21 Jun
5 Fantastic Reads for Oxbridge Applicants – Engineering / Chemical Engineering
Hello again, students!
As promised, here is instalment 2 of our book recommendation series!
We hope you find the resource useful. We will be uploading a new blog covering a different subject each week.
For more undergraduate application advice and / or to enquire about tuition, please call us on 0208 133 6284 and we’ll be happy to help.
- ‘Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air’ by David JC MacKay
This is perhaps a little out of date now, but provides an amazing view of how the world could completely transform its energy system. Aside from an interesting overview of various sources of green energy, this book is most useful for giving a guide to estimation. It has fully explained calculations of how to scale technologies up to a global scale, and gives budding engineers a masterclass on how to estimate quantities.
Recommended by Charlie (Studied Chemical Engineering via Engineering at University of Cambridge)
- ‘The New Science of Strong Materials – or Why You Don’t Fall Through the Floor’ by JE Gordon
Materials don’t get as much attention in school as they should, so this book introduces the important properties of most common materials, and how engineers use these properties to make their designs more efficient and useful. The full range of atomic scale to the structure of cathedrals is explored, to show how microscopic changes in structure affect macroscopic material behaviour.
Recommended by Charlie (Studied Chemical Engineering via Engineering at University of Cambridge)
- ‘Professor Povey’s Perplexing Problems’ by Thomas Povey
A great collection of maths and physics problems of the type that might come up in an Oxbridge interview, with detailed worked solutions. Not a book I’drecommend for cover-to-cover reading, but dipping into it for interesting problems, especially during the build-up to interview season is really helpful, as it can help you see how a problem can be developed in more and more detail and how your prior knowledge of maths and physics can be applied to more challenging situations. Working steadily through these questions in the six months or so preceding interview is the intellectual equivalent of training for a marathon!
Recommended by Charlie (Studied Chemical Engineering via Engineering at University of Cambridge) and by Luke (Studied Engineering at University of Cambridge)
Excellent introduction to aerospace engineering by debunking the common misconceived explanation for generation of the lift force. Mock interview style question included, and wonderful fodder more generally for the personal statement.
Recommended by Luke (Studied Engineering at University of Cambridge)
Thought provoking explanation of the Tacoma Narrows bridge collapse, and a cautionary tale to remind students of the ethical responsibilities of professional engineers.
Recommended by Luke (Studied Engineering at University of Cambridge)
No Comments