iMechanica - A new book: The Mechanics and Thermodynamics of Continua - Comments

Thank you Prof.Suo

priyadd84 — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 07:23:54 -0400

Thank you Prof.Suo for citing a nice book.

Thanks for your suggestions, wikipedia has no surplus however!

Mike Ciavarella — Wed, 19 May 2010 00:30:09 -0400

If you circulate on the web randomly, you have excess of information.

However, I know where to look for good sources, and I find just what I need. So I don't see the problem.

I have a number of books, some were given for free from authors, some I gained for free as member of boards, some I had to pay with my research grants, and some (but these are unlikely to be technical, except very very few very very good ones that I used in my early years, like Johnson's Contact Mechanics or Barber's Elasticity) on my own money.

I can ensure you that having so many books doesn't make you a genius! At the times of the poet Leopardi , who was unhappy famous poet, his father was a maniac of books yet he wasn't a genius at all, and was quite weak. On the other hand, Giacomo found inspiration on his books, and became a great poet.

Let me tell you this story, just to say what books can do. Both good and bad things.

Biography

Giacomo Leopardi was born in Recanati,
in the Marche,
at the time ruled by the papacy, of a local noble family.
His father was the count Monaldo Leopardi and his mother was the
marquise Adelaide Antici Mattei. Leopardi's father was a good-hearted
man, fond of literature but weak and reactionary, who remained bound to
antiquated ideas and prejudices; his mother was a cold and authoritarian
woman, obsessed over rebuilding the family's financial fortunes which
had been destroyed by Monaldo's gambling addiction. At home, a rigorous
discipline of religion and savings reigned supreme. Giacomo's childhood,
which he passed with his younger brother Carlo Orazio and sister
Paolina, left its mark on the poet, who recorded his experiences in the
poem Le Ricordanze.

Leopardi, following a family tradition, began his studies under the
tutelage of two priests, but his innate thirst for knowledge found its
satisfaction primarily in his father's extraordinary library. Initially
guided by Father Sebastiano Sanchini, Leopardi quickly liberated himself
by immersing his mind in vast and profound reading. He committed
himself so deeply to his "mad and most desperate" studies that, within a
short time, he had acquired an extraordinary knowledge of classical and
philological culture, but he suffered from the lack of an open and
stimulating formal instruction.

Between the ages of twelve and nineteen, he studied constantly,
driven by a need to learn as much as possible, as well as to escape, at
least spiritually, from the rigid environment of the paternal palazzo.
His continuous study undermined an already fragile physical
constitution, and his illness denied him even youth's simplest
pleasures.

In 1817 Pietro Giordani, a classicist, arrived at
the Leopardi estate. Giacomo became his lifelong friend and he derived
from this friendship a sense of hope for the future. Meanwhile, his life
at Recanati weighed on him increasingly, to the point that he attempted
finally to escape in 1818, but was caught by his father and returned
home. From then on, relations between father and son continued to
deteriorate and Giacomo was constantly monitored in his own home by the
rest of the family.

When, in 1822, he was briefly able to stay in Rome with his uncle, he
was deeply disappointed by the atmosphere of corruption and decadence
and by the hypocrisy of the Church. He was extremely impressed by the
tomb of Torquato Tasso, to whom he felt naturally
bonded by a common sense of unhappiness. While Foscolo
lived tumultuously between adventures, amorous relations, and books,
Leopardi was barely able to escape from his domestic oppression. To
Leopardi, Rome
seemed squalid and modest when compared to the idealized image that he
had created of it while fantasizing over the "sweaty papers"[1]
of the classics. Already before leaving home to establish himself, he
had experienced a burning amorous disillusionment caused by his falling
in love with his cousin Geltrude Cassi. His physical ailments, which
continued to worsen, contributed to the collapse of any last, residual
traces of illusions and hopes. Virtue, Love, Justice and Heroism
appeared to be nothing but empty words to the poet.

In 1824, the bookstore owner Stella called him to Milan, asking him
to write several works, among which a Crestomazia della prosa e della
poesia italiane. During this period, the poet had lived at various
points in Milan,
Bologna,
Florence
and Pisa.

In 1827, in Florence, Leopardi met Alessandro Manzoni, but they did not quite see things eye
to eye. There, he made some solid and lasting friendships, paid a visit
to Giordani and met the historian Pietro Colletta.

In 1828, physically infirm and worn out by work, Leopardi had to
refuse the offer of a professorship at Bonn or Berlin which was made by
the ambassador of Prussia in Rome and, in the same year, he had to
abandon his work with Stella and return to Recanati.

Leopardi on his deathbed, 1837.

In 1830, Colletta offered him, thanks to the financial contribution
of the "friends of Tuscany", the opportunity to return to Florence. The
subsequent printing of the Canti allowed the poet to live far
away from Recanati until 1832.

