an electrical and computer engineer: 1) have a mathematics foundation including complex numbers, phasors, and linear algebra which are the fundamental important but also challenge for our students; build up the mathematical thinking skills; 2) master a \"practical and efficient calculation\" tool: MATLAB which is powerful and useful in engineering problem modeling, calculation, and visualization; 3) have a basic but comprehensive understanding of ECE subjects through some interesting advanced topics such as vector graphics, filtering, and coding.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"I could only find the black and white version of this book by reading the book online and downloading the PDF file. Some graphs without legends will be confused. Except for this,  the book content seems accurate, error-free, and unbiased for me.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content is basic and fundamental and will not quickly make the text obsolete. Only fundamental concepts of MATLAB are introduced in this book which will not be changed often too. Some MATLAB related figures are old. With the provided code, the updates should be relatively easy to implement.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is written clearly and easy to understand.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Except for the notation of exponential functions in chapter 2, this book is consistent in terms of terminology and framework.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is written in a logical and easily modularized fashion. As the author notes,  chapter 1-3 could be materials for 16-18 lectures, 3 lectures, 1 lab per week; chapter 4 for 8-10 lectures advanced topics in chapters 5 to 7 for 12-16 lectures. Moreover, with the advanced topics marked by asterisks, this book could also be used for a 2-semester course.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization and flow of the content are logical and clear.  I like the structure,  step by step, well connected, from needed foundations into the deep end of engineering problems, allow students to explore and also inspire their interests. Chapters 5 to 7 are advanced topics that, in my view, are chosen carefully based on the author's specialty. The teachers are encouraged to adapt and supplement chapters 5 to 7 with their own topics.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"As previously noted, some figures related to MATLAB need to be updated and more clear for the white and black version. No more significant interface issue.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The book is well-written and appears to contain no major grammatical errors","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"There is no cultural issue.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Like the title, this book can be used as a textbook for ECE intro/preparatory courses. Through the advanced topics of each chapter, it can also be used for 2-semester courses. Some universities may not be able to provide introductory courses for ECE. This book will be an important supplementary textbook for the circuit course or signal processing course, used for the required mathematical foundation and MATLAB mathematical modeling, calculation, and visualization.","created_at":"2020-06-26T01:59:06.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-06-26T01:59:06.000-05:00"},{"id":4118,"first_name":"Xin","last_name":"Shen","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text covers all fundamental areas and ideas of the subject about an introduction ECE course. It starts from math and ends with applications which will help students to build solid background and draw great interests on the topics. The MATLAB based examples are given throughout the text which is very helpful.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"I am using the PDF version, most of the book contents are accurately presented, except some typos and printing errors such Eqs 2.54 3.25,  4.14, and \"1/2\" instead of \"l/2\".","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The content is fundamental that I do not think it will quickly make the text obsolete within a short period of time. \r\nI think  the contents and sample codes in Chapter 8, the introduction to MATLAB, may need to be updated corresponding to the newest version of MATLAB.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The written is clear and easy to follow. The content, especially some derivations, are step by step with details which I believe will be very helpful for students to understand the topics and materials as taking it for their first year intro level course on ECE.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The terminology and framework are consistent, I can find the inter connection between the first four chapters, and when I go over Chapters 5 and 6, some equations and discussions refresh me go back to check the first 4 chapters, so that I think the book is consistent in terminology and framework.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is readily divisible into smaller reading sections that can be assigned at different points within the course, it will be easy to extract specific sub-sections for further discussion and extension in the class.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"I do like to flow and logic in the text that the first 4 Chapters are  fundamentals and Chapters 5 - 7 are more application oriented which apply the topics from Chapters 1-4.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I do not have any trouble on navigation, but it will be better to update some figures which seems with pretty old version and design.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text contains are free of grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This text is focused on math, science and engineering, and there is no points or intents on culturally insensitive or offensive to any races, ethnicity or backgrounds.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This is a very good source for students / beginners who are interested in Electrical computer and Engineering.\r\nChapter 8 and 9 may be combined into one chapter.\r\nMaybe some practical excises on filtering in Chapter 6, such as MATLAB based average / median filter design for basic imaging processing will be helpful for students to understand the concept.","created_at":"2020-06-28T16:37:54.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-06-28T16:37:54.