Series Preface

‘There is a time for all things: for shouting, for gentle speaking, for silence; for the washing of pots and the writing of books. Let now the pots go black, and set to work. It is hard to make a beginning, but it must be done’ – Oliver Heaviside, Electromagnetic Theory, Vol 3 (1912), Ch 9, ‘Waves from moving sources – Adagio. Andante. Allegro Moderato’.

Oliver Heaviside was one of the greatest engineers of all time, ranking alongside Faraday and Maxwell in his field. As can be seen from the above excerpt from a seminal work, he appreciated the need to communicate to a wider audience. He also offered the advice ‘So be rigorous; that will cover a multitude of sins. And do not frown.’ The series of books that this prefaces takes up Heaviside’s challenge but in a world which is quite different to that being experienced just a century ago.

With the vast range of books already available covering many of the topics developed in this series, what is this series offering which is unique? I hope that the next few paragraphs help to answer that; certainly no one involved in this project would give up their time to bring these books to fruition if they had not thought that the series is both unique and valuable.

This motivation for this series of books was born out of the desire of the UK’s Engineering Council to increase the number of incorporated engineers graduating from Higher Education establishments, and the Insitution of Incorporated Engineers’ (IIE) aim to provide enhanced services to those delivering Incorporated Engineering courses and those studying on Incorporated Engineering Courses. However, what has emerged from the project should prove of great value to a very wide range of courses within the UK and internationally – from Foundation Degrees or Higher Nationals through to first year modules for traditional ‘Chartered’ degree courses. The reason why these books will appeal to such a wide audience is that they present the core subject areas for engineering studies in a lively, student-centred way, with key theory delivered in real world contexts, and a pedagogical structure that supports independent learning and classroom use.

Despite the apparent waxing of ‘new’ technologies and the waning of ‘old’ technologies, engineering is still fundamental to wealth creation. Sitting alongside these are the new business focused, information and communications dominated, technology organisations. Both facets have an equal importance in the health of a nation and the prospects of individuals. In preparing this series of books, we have tried to strike a balance between traditional engineering and developing technology.