3 comments about Process Control: Modeling, Design and Simulation (Prentice Hall International Series in the Physical and Chemical Engineering Sciences).

1. 
   This book successfully teaches how to analyze dynamic chemical processes and develop automatic control strategies to operate them safely and economically. Rather than simply present theory topics and develop analytical solutions, this textbook uses "interactive learning" through computer-based simulation exercises, employing for this the very popular "Matlab" engineering software package, and the "Simulink" block-diagram simulation environment. Introductions to both "Matlab" and "Simulink" are included in the book.
   
   Each chapter of the book is followed by a series of "learning modules" that serve several purposes: some focus on software tools, while others focus on particular control problems.
   
   An introduction to process control and instrumentation is presented in chapter 1. The development and use of models is very important in control systems engineering, and fundamentals models are developed in chapter 2, including the steady-state solution and linearization to form steady-state models. Chapter 3 focuses on the dynamic behavior of linear systems, starting with state space models and then covering transfer function-based models in detail. Chapter 4 covers the development of empirical models, including continuous and discrete transfer function models.
   
   Chapter 5 provides a detailed introduction to feedback control, developing the basics of feedback systems, PID controllers, and methods of analyzing closed-loop stability. Chapter 6 presents methods for controller tuning. Frequency response analysis techniques, important for determining control system robustness, are presented in chapter 7.
   
   Model-based control leads to improved control loop performance, and one of the clearest model-based techniques (Internal Model Control o IMC) is presented in chapter 8. The PID controller remains the most widely used controller in industry, so chapter 9 is very valuable since it shows how to convert internal model controllers to classical feedback PID controllers.
   
   Chapter 10 develops two widely used control strategies: Cascade and feed-forward control. Chapter 11 presents auto-tuning and gain scheduling, two methods used to deal with poor performance due to changing operating conditions and poor tuned control loops. The phenomenon of reset windup and the development of anti-reset windup strategies are also presented in this chapter.
   
   Chapter 12 presents the split-range, selective, and override control strategies, which are used when we need the control loop to be able of switching between manipulated inputs or select from several measured outputs. Chapter 13 deals with the effect of control loops interactions, while the design of multivariable controllers is developed in chapter 14.
   
   Chapter 15 presents the challenging tasks encountered when developing Plant-wide optimization and control schemes. Chapter 16 presents the most widely applied advanced control strategy: Model Predictive Control (MPC).
   
   Even though the book is designed for Chemical Engineering students, I truly believe that this text would also be suitable for industrial practitioners and students in mechanical, nuclear, industrial, and electrical engineering. I am an Industrial Practitioner of Process Measurement & Control who has been working in the Process Industries for more than 16 years as an Automation, Instrumentation, Process Safety and Process Control Engineer. My academic background is in electrical and electronics engineering (I am an Electronic Engineer), not in chemical engineering as might be the case of the usual reader of this book, but working in the Oil & Gas Industry all this time, I have been dealing with Chemical-Process Control issues in a day-to-day basics. I found this book to be a very useful reference and refresher to gain a better understanding of Modern Process Control Applications.
   
   If you are a practitioner of Process Control you may want to consider also "Instrument Engineers' Handbook, Fourth Edition, Volume Two: Process Control and optimization" by Bela Liptak, for its practical and comprehensive coverage of Process Control.



2. This book presents its idea very clearly and it's an easy read! I would say it's a must have for all process engineers!



3. This book is awful. It has terrible explanations and few examples. The math is very unclear.
   
   If you are an instructor, please use a different book.

No comments about Passivhaus-Bauteilkatalog | Details for Passive Houses: Ökologisch bewertete Konstruktionen | A Catalogue of Ecologically Rated Constructions.

1 comments about Building Type Basics for Senior Living (Building Type Basics).

1. This book is a quality overview covering most facets of long term care facility development. As with any broad coverage, there will be information that does not apply to your project, and areas that you will need other sources to complete the picture. But the authors of this book know their stuff.
   
   Written by architects and planners for same; but accessible to the lay reader. A good tool for those interested in developing long term care facilities and senior-oriented communities.

1 comments about Josef Muller-Brockmann: Pioneer of Swiss Graphic Design.

1. A good introduction to Muller-Brockmanns work, the book takes us from his very early works to later exhibitions and poster design. It even mentions 'Grid Systems', which I am a firm disciple of. Graphic Design is a subject of which to have strong oppionions and Lars Muller has just that. I enjoyed his comments in the preface which were valid and sound. All in all an important walk through past design, which should stay contemparay for times to come.

3 comments about Design for Victory: World War II Poster on the American Home Front.

1. This beautifully designed small coffee table paperback is the perfect guide thru US WW2 patriotic industrial and gov't posters. Yes, sometimes one may have felt "Big Brother" is watching, since these artistic posters decorated the walls of factories, building sides, and seemingly near everywhere during the war years. The message invariably was "Be A Nurse", "Help the Troops", "Contribute to the effort", and most important "Don'T SHIRK ON THE JOB..MAKE EVERY MOMENT COUNT FOR THE BOYS OVERSEAS!" Of course similar posters were designed and displayed by all combatants, and their messages were all near identical. The postwar industrial posters are also noted, and they were definitely childish at worst, compared with the noble and heroic aspirations sought in the best of the War Posters!



2. "Are you doing all that you can?"

   That simple question, asked in a popular WWII, finger-pointing poster, captures the patriotic spirit that pervaded America.

   Posters, according to the authors, deserve credit as "the ideal agent for making war aims the personal mission of every citizen." Further, "Poster campaigns aimed not only to increase productivity in factories, but to enlarge people's views of their wartime responsibilities." Rockwell's enduring classic images, The Four Freedoms, illuminate this ideological trend.