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/a-first-course-in-electrical-and-computer-engineering","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:19:30.000-06:00"},{"id":489,"title":"Introduction to Linear, Time-Invariant, Dynamic Systems for Students of Engineering","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2016,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"This is a complete college textbook, including a detailed Table of Contents, seventeen Chapters (each with a set of relevant homework problems), a list of References, two Appendices, and a detailed Index. The book is intended to enable students to: Solve first-, second-, and higher-order, linear, time-invariant (LTI) or­dinary differential equations (ODEs) with initial conditions and excitation, using both time-domain and Laplace-transform methods; Solve for the frequency response of an LTI system to periodic sinusoi­dal excitation and plot this response in standard form; Explain the role of the time constant in the response of a first-order LTI system, and the roles of natural frequency, damping ratio, and resonance in the response of a second-order LTI system; Derive and analyze mathematical models (ODEs) of low-order me­chanical systems, both translational and rotational, that are com­posed of inertial elements, spring elements, and damping devices; Derive and analyze mathematical models (ODEs) of low-order electri­cal circuits composed of resistors, capacitors, inductors, and op­erational amplifiers; Derive (from ODEs) and manipulate Laplace transfer functions and block diagrams representing output-to-input relationships of discrete ele­ments and of systems; Define and evaluate stability for an LTI system; Explain proportional, integral, and derivative types of feedback control for single-input, single-output (SISO), LTI systems; Sketch the locus of characteristic values, as a control parameter varies, for a feedback-controlled SISO, LTI system; Use MATLAB as a tool to study the time and frequency responses of LTI systems. The book's gen­eral organization is: Chapters 1-10 deal primarily with the ODEs and behaviors of first-order and second-order dynamic systems; Chapters 11 and 12 discuss the ODEs and behaviors of mechanical systems having two degrees of freedom, i.e., fourth-order systems; Chapters 13 and 14 introduce classical feedback control; Chapter 15 presents the basic features of proportional, in­tegral, and derivative types of classical control; Chapters 16 and 17 discuss methods for analyzing the stability of classical control systems. The general minimum prerequisite for understanding this book is the intellectual matur­ity of a junior-level (third-year) college student in an accredited four-year engineering curriculum. A mathematical second-order system is represented in this book primarily by a single second-order ODE, not in the state-space form by a pair of coupled first-order ODEs. Similarly, a two-degrees-of-freedom (fourth-order) system is represented by two coupled second-order ODEs, not in the state-space form by four coupled first-order ODEs. The book does not use bond graph modeling, the general and powerful, but complicated, modern tool for analysis of complex, multidisciplinary dynamic systems. The homework problems at the ends of chapters are very important to the learning objectives, so the author attempted to compose problems of practical interest and to make the problem statements as clear, correct, and unambiguous as possible. A major focus of the book is computer calculation of system characteristics and responses and graphical display of results, with use of basic (not advanced) MATLAB commands and programs. The book includes many examples and homework problems relevant to aerospace engineering, among which are rolling dynamics of flight vehicles, spacecraft actuators, aerospace motion sensors, and aeroelasticity. There are also several examples and homework problems illustrating and validating theory by using measured data to identify first- and second-order system dynamic characteristics based on mathematical models (e.g., time constants and natural frequencies), and system basic properties (e.g., mass, stiffness, and damping). Applications of real and simulated experimental data appear in many homework problems. The book contains somewhat more material than can be covered during a single standard college semester, so an instructor who wishes to use this as a one-semester course textbook should not attempt to cover the entire book, but instead should cover only those parts that are most relevant to the course objectives.","contributors":[{"id":4294,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"William","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Hallauer","location":"Virginia Tech","background_text":"William L. Hallauer, Jr. is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering at Virginia Tech. Education: B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, 1961-65; S.M. in Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1965-66; Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University, 1969-74. Employment in Higher Education: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Aerospace and Ocean Engineering, Mechanical Engineering), 1974-87, 1989-91, 2000-05; United States Air Force Academy (Engineering Mechanics), 1987-89, 1994-99. Employment in Industry: Boeing Company (Commercial Airplane Group), 1966-69; Lockheed Missiles and Space Company, 1973-74; Dynacs Engineering Company, Inc. (contractor for the U.S. Air Force), 1992-94. Primary Technical Areas of Learning, Teaching, and Research: Structures, structural dynamics, and fluid-structure interaction (theory and computation); Experimental analysis of structural dynamics, including electrical and electromechanical systems used in experiments; Active control of vibration in highly flexible structures; Composition of research articles and instructional material."}],"subjects":[{"id":54,"name":"Electrical Engineering","parent_subject_id":13,"call_number":"TK1","visible_textbooks_count":24,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/electrical"},{"id":13,"name":"Engineering \u0026 Technology","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"TA145","visible_textbooks_count":119,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/engineering"}],"publishers":[{"id":433,"url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/78864","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:39.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-06-25T12:55:34.000-05:00","name":"A.T. Still University"}],"formats":[{"id":744,"type":"PDF","url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/bitstream/handle/10919/78864/LinearTI_Dynamic_Systems.pdf?sequence=1\u0026isAllowed=y","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":3,"reviews":[{"id":1618,"first_name":"Robert","last_name":"Williams","position":"Professor","institution_name":"Ohio University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This on-line textbook is a challenging combination of system dynamics and responses, mechanical vibrations, mechanical and electrical systems, rigid body dynamics, and feedback control.  Covered are free and forced, undamped and damped responses, in both the frequency and time domain.