More than just a book, this volume is part of a system to teach engineering mechanics, a system comprised of three components: 1) this core principles book, 2) algorithmic problem material available online, and 3) a course management system to track and monitor student progress. KEY TOPICS Chapter topics cover motion of a point; force, mass, and acceleration; energy methods; momentum methods; planar kinematics of rigid bodies; planar dynamics of rigid bodies; energy and momentum in rigid body dynamics; three-dimensional kinematics and dynamics of rigid bodies; and vibrations. For individuals preparing for a career in engineering mechanics.
Anthony Bedford is Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at the University of Texas at Austin. He received his B.S. degree at the University of Texas at Austin, his M.S. degree at the California Institute of Technology, and his Ph.D. degree at Rice University in 1967. He has industrial experience at Douglas Aircraft Company and at TRW, where he did structural dynamics and trajectory analyses for the Apollo program. He has been on the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin since 1968.
Dr. Bedford's main professional activity has been education and research in engineering mechanics. He has been principal investigator on grants from the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research, and from 1973 until 1983 was a consultant to Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico. His other books include Hamilton's Principle in Continuum Mechanics, Introduction to Elastic Wave Propagation (with D.S. Drumheller), and Mechanics of Materials (with K.M. Liechti).
Wallace T. Fowler holds the Paul D. and Betty Robertson Meek Professorship in Engineering in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Fowler received his B.A., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Texas at Austin, and has been on the faculty there since 1965. During Fall 1976, he was on the staff of the United States Air Force Test Pilot School, Edwards Air Force Base, California, and in 1981-1982 he was a visiting professor at the United States Air Force Academy. Since 1991 he has been Associate Director of the Texas Space Grant Consortium.
Dr. Fowler's areas of teaching and research are dynamics, orbital mechanics, and spacecraft mission design. He is author or coauthor of technical papers on trajectory optimization, attitude dynamics, and space mission planning and has also published papers on the theory and practice of engineering teaching. He has received numerous teaching awards including the Chancellor's Council Outstanding Teaching Award, the General Dynamics Teaching Excellence Award, the Halliburton Education Foundation Award of Excellence, the ASEE Fred Merryfield Design Award, and the AIAA-ASEE Distinguished Aerospace Educator Award. He is a member of the Academy of Distinguished Teachers at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a licensed professional engineer, a member of several technical societies, and a Fellow of both the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the American Society for Engineering Education. In 2000-2001, he served as president of the American Society for Engineering Education.
