University of Bristol

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Reading List

Please see attached a copy of the complete reading list for the Department of Mechanical
Engineering.

We do not recommend that you buy lots of books prior to your arrival but you might find
some of these in your local library. Look specifically for ones that are recommended reading
for the first year of the course.

A couple of books we might recommend you purchase are:

To Engineer is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design. H Petroski

The New Science of Strong Materials: Or Why You Don't Fall Through the Floor. JE
Gordon
Mechanical Engineering Principles. J Bird and CTF Ross
IMechE Engineers Data book. C Matthews

These are easy reading and will provide a nice introduction to a range of mechanical
engineering topics.

In addition to this we suggest that you look in your local library for any books about great
engineers (e.g. Isambard Kingdom Brunel, James Watt and Frank Whittle to name a few) or
about specific areas of industry (aerospace, automotive, manufacturing). You can learn a lot
by reading about what other engineers have done and this would be good background
reading for the course and give you a bit of an idea about where the course will be taking
you.

Finally, when you join us here at Bristol you will be registered with the Institution of
Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) (www.imeche.org) as a student member and be able to
access IMechE archives, be kept up-to-date on interesting engineering talk, and perhaps get
involved with the institution at the local and national level.