This book is - to say the least - comprehensive. Not only did I find it an easy but thorough reference while taking my courses, I still frequently refer to it over 10 years later. I can honestly say that it is rare that I have to go outside of this book to look up details on basic manufacturing and machining processes.

A real benefit to the way the book has been written is the extensive use of photographs and diagrams to illustrate just about every point (often several to a page). When you are trying to understand real world problems like manufacturing this is essential.

In fact, I would go so far to say as if you are just someone with an inquisitive mind that likes to tinker with machine tools then you'll find this book useful. There have been plenty of times when I stumbled upon something while researching another topic and had a "so that's how they do it" moment.

You won't find extensive theory in the book - if you need to do theoretical calculations on strength of materials etc then you will want to look elsewhere. If you are interested in the practical details of manufacturing processes then this is the one for you. Perhaps thats the reason why this volume gets all the use and my theory books stay in the basement!

By the way, it's a real tome - over 1100 pages in the 7th edition - I'm sure there have been revisions in the 8th edition but haven't seen it yet. Even though it's expensive this book has paid itself off many times over for me.