Introduction to and Andy Ruina and Rudra Pratap

10 Chapter 0. Preface Preface
Preface
General issues about content, level, organization and style, motivation, how
to study and the use of computers.
This is an engineering statics and dynamics text intended as both an introduction
and as a reference. It is aimed primarily at middle-level engineering
students. The book emphasizes use of vectors, free-body diagrams, momentum
and energy balance and computation. Intuitive approaches are discussed
throughout.
Prerequisite and co-requisite skills.
some skills.
We assume some students start with
Freshman calcululus. Readers are assumed to have facility with the
basic geometry, algebra, trigonometry, differentiation and integration
used in elementary calculus. Some of these topics are briefly reviewed
in this book, but not as ab initio tutorials.
This books shows how to set-up algebraic and differential equations for computer
solution using a pseudo-language easily translated into any common
computer language or package.
We assume the student knows or is learning a computer language or
package in which they can solve sets of linear algebraic equations,
make plots and numerically integrate simple ordinary differential equations.
Many students will have had exposure to other useful subjects detailed foreknowledge
of which this book does not assume.
Completion of freshman physics may help but is not needed.
Vector topics, especially dot and cross products, are introduced here
from scratch in the context of mechanics.
A background in linear algebra wouldn’t hurt, but the reduction of linear
equations to matrix form is taught here. A key fact from linear
algebra, also presented here, is that linear algebraic equations are generally
amenable to simple computer solution.
A course in differential equations would also add context. But the basic
concepts of differential equations are presented here as needed.