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Although this edition is the 28th, this handbook carries copious information for those in the mechanical design and manufacturing fields. Considered the “Bible of the Mechanical Trades,” the handbook remains current in its coverage of relevant material, and it retains time-honored principles and applications found in much earlier editions.

As an instructor, I use the handbook to teach students mechanical engineering design practices. As an engineer, I use the handbook as a ready reference for various subjects from machining geometry to manufacturing automation.

The handbook has special meaning, as it was one of several books my grandfather took from his personal library to show his curious grandson what mechanical engineering entailed. The earlier edition this family elder and mentor used led to his grandson’s life work. Grandpa, an Italian immigrant as a child, parlayed his eighth-grade education into a career as machinist, foreman, and entrepreneur when he opened his own machine shop, which operates to this day, after World War II. His achievements included building equipment used to string the cables across the George Washington Bridge. It was his suggestion that laid the original plan of his grandson’s pursuit of a PhD and a career in academia.

I can only hope that I leave a comparable legacy.