By Jesse Hiemstra
This is a list of books I have found to be helpful in my practice.
For the most part these are engineering books; the older the, the better. There are some modern books listed. Where possible, I include links to archived copies on the web.
The list is as follows.
Written by the bank of Wetzinkwa; near Telkwa, so-called “BC”, 2022 AD
The original text was written hierarchically, but it may also be viewed linearly if that’s your preference.
For the full benefit of books, I recommend acquiring physical copies; the older, the better.
There is something profound to be learned from physical books; they have an ineffable quality that is inherent to them.
Shigley, Machine Design, 1956
Den Hartog, Mechanical Vibrations, 1934
Osgood, Spacecraft Structures, 1966
Huzel & Huang, NASA SP-125: Design of Liquid Propellant Rocket Engines, 19xx.
Seifert, Space Technology 1959
Koelle et al, Handbook of Astronautical Engineering, 1961
Larsen & Wertz, SMAD III
Sarafin et al, Spacecraft Structures & Mechanisms
Conley, Space Vehicle Mechanisms, 1998
MIL-HDBK-5
Griffin & French - People tend to badmouth this one, too. Great respect to anyone who writes & publishes a book like this, but I looked at the chapter on strcutures and… gee, well; these guys were managers, and it shows.
Sutton & Biblarz - Somebody I respect compared this to Huzel & Huang, and said that this one was the worse of the two.
AIAA Design Engineer’s Handbook - this shows up hihgly recommended on a similar list of books but I haven’t seen inside it.
Certain aspects of the presentation are necessarily lost with linear presentation; I’ve done my best to make it flow while never turning down a chance for a parenthetical or aside.
Preferably first or second editions, preferably working copies, heavily marked and annotated.
Ideally, extant copies, and not print-outs or PDFS. Print-on-demand is missing the point.
Many people would agree that books have a distinctive aroma; certain people would say their aroma is more than a scent, and goes beyond the sensation of smell.
Part of this ineffable quality has to do with the difference between random access as achieved on a computer screen, versus random access as achieved by flipping through bound pages. Another part has to do with the ability to annotate; and the ephemeral nature of computerized storage and retrieval.
Early work from a mind worth emulating.
Among other things, stress analysis doesn’t have to be complicated. Force over area times the right fudge factor will get you a long way. (See: St. Venant’s principle.)
Vibrations don’t have to be complicated. Profound results in the first two chapters. Plus it was written before the war, so the writing is clear and the paper is nice.
Written by an engineer at RCA (which is notably a radio company), this book proceeds from fundamental to advanced topics; and looks toward to what remains the future. The author unquestionably perceived the rough shape of the problem space. Includes an exploration of transmissibility and mechanical impedance. Can structures be thought of as radios? You bet they can.
Widely acknowledged as the best overview of the practicalities of rocket engineering. Excellent wholistic treatment; good impression of the gestalt.
The first SMAD of its day.
Includes chapters by Scheckler, Sutton, and others.
Another SMAD of its day. It is a bit dense while being a bit rough on each topic in particular, but it is a trustworthy source to learn which topics are important and get a sense of the gestalt.
I bought this book on the recommendation fo a mentor in my third year of undergraduate engineering, which was a great expense at the time. I recall it was initially intimidating, and partially impenetrable. This is the book that was reocmmended to my graduate school cohort as the classic do-everythign text and honestly, it’s not bad for that purpose. But I don’t consult or cite it as often as I reference other, older books.
A good book. Contains everythhing that’s important, although a bit noisy. Not what I would call a transcendent classic (though unfair to expect of something written in the 1990s)
Lots of niche content not found elsewhere.
Your tax dollars at work. Physical copies are rare, but teach something PDFs can’t; like that all the formulas you ever really need to know fit entirely on pages 64 & 65. Mine is bound in metal.
If you want to be extra-elitist, ANC-5.
Just remember, that most things aren’t strength critical.
For more on this topic, consult the works of Ted Nelson, Marshall McLuhan, and Adriano Ferrari.
Part of this ineffable quality has to do with the limitations of print culture in the McLuhanist sense, but that’s another story.