Best Books for Engineers
For World Engineering Day, we thought we’d ask our engineers what books they liked or felt were important to their careers. The reactions we got spoke to the diversity of thinking on our team. Some chose books that function like everyday manuals that solve fabrication problems, like the Machinery’s Handbook. Some chose books that documented the alchemy that occurs when you combine product developers and engineers and apply insane amounts of commercial and corporate pressure to innovate the next big thing. Finally, some chose books that walked through debugging processes.
If there was one commonality throughout it was the desire to bring things to life and curiosity to find the best way to transport ideas into physical forms.
Below, we are highlighting 3 of the best books for engineers, recommended by our very own team of FLEx engineers.
by Tracy Kidder
Description: The Soul of a New Machine is a story about being on the bleeding edge of an industry in terms of technology and management theory. This nonfiction book won both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize when it was published in 1982. It takes place in the early days of the personal computing industry and features artisanal triumph despite corporate politics. Kidder’s tale of the personal costs and philosophical thrills in advancing the state of the art resonates with any scientist or engineer regardless of specialty.
by Erik Oberg
Description: The standard reference guide for all mechanical design, engineering, and manufacturing. I use it multiple times per week.
by Lisa K. Simone
Description (from Amazon): This book manages the unthinkable- it conveys crucial technical information to engineers without boring them to tears! In this unique reference, expert embedded designer Lisa Simone provides the solutions to typical embedded software debugging problems from a fresh new perspective. She introduces a team of engineers who readers will recognize from their own workplaces, and then confronts them with real-world debugging scenarios of progressive complexity, drawing the reader into the “mysteries” with their new fictional colleagues, and guiding them step-by-step toward successful solutions.
We hope you appreciate your engineers today (and every day). It takes a lot of patience to get things to work right, especially as the demands for being faster and cheaper only get louder.
Happy World Engineering day!
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