<p>The first four chapters provide the foundation for understanding circuits, analog and digital signals, measurement systems and instruments for measuring voltage.&nbsp; Chapter 1 is an introduction to applications of measurement systems, where engineering measurements and process control are described. &nbsp;Chapter 2 provides methods for analysis of circuits.&nbsp; It includes a brief review of electrical and electronic principles important in understanding the operation of instrument systems. &nbsp;Chapter 3 covers digital recording systems and contains detailed descriptions of the analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion processes. &nbsp;Chapter 4 gives a detailed description of potentiometer and Wheatstone bridge circuits, which condition sensor output.&nbsp; Also included is a treatment of several types of amplifiers and filter circuits.</p>

<p>Chapters 5 through 10 deal with methods for measuring many different mechanical quantities.&nbsp; Chapter 5 describes sensors for measuring displacement and velocity of an object when a fixed reference for mounting the sensor is available.&nbsp; Optical methods including interferometers and digital image correlation have been added to this coverage.&nbsp; Chapter 6 provides an extensive treatment on the measurement of strain.&nbsp; It includes signal condition circuits, recording instruments, calibration methods, lead wire effects, electrical noise and the effect of temperature.&nbsp; Methods of converting strain to stress for different types of stress states are covered.&nbsp; Finally mechanical and optical strain sensors have been introduced.</p>

<p>Chapter 7 covers methods used to measure force, torque and pressure.&nbsp; The emphasis is on the sensors (transducers) employed.&nbsp; Methods for designing transducers are introduced.&nbsp; Finally the important topic of the response of transducers is developed for both a ramp and sinusoidal forcing functions.&nbsp; Chapter 8 deals with measuring temperatures that range from cryogenic to plasmas.&nbsp; Sensors such as the RDT, IC, thermistor and thermocouples and recording instruments are described.&nbsp; For very high temperatures the pyrometers used for both point and full field measurements are treated.&nbsp; Chapter 9 deals with measurements of fluids flowing in space, in open and closed channels.&nbsp; Pitot tubes, anemometers and turbine flow meters are described.&nbsp; For flow in closed systems the venturi and orifice meters are covered. &nbsp;Weirs are treated for measuring flow in open channels.&nbsp; A brief coverage for measuring flow in compressible fluid is given.</p>

<p>Chapter 10 deals with the most difficult topic covered in this textbook as it addresses measurements that cannot be made relative to a fixed reference.&nbsp; To manage this constraint, a seismic transducer model is introduced.&nbsp; This model is represented as a second order differential equation.&nbsp; Analysis of the seismic model indicates that it can be designed to accommodate different sensors with outputs that give the force, pressure, displacement, velocity or acceleration.&nbsp; Two types of sensors are employed with the seismic transducers&mdash;piezoelectric and more recently piezoresistive.</p>

<p>Chapters 11 and 12 are different because they do not deal directly with measurements.&nbsp; Instead Chapter 11 provides a brief coverage of those topics in Statistics that are commonly employed in analyzing data and in reporting the results from experimental studies.&nbsp; Chapter 12, which is entirely new, &nbsp;deals with a systematic approach to preparing technical and laboratory reports.&nbsp; Engineers are required to write reports to management, their peers and others outside their firms.&nbsp; This chapter outlines an approach for preparing well received documentation of design developments and of experimental measurements.</p>