Leimkuhler was a professor at Purdue from 1961 to 2000, and now works as an industrial engineer in Berkeley, California. He traces the history of his department at the university, both for engineers and students interested in the background to their profession, and for people interested in how the industrialization the US happened and how it changed the world. His topics include practical mechanics, operations research, manufacturing, human factors, systems engineering, and new directions. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)