Later, he moved to Naples near his friend Antonio Ranieri, where he
hoped to benefit physically from the climate. He died during the cholera
epidemic of 1837. Thanks to Antonio Ranieri's intervention with the
authorities, Leopardi's remains were prevented from being ignominiously
buried in the common grave - as the strict hygienic regulations of the
time required - and he was buried in the atrium of the church of San
Vitale at Fuorigrotta. In 1939 his tomb, moved to the Parco Virgiliano,
was declared a national monument.

Michele Ciavarella, Politecnico di BARI - Italy, Rector's delegate.
http://poliba.academia.edu/micheleciavarella
Editor, Italian Science Debate, www.sciencedebate.it
Associate Editor, Ferrari Millechili Journal, http://imechanica.org/node/7878

to buy a book can push me to study the subject

xiashengxu — Tue, 18 May 2010 12:42:16 -0400

I bought this book because I think its price can push me to study the superfacially boring but essentialy fabulous continuum theory. Although the internet resources are free and abundant, you might feel giving up halfway simply because you never pay for it.

Another issue is that the problem before the internet is the scarecity of information while the problem after the internet is the surplus of information. In this circumstance, a systematic course(whatever the name of book is) is very important.

what is everybody's opinion about photcopying of books?

Atul Jain — Wed, 12 May 2010 23:36:14 -0400

hi all,

In my opinion while it is true that reading a book (as opposed to pdf files) has its own advantages but very often the price/ availability become a factor for students. What is your opinion about photocopying(or printing the pdf of) the entire book? this we can read the book and also circumvent the inconvenient price and availabilty problems.(almost like having the cake and keeping it too.) I faced a similar problem when I wanted to read "History of Strength of materials" by Timoshenko. my library had only one copy and I could borrow the book for only 2 weeks. So, I was forced to wait for another two weeks before I could borrow the book again and finish it. here the availability became a major issue. I had the good fortune of interacting with a couple of authors on the subject they said that while they had no issues if any student photocopied the book for personal use, they would definately object if the book was photocopied by some professional like a consultant etc.

what does everybody think on this issue? Is it ethical for a student to photocopy books if his sole intention is to gather knowledge.

Atul Jain

whether does the book relate to damage?

Chao Du — Wed, 12 May 2010 22:05:10 -0400

I very want to buy some books about the continuum damage mechanics.

Excellent book

azadpoor — Tue, 11 May 2010 05:59:33 -0400

Dear Zhigang,

Thank you very much for bringing this book to our attention. I found it very valuable and interesting. It is far far more valuable than the price they charge for it. Only somebody who has taken the hardship of writing a masterpiece can really appreciate the efforts of these gentlemen in producing such a comprehensive and readable book. By the way, I have always had good experience with the books published by Cambridge University Press. They seem to be very good in judging what proposal is going to work out great.

money is never ever a problem

雪魄梅魂 — Mon, 10 May 2010 10:20:40 -0400

Dear Zhigang!
Money is never ever a problem,The problem is that I have no money^_^
lol^_^

The total money planned on books is about ￥200 every term.That means I can buy 4 or 5 books. It's beyond me^_^but i can turn to the library.

However i do agree that if we can learn some ideas from it , that'll be worth the money.

Thanks for sharing the book.And best wishes!

haiwei zhang

digital resources and paper books

雪魄梅魂 — Mon, 10 May 2010 09:25:33 -0400

i think there is something totally different between digital resources and traditional books.
in my opinion digital resources like wikipedia is very powerful however it is something passive. it works very well if we know some topic that we don't know well. while paper books can offer something totally fresh something totally new to us.it is more active.^_^
PS: i do agree that the price is beyond me .lol

now, Homo Zappiens is a book I will ask the library to buy!

Mike Ciavarella — Sun, 09 May 2010 16:11:36 -0400

Title:

The Homo Zappiens and its Consequences for
Learning in Universities

Authors:

Veen, Wim;
van Staalduinen, Jan-Paul

Publication:

Changing Cultures in Higher Education, ,
Volume . ISBN 978-3-642-03581-4. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg,
2010, p. 323

Publication Date:

00/2010

Origin:

SPRINGER

Abstract Copyright:

(c) 2010: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

DOI:

10.1007/978-3-642-03582-1_24

Bibliographic Code:

2010cche.book..323V

Abstract
Homo Zappiens is the new generation that is growing up with modern
communication technologies shaping their views on the world around them.
Prominent characteristics of Homo Zappiens include their preference for
images and symbols as an enrichment of plain text, their seemingly
effortless adoption of technology, and their cooperation and sharing in
networks. They use technology in a functional manner, not touching what
they cannot use, and increasingly this generation seems to take
exploration and learning and discovering the world, into their own
hands. Homo Zappiens shows us that we can increasingly rely on
technology to connect us and allow us to organize and preserve our
society as a group. In a networked society, the individual has more room
for contributing his/her unique value, and innovation and knowledge
reside in a network, rather than in each separate individual. Higher
education institutions will evolve towards institutions that will
function as hubs in knowledge networks, serving students working in
fluid communities of research or learning on subjects of their interest.
Realizing that we need a flexible structure for organizing ourselves and
the world around us, we can look at Homo Zappiens for a clue.

Bibtex
entry for this abstract Preferred
format for this abstract (see Preferences)

Actually this is an expensive one, the original one is cheaper!

Mike Ciavarella — Sun, 09 May 2010 15:51:56 -0400

Changing Education: Moving Ahead to Future
Learning (Hardcover)

~ Ulf-Daniel
Ehlers (Editor), Dirk
Schneckenberg (Editor)

is expensive... 129$

But the original one is cheaper

Homo Zappiens: Growing Up in a Digital Age by
Wim
Veen and Ben Vrakking (Paperback - Jan. 25, 2007)

Buy
new: $29.95

27
new from $6.00

14
used from $5.47

And even cheaper just take this 5 pages free PDF

Nothing personnal

Yujie Wei — Sun, 09 May 2010 12:14:05 -0400

Dear Mike,

I don't think that there is anything personnal. One thing I realized after the debate is that we can not simply generalize opinions since we may be given "different boundary conditions". What they say that one thousand audiences see one thousand Hamlets makes lots of sense.

Yujie

Incidentally, Italy has a world leadership on sunglasses!

Mike Ciavarella — Sun, 09 May 2010 09:13:40 -0400

My student Andrea may just be patriotic. We have the world leadership on sunglasses, and not on Cambridge University Pres, or in general continuum mechanics books. The Luxottica company, in fact, only started in the 1960s, has bought virtually all the main sunglasses manufacturers, including the famous RayBan USA ones!

Luxottica
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation,
search

Luxottica
Group S.p.A.

Type
Società per azioni (BIT: LUX, NYSE: LUX)

Industry
Fashion,
manufacturing, retail

Founded
Agordo, Italy, in 1961

Headquarters
Milan, Italy

Area served
Worldwide

Key people
Leonardo Del Vecchio (Founder and Chairman),
Andrea Guerra (CEO)

Products
Sunglasses, spectacle frames

Services
Opticians,
sunglass retail

Revenue
€5.094 billion (2009)[1]

Operating income
€583.2 million (2009)[1]

Profit
€314.8 million (2009)[1]

Employees
60,000 (2009)[1]

Website
www.luxottica.com

Luxottica Group S.p.A. (BIT: LUX, NYSE: LUX) is the world's largest eyewear
company. Its best known brands include Ray-Ban,
Persol
and Oakley, Inc.. It also makes sunglasses and prescription frames
for a multitude of designer brands such as Chanel and
Prada,
whose designs and trademarks are used under license. Its prime
competitor is the Safilo Group S.p.A.

Contents
[hide]

On Zhigang, I want to make sure everybody knows he is my hero!

Mike Ciavarella — Sun, 09 May 2010 09:08:26 -0400

I would like to clarify few matters about this discussion here

1) I am sorry if this has appeared to Alejandro a personal attack to Zhigang. Anyone who knows me, knows that Zhigang is my hero for having created imechanica, and hence at least since then (before I didn't know him!). If Bill Gates has given 12 millions to MIT's OCW, for me he should give at least 1 million to Zhigang's imechanica. I don't have Bill Gates' email adress, but if you do, you can be sure I would support, and all my students and contacts for sciencedebate.it, my support if he asks for funding on this beautiful initiative. I don't know how much Harvard is doing for OCW, I read somewhere it has Itunes platform, but anyway Imechanica is a wonderful initiative for the world of mechanics, without doubts various orders of magnitude more important than any single book

2) I am sorry that this attack in general has happened towards this particular book. Coming round to check wikipedia, I do find some links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuum_mechanics

Finite
deformation tensors
Finite strain theory
Stress (physics)
Stress measures
Hyperelastic material
Cauchy elastic material
Equation of state
Theory of elasticity
Bernoulli's principle
Peridynamics (a non-local continuum theory
leading to integral equations)
Tensor calculus
Curvilinear coordinates
Tensor derivative
(continuum mechanics)
Movable cellular automaton

These are a good free start.

