MECHANICS OF MATERIALS - an extensive revision of STRENGTH OF MATERIALS, Fourth Edition, by Pytel and Singer - covers all the material found in other Mechanics of Materials texts. What's unique is that Pytel and Kiusalaas separate coverage of basic principles from that of special topics. The authors also apply their time-tested problem solving methodology, which incorporates outlines of procedures and numerous sample problems to help ease students' transition from theory to problem analysis. The result? Your students get the broad introduction to the field that they need along with the problem-solving skills and understanding that will help them in their subsequent studies.

To demonstrate, the authors introduce the topic of beams using ideal model as being perfectly elastic, straight bar with a symmetric cross section in ch. 4. They also defer the general transformation equations for stress and strain (including Mohr's Circle) until the students have gained experience with the basics of simple stress and strain. Later, more complicated applications of the principles such as energy methods, inelastic behavior, stress concentrations, and unsymmetrical bending are discussed in ch. 11 - 13 eliminating the need to skip over material when teaching the basics.