Harold A. Simon 
Student’s Introduction to Engineering Design [PDF ebook] 
Pergamon Unified Engineering Series

A Student’s Introduction to Engineering Design aims to provide students with little or no sufficient knowledge on the fundamentals of engineering. The text is divided into two parts: Book I and Book II. The first part is concerned with the discussion on the design process, which characterizes the essence of engineering. The specific topics encompassed in this part include the morphology and anatomy of design. Other areas of concern of this part are the needs and information, modeling, values and alternatives, analysis and computation, and optimization. The second part of the book brings the theories, concepts, and formulations discussed in the first part to the real-world setting. The role of engineering in the development of the society and in addressing human needs is explained. The selection is best for those new in the field of engineering.