Modern Inertial Technology – 1998

Mechanical Engineering, an engineering discipline borne of the needs of the in­ dustrial revolution, is once again asked to do its substantial share in the call for industrial renewal. The general call is urgent as we face profound issues of pro­ ductivity and competitiveness that require engineering solutions, among others. The Mechanical Engineering Series features graduate texts and research mono­ graphs intended to address the need for information in contemporary areas of me­ chanical engineering. The series is conceived as a comprehensive one that covers a broad range of concentrations important to mechanical engineering graduate education and re­ search. We are fortunate to have a distinguished roster of consulting editors on the advisory board, each an expert in one of the areas of concentration. The names of the consulting editors are listed on the next page of this volume. The areas of concentration are applied mechanics, biomechanics, computational mechanics, dynamic systems and control, energetics, mechanics of materials, processing, ther­ mal science, and tribology. I am pleased to present this volume in the Series: Modern Inertial Technology: Navigation, Guidance, and Control, Second Edition, by Anthony Lawrence. The selection of this volume underscores again the interest of the Mechanical Engi­ neering series to provide our readers with topical monographs as well as graduate texts in a wide variety of fields.