\n\nThe textbook focuses on linear time-invariant (LTI) systems, with time- and Laplace-solutions of the governing ordinary differential equations (ODEs).  First-, second-, and fourth-order systems are included and considered.  The time constant is presented for first-order LTI systems, and natural frequency, damping ratio, and resonance are presented for second-order LTI systems.  Translational and rotational systems mechanical systems are included, with inertial, spring, and damping elements.  Electrical circuit LTI systems with resistors, capacitors, inductors, and operational amplifiers are also presented.  MATLAB software is applied as a tool and for examples throughout the book.  Some examples and applications specific to Aerospace Engineering are presented throughout.  System identification from experimental data and homework problems with real and simulated data are featured.\n","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"See 11.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"See 11.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"See 11.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"See 11.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"See 11.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"See 11.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Very good.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Correct.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"NA","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This on-line textbook is a challenging combination of system dynamics and responses, mechanical vibrations, mechanical and electrical systems, rigid body dynamics, and feedback control.  Covered are free and forced, undamped and damped responses, in both the frequency and time domain.\n\nThe textbook focuses on linear time-invariant (LTI) systems, with time- and Laplace-solutions of the governing ordinary differential equations (ODEs).  First-, second-, and fourth-order systems are included and considered.  The time constant is presented for first-order LTI systems, and natural frequency, damping ratio, and resonance are presented for second-order LTI systems.  Translational and rotational systems mechanical systems are included, with inertial, spring, and damping elements.  Electrical circuit LTI systems with resistors, capacitors, inductors, and operational amplifiers are also presented.  MATLAB software is applied as a tool and for examples throughout the book.  Some examples and applications specific to Aerospace Engineering are presented throughout.  System identification from experimental data and homework problems with real and simulated data are featured.\n\nThe stated prerequisites are: 1. The student should be, at minimum, a junior in an accredited four-year engineering curriculum; and 2. The student should have already completed standard first courses in engineering dynamics and differential equations.  Other desired, but not strictly necessary, stated prerequisites are a course in basic electrical circuits, a course in basic computer programming, familiarity with MATLAB commands, knowledge of matrix notation and matrix arithmetic operations (basic course in linear algebra), and knowledge of Laplace transforms.\n\n\tHere are some limitations of the book, as identified by the author.  The bond graph approach is not presented, but author says this book prepares the student to tackle that subject.  No state-space representation nor solutions nor control are presented, even for the fourth-order systems.  The author stated that his textbook as grown into too much material for a three-hour semester course – so an instructor must pick and choose topics rather than try to present it all.\n\nOn my shelf I have at least four separate textbooks each covering one of these topics in depth (system dynamics and responses, mechanical vibrations, mechanical and electrical systems, rigid body dynamics, and feedback control).  At 439 pages, the current book is long, but short in terms of complete coverage for each of these related but distinct subjects.  In my opinion, the math level is beyond standard engineering juniors, and seems to be written more for electrical, mechanical, and aerospace engineering graduate students.\n\nThe sections that I read in detail are comprehensive, accurate, error-free and unbiased, clear to read, consistent in notation, modular in the sense that portions can be used easily from the whole, the organization is logical, and it is free of grammatical errors.  Overall, I believe this on-line textbook is very strong and should be seriously considered for adoption by instructors of courses in linear systems dynamics and related topics.  This textbook is a serious contender, with long-range potential in longevity and topics coverage, that could support at least four related, required courses in linear systems dynamics at my university.\n","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":34708,"first_name":"Cuneyt","last_name":"Yalcin","position":"Visiting Lecturer","institution_name":"James Madison University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text covers areas and ideas of the subjects in acceptable level and provides an effective index and/or glossary.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Content is accurate and unbiased.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content is relevant to many areas that utilize Linear Time-Invariant Systems and can serve as an excellent reference for deriving related equations.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is written in lucid, accessible prose, and provides adequate context for any jargon/technical terminology used.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The text is developed in a very theoretical manner. For undergraduate level, however, it needs example problems.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The topics in the text are presented in a logical, clear fashion.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text is generally free of significant interface issues, but there are some minor points that can be addressed. Examples of these include:\n•\tIn Chapter 17, the Nyquist plots are missing the representation of the lines at infinite distance, making it difficult to explain the plots to students.\n•\tEquation 5-6 is missing a negative sign in front of the inductance constant.