The aim of this chapter is to set the scene for the rest of the book by showing how the content of the remaining chapters will form the basis of the technical knowledge that a professional mechanical engineer needs during a career. By considering a typical engineering problem it is shown that the four main subjects that make up this text are really all parts of a continuous body of knowledge that will need to be used in an integrated manner. The chapter concludes by looking at the units that are used in engineering and showing the importance of keeping to a strict system of units