   How did wartime posters inspire military recruits, help increase domestic production, and sell war bonds during WWII? What were the different strategies used by government agencies to promote American ideals, self sacrifice, and gas rationing to a scared and confused public? Which advertising methods and artistic techniques worked best? Why?

   This concise, colorful guide examines the power, poetry, and politics of American WWII posters in five thematic chapters. Delving beneath the surface of over 150 colorful posters, the authors showcase and analysis the zig-zag evolution of wartime posters.

   Personally, I found chapter three (Art, Advertising, and Audience) to be a fascinating summary of vigorous debate among message makers. How should the war effort be framed? Is it a struggle for truth and democracy against terror and fascism? Is it a battle for survival? Should the focus be on personal fears, national achievements, or heroic freedom fighting?

   George Gallup, later of pollster fame, urged posters be designed to appeal to "the lower third" of the population. Other analysts warned that the Office Of Facts and Figures early communication efforts were too abstract and contained too much information. "It would be wonderful indeed if the psychological war could be fought on an intellectual basis," warned two critics "if the American people who will win or lose this war were so educated and conditioned that we could bring them understanding on the terms we all prefer. But, through no fault of ours, they unfortunately are so educated. And in pitting the strategy of truth against the strategy of terror, we cannot stop to educate - we must win a war. We must state the truth in terms that will be understood by all levels of intelligence. Further, we must dramatize the truth." Powerful images soon replaced statistics in posters.

   The considerable efforts to coordinate wartime messages across departments also generated vigorous debate. Eventually, the newly formed Office of Wartime Information identified six basic propaganda themes for general information programs: The nature of the Enemy; the nature of our Allies; the need to work; the need to fight; the need to sacrifice; and Americans and our ideals.

   This visually appealing book also carefully examines the proliferation of wartime posters, full of patriotic messages, created by non-profit organizations, unions, and corporations. The last chapter, Postwar Aims and Private Aspirations, focuses on the impact of Sheldon-Claire company posters celebrating the middle class home, the traditional nuclear family, consumerism, and free enterprise. It also features a haunting gas mask poster produced and distributed by Kroger Grocery store chain.

   The epilogue, the weakest section by far, argues that the change in postwar workplace posters reflected a more condescending air toward workers, explicit anti-union messages, and the renewnal of industrial conflict between management and labor. This thin section seems both out-of-place and a disjointed conclusion.

   Design for Victory, despite this somewhat weak ending, should satisfy the curiousities of graphic designers, artists, historians, and scholars interested in advertising methods and persuasive communication.




3. Anyone intersted in the graphic stylism, the stark imagery, the sometimes disturbing and sometimes hilarious generalizations made in American Propaganda during World War Two should check out this book. It contains many posters that I've not seen in print before, but unfortunately leaves many others out. From an academic, historical perspective the documentation and historical explanations for the U.S. propaganda machine are too brief. Still, the poster reproductions are fantastic, mostly in color. I would also reccomend Anthony Rhodes "Propaganda: The Art of Persuasion" for a look at other countries' propaganda from the same time period.

1 comments about Wine & Design (Designpockets).

1. This is a small book, only slightly larger than a pocket book. While the book is full of pictures, the text is disappointing. All text is written in five different languages. In trying to meet the needs of so many, the book has fallen short in delving in the subject with any depth what so ever.

2 comments about Immaterial/Ultramaterial: Architecture, Design, and Materials (Millennium Matters).

1. Toshiko Mori has sadly fallen into the trap of confusing the practice of architecture with merely writing about it. This once-talented architect has now become a parody of herself, a self-important academic smugly satisfied with the sound of her own rhetoric. As for the book, it documents new materials and systems. But the presentation is dry, more in the form of an industrial catalog, and lacks any substantive commentary on architecture itself. And I can't help wondering how many trees might have been saved if Mori and her clique edited out the repetitive and cliched use of words like "challenging", "distorting", "alienating" etc. Architectura and materials evolve; the first use of them, however experimental, is not always good. Like Mori's work, it is stylish, but not classic. Faddish, but not timeless. Pass this one up before it becomes embarrassing to have it on your bookshelf.



2. some very interesting projects by Harvard Design School students. projects are critically approached, its not just eye candy. seem to be on the cutting edge of this kind of exploration. and some interesting interviews of practioners

1 comments about The New Boutique: Fashion And Design (Design New Titles).

1. impressive design projects from all over the world, well photographed. i've showed this book to a few industry ppl and they were really excited about it. i highly recommend it to anyone who works or interested in retail design and fashion. there's a lot to see and learn from it- for architerctures, interior designers, and stylists.

2 comments about AutoCAD 2005 and AutoCAD LT 2005: No Experience Required.

1. I used this book to get proficient in autocad 2006. It was tedious going through the first four chapters ( 1 week and then another for the rest of the book). There are probably other books as good. The book has slight mistakes, but all books do(on p112 on a image, arc explanation confusing just experiment). I'm thinking that an instructional DVD would be better. Make sure you download the examples from the internet for the book. It will clear up the explanations.



2. I moved to Autocad from another drafting program. I never really took the time to properly learn Autocad. This book has been very enlightening. I now finally understand how Autocad works and how to use it efficiently. The book has an excellent tutorial in which you construct a small cabin. As you draw the cabin you work with the basics of setting up drawings and drawing lines. As you work through the book you work with elevations, text, dimensions, and also some of the more esoteric features of Autocad. I also bought two other Autocad books and this was by far the most useful. I highly recommend this book to anyone desiring to learn Autocad.

No comments about Spacecraft: Fleeting Architecture and Hideouts.