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text contains no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This textbook covers Linear Time-Invariant (LTI) systems, which form the foundation of many engineering courses, including System Dynamics, basic Classical Control Theory, Structural Vibration, and even more math-oriented courses on Laplace and Fourier Transformations. The book covers solutions to differential equations and Laplace-based solutions for 1st, 2nd, and 4th-order system time responses. Studying the content equips the reader with skills to analyze the time behavior of higher-order systems. Similarly, it thoroughly covers the frequency responses of 1st and 2nd-order systems, and the techniques introduced can be extrapolated for higher-order systems. The book also includes significant content about introductory Control Theory. However, it lacks coverage of the state-space representation, and there is no discussion of discrete systems. Also, it does not adequately cover Multi-Input-Multi-Output systems. Nevertheless, Laplace transform methods and related frequency domain approaches are explained deeply and extensively in a clear and concise manner.\n\nThe book also uses MATLAB as a calculation tool and provides examples of code to help solve or plot specific equations. However, it does not incorporate more advanced commands used for system analysis and control, and the utilization of the software is not systematically ordered in the book. Although the book cannot be used as a MATLAB learning tool, the index includes some of the MATLAB commands utilized throughout the book.\n\nThe organization of the chapters and subtitles is concise and can be covered in typical class periods. The chapters develop the topics step by step and meticulously, showing all the derivations. However, there is limited commentary on the meaning of the developed concepts through derivation. While the topics build on each other and involve a good amount of exercises using previous findings to develop new derivations, the content lacks practical applications and utilizations of the developed concepts. There are no practical examples within the text for students to grasp the concepts, and procedures on how to approach a system analysis or control problem are rare or absent within chapters. An instructor can add these, but this time the length of the lecture topics should be rearranged and planned from scratch. In my opinion, the text can be closely followed for a graduate-level course or used as a valuable reference book for derivations covered in class. An effective approach might involve assigning the derivations of equations or concepts as reading assignments and creating homework assignments or online quizzes based on them.","created_at":"2023-10-29T11:59:06.000-05:00","updated_at":"2023-10-29T11:59:06.000-05:00"},{"id":35000,"first_name":"Eric","last_name":"Gilbertson","position":"Associate Teaching Professor","institution_name":"Seattle University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text covers most topics that I cover in a senior-level dynamic systems class, as well as some topics from my senior-level controls class. This looks to be a good potential alternative to the current book I’m using (which is not open access). If it also covered electromechanical systems (DC motors) and liquid level systems, then it would be a perfect match for my class.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"All material I reviewed is accurate with no obvious errors.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The topics of modeling dynamic systems are relevant to today’s engineering problems and will remain relevant for a long time. The text covers the fundamentals of modeling and controlling mechanical and electrical systems and these principles can be applied to complicated systems for current engineering problems.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Derivations of relevant formulas are easy to follow with good figures and adequate explanation of steps. Descriptions are written in a way that is easy to follow.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Chapters are all in the same format and consistent equation and figure formatting is used so the text looks very professional.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Concepts are well-organized into modular chapters that could be taught in a different order if desired, or some chapters could be skipped if desired.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The text is well-organized like a standard textbook, with appropriate chapter length and topics and homework problems at the end of each chapter. I cover the topics in a different order when I teach the class, but that is not a major problem.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The pdf of the book provides an easy interface to use. It might be nice if the index had clickable hyperlinks to appropriate sections of the main text, but that’s not a big deal.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"All text is free from grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The examples in the text were not culturally biased or insensitive.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I like how the book includes Matlab code that the students could copy and paste from the pdf version of the book into their own matlab file. I use Matlab in my current dynamic systems class so this book would be well suited for that class.","created_at":"2024-04-12T15:27:28.000-05:00","updated_at":"2024-04-12T15:27:28.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/introduction-to-linear-time-invariant-dynamic-systems-for-students-of-engineering","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:10:04.000-06:00"},{"id":517,"title":"Aplicaciones y Teoría de Ingeniería de Microondas","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2014,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-ShareAlike","language":"spa","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"Teoria, analisis y sintesis de tecnicas de diseño para sistemas de teleomunicaciones que operan en el rango de 1GHz a 100 GHZ","contributors":[],"subjects":[{"id":54,"name":"Electrical Engineering","parent_subject_id":13,"call_number":"TK1","visible_textbooks_count":24,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/electrical"},{"id":13,"name":"Engineering \u0026 Technology","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"TA145","visible_textbooks_count":119,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/engineering"}],"publishers":[{"id":565,"url":"http://www.asociacionlatin.org/index.php/es/biblioteca","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:40.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:40.000-05:00","name":"LATIn Project"}],"formats":[{"id":972,"type":"PDF","url":"https://mountainscholar.org/handle/20.500.11785/593","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":null,"textbook_reviews_count":0,"reviews":[],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/aplicaciones-y-teoria-de-ingenieria-de-microondas","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:12:44.000-06:00"}],"links":{"self":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/engineering.json?page=1","total_pages":13,"total_count":127,"next":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/engineering.json?page=2"}}