Harry L. Field

Introduction to Agricultural Engineering Technology: A problem Solving Approach is an invaluable text for agriculture students at the introductory level. The fourth edition has been thoroughly updated and reorganized to meet the current units and standards of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE). The book aims to: Familiarize students with a wide range of applications of engineering principles to agricultureDiscuss a selection of independent but related topicsAdvance students' problem solving abilities Each chapter lists education objects, introductory material, and example problems where appropriate. In addition problems using ISO (metric) units, are now included. The authors have added a new chapter on precision agriculture.

This book is for use in introductory courses in colleges of agriculture and in other applications requiring a problematic approach to agriculture. It is intended as a replacement for an Introduction to Agricultural Engineering by Roth, Crow, and Mahoney. Parts of the previous book have been revised and included, but some sections have been removed and new ones has been expanded to include a chapter added. Problem solving on techniques, and suggestions are incorporated throughout the example problems. The topics and treatment were selected for three reasons: (1) to acquaint students with a wide range of applications of engineering principles to agriculture, (2) to present a selection of independent but related, topics, and (3) to develop and enhance the problem solving ability of the students. Each chapter contains educational objectives, introductory material, example problems (where appropriate), and sample problems, with answers, that can be used for self-assessment. Most chapters are self-contained and can be used independently of the others. Those that are sequential are organiZed in a logical order to ensure that the knowledge and skills needed are presented in a previous chapter. As principal author I wish to express my gratitude to Dr. Lawrence O. Roth for his contributions of subject matter and gUidance. I also wish to thank Professor Earl E. Baugher for his expertise as technical editor, and my wife Marsha for her help and patience. HARRY FIELD v 1 Problem Solving OBJECTIVES 1. Be able to define problem solving.