Choice Review

Previous editions of this handbook appeared in 1957 and 1974. It is the classic of the instrumentation and control field and, as such, it needs to be available to all control engineers and students studying control. Because of the scope of this work the editors acknowledge that several years were involved in its preparation. As a result they have unfortunately somewhat missed the microprocessor and computer revolution that has swept the instrumentation and control field in the past few years. For instance, there are no specific articles on microprocessor-based distributed control systems; on the new bit-serial data communications systems based on the IEEE 802 standards; on hierarchical computer control systems; or on microprocessor-based ``smart'' sensors. Despite these shortcomings this remains the classic handbook in its field and this edition should be available to every active and potential control engineer, and in all college and university engineering collections.-T.J. Williams, Purdue University