Machine Devices and Components Illustrated Sourcebook

Henry Ford claimed to have invented nothing new but simply to have combined the discoveries of others. Similarly, modern designers of complex devices, even those as innovative as the Segway, rely on earlier designers for many of the basic elements in the new device. The trick is to be aware of these earlier designs. Sourcebooks such as Parmley's are a primary source of such information. It is the latest in a line extending at least from Ramelli in the 16th century through Henry T. Brown's 1868 Five Hundred and Seven Mechanical Movements... (many reprint eds.); Mechanisms and Mechanical Devices Sourcebook, comp. by Nicholas P. Chironis (CH, Mar'92); Preben W. Jensen's Classical and Modern Mechanisms for Engineers and Inventors (1991); and Parmley's own more quantitative and analytical Illustrated Sourcebook of Mechanical Components (2000). Here Parmley, a registered professional engineer, reproduces more than 1,500 clearly diagrammed, ingenious and practical mechanisms selected from specialist engineering journals. He divides them into three categories: assemblies (to minimize vibration, limit torque and/or overloading); power transmission (gear systems, clutches, chains, belts, shafts); and individual components. An engineering library should have at least one of these modern sourcebooks; Parmley's is an excellent example. Summing Up: High recommended. Upper-division undergraduates; professionals; two-year technical program students. -- G.E. Herrick, emeritus, Maine Maritime Academy Choice 20050301