Elements of Continuum Mechanics

Batra (engineering science and mechanics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State U.) here expands notes he has used for several years in the first course in continuum mechanics for beginning graduate students, and suggests that the material can be covered in a 14-week semester. The chapter on mathematical preliminaries could be skipped in class depending on the background of the students, he says, and used only as a reference. Other topics include kinematics, constitutive relations, fluid flow, wave propagation, and spherical and cylindrical pressure vessels. Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Batra is the Clifton C. Garvin Professor, Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He earned his B.Sc. at Panjabi (now called Thapar) University, Patiala, India, his M.A.Sc. at the University of Waterloo, Canada, and his Ph.D. at the Johns Hopkins University in the U.S. He received the Alexander von Humboldt Research Award in 1992 and the Reissner Medal from the International Society of Computational Engineering Science in 2000. He served as President of the Society of Engineering Science, Inc. in 1998 and has published more than 265 articles in peer-reviewed journals. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Mechanics, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Society of Engineering Science, and the American Society of Engineering Education.