Mechanical Engineering

Historic mechanical engineering landmarks are machines, systems, or devices that help shape our civilization, either in industry or the personal lives we live. The variety of those presented on these pages is remarkable, ranging from marine steam engines to food processing equipment to manufacturing plants to postage meters to medical devices to nuclear power plants to the collection of a specialized technical museum. They are found in every region of the United States as well as in other countries. The spectrum of significance is equally broad, stretching from the steam engine of Thomas Newcomen (1712), which was a major element in the advent of the Industrial Revolution, up to the Saturn V rocket (1967). While by no means a comprehensive list, these landmarks represent what the mechanical engineering profession considers to be both unusual and significant achievements through the eyes of ASME International (the American Society of Mechanical Engineers).

This book was written for you, the layperson or professional, that is directly or tangentially in the field of energy, sustainability, financial and environmental issues and how they are integrated. Although even veterans of the industries occasionally forget certain terms and acronyms and professionals frequently don’t understand the terminology that others in related energy related professions use, we can all use a reference manual to refer to.

This new Dictionary provides definitions and explanations for mechanical engineering terms in the core areas of design, stress analysis, dynamics and vibrations, thermodynamics, and fluid mechanics, in over 7,400 clear and concise A to Z entries, many illustrated. Topics covered include heat transfer, combustion, control, lubrication, robotics, instrumentation, and measurement. The dictionary also touches on related subject areas such as acoustics, bioengineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering, aeronautical engineering, environmental engineering, and materials science.