System Dynamics (4th Edition)

This text presents the basic theory and practice of system dynamics. It introduces the modeling of dynamic systems and response analysis of these systems, with an introduction to the analysis and design of control systems. KEY TOPICS Specific chapter topics include The Laplace Transform, mechanical systems, transfer-function approach to modeling dynamic systems, state-space approach to modeling dynamic systems, electrical systems and electro-mechanical systems, fluid systems and thermal systems, time domain analyses of dynamic systems, frequency domain analyses of dynamic systems, time domain analyses of control systems, and frequency domain analyses and design of control systems. For mechanical and aerospace engineers.

I found the text to be disjointed and awkward to read. I was often flipping ahead in the book to more advanced sections in order to work the problems. A found it usful to purchase other textbooks in order to actually learn the material. I found the index on many occasions to be useless. There are some main points that seem to be mentioned as after thoughts in example problems. If I were to teach a course in System Dynamics I would go shopping elsewhere for a good text. I give it 2 stars because I think the ME textbook mafia will hunt me down for trashing a book by Ogata.


Missing some info.   April 10, 2001
 0 out of 2 found this review helpful

The text itself was easy to follow, and the problems associated with each chapter are preceeded by similar examples that contain solution explainations, which helped a great deal in problem solving.

Unfortunatly, Ogata neglects the topic of non-linear dynamics and system chaos, which comprised a sizable portion of our course material. If you are looking for a sytems text that is all inclusive, a supplement to this should be chosen.


Necessary but not sufficient one   February 2, 2001
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

This book is very helpful for those who are doing system dynamics course. I spent more than 4 hours in my university library (KFUPM), comparing this book to other system dynamics books and I found the following result. This book contains the most solved examples than other system dynamics books I have seen. Each chapter of this book contains lots of solved problems that came in my quizzes, major, and final exams.

Unlike other system dynamics books I have seen, this book does not discuss Mason loop rule method which is easier to use instead of Block reduction rule method mentioned in this book. I, also, think that this book does not explain very well how to plot Bode Diagrams by hands.

Like other system dynamics books I have seen, this book does not provide the students with the solutions of the questions given at the end of each chapter.

Regardless of its few minuses, this book is still an excellent one and I strongly recommend it.

To overcome its minuses, buy this book as well as " Modern Control System" which is written by Richard C. Dorf & Robert H. Bishop. Modern Control System is also a wonderful book and a very interesting one. It is better than System Dynamics book in that the concepts are explained deeply. Mason loop rule, Block reduction rule, and plotting Bode Diagrams by hands are very well explained in this book. It is easy to understand and very illustrated. Compared to System Dynamics book, this book has 7 excellent appendices plus a fantastic index, which can also be used as a glossary. Additionally, and above all, the solved exampled plus the questions given at the end of each chapter deal with the modern systems, equipments, devices, and with the recent technology available today.

I passed this course depending on these two books plus my instructor's notes and got "B+". I strongly believe that the students using these two books will be in very good shapes.