Get the Offline ArchiveFree lifetime updates

Science & Advanced Engineering

2 min read

The technical shelf starts with a college-level general chemistry textbook and physics textbook, a metallurgy text, an electrical engineering fundamentals book, Machinery’s Handbook for mechanical work, and algebra, geometry, trigonometry and basic calculus textbooks. Add The Knowledge by Lewis Dartnell, written for exactly this scenario. Engineering without mathematics is guesswork.

Part of Tier 3: Books That Rebuild Civilization

Chemistry, physics and mathematics underlie metallurgy, medicine, agriculture and manufacturing, so the foundations are collected before the specialities.

Foundations First, Then The Trades

  • General chemistry (college level). Reactions, elements, compounds and solutions; the foundation of metallurgy, medicine, agriculture and manufacturing.
  • The Knowledge (Lewis Dartnell). Written for rebuilding civilisation after a cataclysm; it covers the key technologies for bootstrapping an industrial society.
  • Physics (college level). Mechanics, thermodynamics, electricity, magnetism and optics.
  • Metallurgy. Metals and How to Weld Them, or any introductory text: identifying ores, smelting, alloying, heat treatment, forging and casting.
  • Electrical engineering fundamentals. Circuits, generators, motors, transformers and wiring, for example Practical Electrical Engineering. For electrical parts to salvage now, see Vehicle & Machinery Cannibalization.
  • Mechanical engineering. Gears, levers, pulleys, hydraulics, engines and materials. Machinery’s Handbook is the machinist’s reference, with its formulas, tables and specifications.
  • Mathematics. Algebra, geometry, trigonometry and basic calculus.

Method: Building The Shelf

Step 1: Take mathematics and the three sciences first. Everything else is built on them.

Step 2: Add the trade that you will practise. If you will forge, take metallurgy.

Step 3: Prefer textbooks with worked examples. You can check your own work.

Step 4: Keep the handbook by the bench. Reference tables are used constantly.

Common Mistakes

  • Skipping the mathematics. Formulas cannot be applied without it.
  • Taking advanced texts without the foundations. They cannot be read.
  • Believing a book alone teaches a trade. Practice and a teacher matter.

Safety

Chemistry, high voltage and hot metal injure people who follow a book without supervision

Chemical reactions can release toxic gas or explode, even small electrical systems can be lethal, and molten metal and forges burn. Start with the simplest procedures, never work alone, and treat any step that mentions heat, pressure, voltage or toxic fumes as a hazard.

What’s Next