I’m going to be starting mechanical engineering soon and my cousin told me to read a few books on engineering, principles, books written by engineers, or just stuff relating to mechanical engineering or how to succeed in it. Since I dont have any knowledge of books like this, what are some good books that you guys would recommend for a pre-mechanical engineering student? Any engineer, student, past engineer, professor, etc. is welcome to answer. Thank you!
Whatever courses you plan to take in fall - get the textbooks for the classes and read ahead. That way you can come in prepared your first semester.
^ That’s a pretty expensive way to “be prepared,” especially if you don’t end up needing one or more of them.
You don’t NEED to read anything at all. If you want a fun read about engineering though you could read Fullness of Wings by Gary Dorsey.
Now if you used AP to test out of anything you should go online or call your university to get syllabi and tests from the classes you tested out of to make sure you completely understand the material. Just because you passed the test doesn’t mean you know the material the way they will expect it at university. If it isn’t super clear, go to Kahn (or your preferred review source) and brush up.
Good luck.
@bodangles I have an over $100K full ride scholarship that I have to maintain a 3.5 GPA for. I think several hundred dollars in textbooks is worth it to make sure I come in with my head above water. 
It’s just a suggestion. It really does help.
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I’d be boning up on my math. Practice your calculus and differential equation. Take classes at CC or go online to take some basic math classes.
If you just want to read something that isn’t a textbook but may put you into a different frame of mind about your studies going forward, maybe pick up a copy of [The Joy of x by Steven Strogatz](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0544105850/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_o0rpvb0YJCPDJ). It is basically a fairly short book about all the different real-world applications of math, from arithmetic through calculus through group theory and all sorts of other things. It’s pretty neat and you don’t have to know any of the topics beforehand to appreciate it.
@albert69 But maybe the OP isn’t that lucky?? I spent about $600 on textbooks first semester. There is no universe in which I would spend that much for fun.
@bodangles I was trying to give the OP some useful advice if he/she wants to read something that will help him/her in engineering.
Engineering Fundamentals: An Introduction to Engineering (Saeed Moaveni)
It gives a great overview of a lot of different elements that you will see in a most of your engineering classes and it has problems at the end of each chapter to practice. You should have no problem with it with a basic knowledge of math/physics that you learned in high school. It should definitely give you a good head start.
I might take a slightly different approach.
Reading/studying engineering textbooks is a noble endeavor but will one really stick with it very long? From my experience; no. Just no pressure to “have to”.
A good engineer will understand the math and the equations that describe the problem / design that he / she is working on but will also understand the usefulness of those designs; the ways in which people interact with those designs and the impact on people, the environment, society, etc. of those designs. It is in this arena that I might spend some time reading before starting on a career in engineering.
So instead, look beyond the numbers and equations and see the beauty of math and engineering. There are many books that address these areas. Henry Petroski has several books on engineering that were recommended to me but I found them a little too dry for my taste. A good book on math is “The Universe and the Teacup” by K.C. Cole. I found it to be quite entertaining and a good read on the practical side of math. Another book I found that I liked was “the Logic of Failure” by Dietrich Dorner.
I would suggest reading The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I would avoid trying to self study any engineering topics without any undergraduate foundation for two reasons - 1. it’s a little dry when done in isolation. 2. there is a non-trivial chance of teaching yourself wrong.
‘The Civilized Engineer’ or ‘The Introspective Engineer’ by Samuel C. Florman.
I would simply revise stuff from high school. Make sure you are solid with pre-calculus, calculus, and AP Physics. AP Chemistry would be great too. Pre-calculus may sound really easy but some of it is really easy to forget, like all those trig identities, matrices, polar stuff, etc.
Also, if you haven’t taken AP Statistics, try studying a bit. It’s really easy to pick up the basics and it’s really useful stuff to know. Just pick up any textbook used in AP Stats and just learn it. It’s pretty simple stuff that’s useful in real life.
bump