Book Review: Reliability and Maintainability in Perspective 2nd Ed.

Journal of Physics E: Scientific Instruments, mainly between 1981 and 1984.This, in itself, should be sufficient to convey to any prospective reader the vast range of topics that the series attempts to cover. Unfortunately, the Preface to Volume 3 does not give a comprehensive description of the content of the first two volumes, but a library search shows that.Volume 1 dealt with: mathematical modelling, parameter estimation methods, dynamics, systematic design, feedback, reliability, ergonomics, and the fundamentals of noise and measurement. Volume 2 dealt with: measurement errors, various analogue and digital transducers, signal conditioning, lock-in amplifiers, correlation and cross-correlation in instruments, nucleonic instrumentation, and pattern recognition. The most recent volume, Volume 3, comprises 15 chapters covering a very wide range from units and standards of measurements and the avoidance of electrical interference in instruments (Chapters 1 & 2), which can be found in so many textbooks, to techniques for measuring the partial pressures of gases in the blood 'in vitro' and 'in vivo' (Chapters 9 & 1O)! Quite clearly, this book goes from the very general to the ultra specific. It might prove useful to lecturers as an aid in preparing their lectures on a specific topic and to others whose specific interests are not widely covered in alternative literature, such as ultrasonics (Chapters 11 & 12),and nondestructive testing and non-invasive measurements (Chapters 13 & 14).Also covered are transducer immittance measurement, sensors for mechanical properties, displacement transducers, force and weight measurements, pipeline fiowmeters, and temperature measurements (Chapters 3 to 8). Finally, Chapter 15 deals with some techniques for instruments in hostile environments. As is often the case with a book of this type, it can be very useful for its extensive References and Bibliographies which are to be found at the ends of each chapter. There are numerous diagrams and some photographs and an adequate index. It even gives the present addresses of the authors. All in all, the book will help to support the literature already available in its wide subject area and it would probably form a useful reference source in the Measurement and Instrumentation section of a scientific and technological library. BRIAN M. SHAW, Division ofElectrical and Electronic Engineering, The Hatfield Polytechnic