3) Of course, you have to understand me. Harvard charges about 35k dollars per student, my university about 350! So there is a factor 100 here. The endowment of Harvard is about 30 Billions, and I presume the turnover is over a billion dollars per year, whereas our University has no endowment strictly speaking, and has a budget of 40 millions Eu per year. So, clearly the two are on two different scales. The total of all Italian Universities is funded by 7.5 billions euro, so something like the budgets of perhaps 5 top universities in USA, or perhaps less. Yet, Obama wants to double funding in the long term, and our Minister Gelmini wants to cut by 20%, which strictly speaking is what is needed to start NOT having to pay the salaries. A politics not only short sigthed, but also simplistic. But this is another story, on which I am working via my www.sciencedebate.it

Having said all that, I am sorry if this has taken the publicity of the book a little Off Track. But I hope you understand we are working all for the same scope: simply, Zhigang has not taken a radical view like me, maybe because despite OCW and open access, and free books are best started from Harvard, on the other hand, he has to keep also on the traditional system, and he has many committments with traditional schools, friends, he himself was an alumni of Harvard after all.

I have to make more precise choices. I hope my personal career is not too affected, but I take the risks!

Alejandro, I fully agree, and thanks for caring on my eyes

Mike Ciavarella — Sun, 09 May 2010 03:46:46 -0400

Thanks for inviting me to change topic, and indeed those above are also popular today and I am partecipating on them.

I did not want the discussion to be rude, and if you read carefully, I did point to serious problems, my students indeed don't buy books, and I am not in Harvard. You are at UC Davis which is not as good as Harvard, but still far from the reality in the South of Italy. Since this is important to me, and I care about my students, I continue to beleive I have to work for them.

I don't think you understand my problem if you think it is limited to the fact that I read only from screen. But I am not interested to convince you, you are already quite esthablished and secure. I want to save my students, and provide them the best opportunities I can for their future.

When I had the approach you had, I was very unsuccessful to improve their status and convince them otherwise. Today, with many innovations in my teaching, I am having some success in opening them to the world, freeing them up from digital divide. If they write in imperfect english, it is part of the problem, you can say "language divide".

But I don't permit you to insult my students, they are not rude and stupid. They deserve attention like or more than you.

Regards. Mike

Dear Mike, I think this discussion is losing the perspective

Alejandro A. Ortiz — Sun, 09 May 2010 03:23:52 -0400

Dear Mike,

I think this discussion is losing the perspective and it seems to me that you are the responsible for that. I feel this discussion is turning into a personal attack against Professor Suo (and sometimes your students are being a little bit rude as well). Please, better if we try to maintain an educated level that this discussion deserves.

One thing is clear: Professor Suo pointed out a very interesting and well written book to people who might be interested in. For those who are interested more in the sunglasses than in this book, just don't buy the book since it is clear that those are not interested in the book or in the subject.

Mike, believe me that I understand your point of view with respect to free resources like wikipedia, your facebook courses, etc. They comply a very important role in the education. Anyway, it is good that many options are available, free or paid; the protagonist is the customer who has the option to elect for any of these options.

Mike, I guess there are more people than you think that prefer having a printed book than an electronic one. I am certainly one of those. On the other hand, it seems you prefer reading from the screen. Just be aware that reading from the screen all the time is not good for your eyes. ;-). I invite you to move onto another topic since this discussion is degrading the original aim of Professor Suo.

A new book: The Mechanics and Thermodynamics of Continua

Zhigang Suo — Wed, 05 May 2010 21:10:56 -0400

Early this year Amazon sent me a recommendation of this book by Morton Gurtin, Eliot Fried, and Lallit Anand. I pre-ordered this book, which arrived the other day. The authors are active and distinguished scholars. The publisher has done an excellent job in producing the book. It is simply a joy to hold the book in your hands, and read.

As you can see from the table of contents posted on Amazon, the book consists of 114 Sections. Each section reads like an essay, focusing on a particular idea. The book is concerned with formulating field theories, and is excellent for graduate students and researchers in mechanics, especially those interested in creating new theories and computational methods. I have requested our library to order a copy.

Here is a blurb of the book I obtained from Lallit Anand:

The Mechanics and Thermodynamics of Continua, intended for graduate students and advanced undergraduates in engineering, physics, and mathematics, is a valuable reference source which presents a fairly detailed and complete treatment of the foundations of continuum mechanics and thermodynamics, with applications to formulating modern constitutive theories of materials. A large class of theories in continuum mechanics takes as its starting point the balance laws for mass, for linear and angular momenta, and for energy, together with an entropy imbalance that represents the second law of thermodynamics. The basic balances, the entropy imbalance, and the principle of material frame-indifference are viewed as fundamental building blocks upon which to build theories of material behavior, and particular classes of materials are defined by additional equations in the form of constitutive relations. The discussion of constitutive equations in the book is based on the principle of frame-indifference, and the use of thermodynamics to restrict constitutive equations. Specific constitutive theories discussed include: (i) heat conduction; (ii) compressible and incompressible, linearly viscous fluids; (iii) elastic solids under isothermal and non-isothermal conditions; (iv) coupled elastic deformation and species transport; (v) theories for isotropic and crystalline plastic solids, as well as some recent theories of gradient plasticity. In our treatment of these topics the book considers both large and small deformations.