Mechanics of Materials was used as the textbook in my undergraduate solid mechanics course. It is an introductory book which gives a great overview of the basic concepts needed for solid mechanics . The material is presented in a way that makes it easy to understand with many practical examples. I learn material best when I am shown how theories are applied and this book does that very well. It also dives into detail of some practical applications of fundamental solid mechanics. The book explores axial loading, torsion, pure bending, analysis of beams, shearing stresses in beams, transformations, principal stresses, deflection of beams, columns, and energy methonds.

I refer to the book on a regular basis to brush up on fundamentals and it has even helped me with some of the problems in the ES240 problem sets. Problem 10, for example, asked to determine the stress field in a rod when it was under torque and Mechanics of Materials helped me determine the answer. In this way the book compliments the course because it is a good reference to brush up on things. The examples are especially helpful to get a more practical grasp of concepts.

http://www.amazon.com/review/R1SGOL21JIO581/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm/