Fundamentals of Earthquake Engineering

Abstract

WUF.NICVlm II new book on compres~ible-Huid dynamics appears t•here i~ always a tendency to compare it.wit.h the weIlknown works by Shapiro and hy Liepmanll and Hoshko.Although t.hcse hooks have dominat.edt.his area for many years, there has heen a growing need recently for a new text.OIl compressihle flows suit.ahlefor use at t.he senior and first.-yeargrad-1lI,te level.It is the opinion of this reviewer that I.hi,; book fiIlH t.his need admirably.The hook is qui\(!10llg, and contains far moJ'(!material t.han ean be ilworporated into a single comse.There arc I I chapters in all, t.llI! first two of which present.all introduetion t.o Huid merhanics alHI t.hermodynumics.This mat.erial rould form t.llI! basis of an introduct.orycourse on the foundat.iuns of fluid mcchani(!sprobably a), t.he first-year graduale level.The lhird chapt.erronsist.s of an introduction t.o dimensional analysis and similarit.y.The rompressihle-flow IIlRterial st.ltrl~ It!.Clmpter four wit.h a rather lengt.hyehapt.er on physical llrollst.ies.The author t.reat.~aeollst.icsfrom a Hlliri mechanics point of view, and the mat erial rOllld ea~ily form t.hl! basis for the first.part. of an int.roductory course Oil acollsLirs.There follows an interest.inglittle chaptnr 011 the nat.ure of steady compressihle flows, after whieh t.he famili:1l' topies of olw-dimensional and two-riimensional st.eady flows, shock waves, and one-(Iimensional unst.l!ariy flows arc discuHsed.FOllr specific examples of self-similar motions arc c1e~crihed in 1\ clmpter under t.hRt hellding, Imd t.he finIlI chapt.er on analogs in compressihle flow inclndes, among ot.hers, shallow WIlt.er waves and t.raffic flow.The hook is very well writ.tenand illnstrated, and contains II conHiderahle nnmber of relevanl problems t.o be worked hy t.he reader.The main emphasis is claimeri to be on fundamentals, hut there is no short.age of good illustmt.iveexamples.An ellgaging feRt,ure of the book is t.he illelusioll of short hi"torical remarks which arc scat.t.r!reri thronghont t.he text.or IlS foot.not.es,ranging from It statement.by Theophl'llst.n~coneerning til<! ~peed of sound to an exrhange of letters bet.w(!en St.okes and Hayleigh on the impossibilit.y of discont.inuitil!s.This hook ran be st.rollglyreeommended lo teachers of COtll'HeS Ilt.t.