A perfect introduction for students and laypeople alike, providing you with all the concepts you need to know to understand the fundamental issues. Filled with helpful diagrams, photographs, further reading, and easily digestible features on the development of electrical and mechanical engineering, this book makes getting to grips with the subject as easy as possible. It includes the development of machines and materials, forces and how they are manipulated, gearing, and principles of movement and reliability.

Includes index.

The dawn of ideas - the empirical age --Understanding forces - the scientific age --|t Manipulation of forces -- Mechanisms -- A choice of materials -- Keeping the machines moving -- Engineering the systems -- What is reliability? -- Nuclear engineering -- Electrical and electronic engineering -- Power production and generation -- Electromechanics -- Computing machines and artificial intelligence.