Need your input: books!

[CharlieDelta]

Hoping to have some "useful resources" type articles up soon for deck/engine/ETO/general, including a reading list.

Looking for your input. Are there any books you use regularly, or which have really helped you during your cadetship? If so, could you do me a massive favour and tell me in this thread, with the following information.

Title:
Author:
Good for:
Stage of course:
Worth buying, or just get from library?:
Interweb link (Amazon, etc etc):

Thanks!

[CharlieDelta]

Example:

Title: Pocket Book of the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea: A Seaman's Guide
Author: N/A
Good for: Deckies. Handy pocket sized book, got the rules in and nothing else. Can be used at college, at sea, in the bathroom, in bed, anywhere!
Stage of course: Relevant for your entire career.
Worth buying, or just get from library?: Buy. It's cheap.
Interweb link (Amazon, etc etc): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pocket-Inter...ref=pd_sim_b_1

[electrolytic_coffee]

As discussed in another thread but here we go:

Title: Practical Marine Electrical Knowledge (ISBN 1-85609-182-1)
Author: Dennis T. Hall B.A (Hons)
Good for: ElectroTechnical Officer (ETO)
Stage of course: For your whole cadetship.
Worth buying, or just get from library?: Yes, take it to sea with you (and bring it back!). Also tutor recommended for the course.
Interweb link (Amazon, etc etc): Click here (amazon)

Title: Success In Electronics (ISBN 0-7195-7205-3)
Author: Tom Duncan
Good for: ElectroTechnical Officer (ETO) Cadets
Stage of course: Specifically, when you return after your first sea phase, but really it benefits you throughout your cadetship.
Worth buying, or just get from library?: Yes if you want some excellent background reading and detailed descriptions of various components etc..
Interweb link (Amazon, etc etc): Click here(amazon)
I have a few more, Ill post them when i get the details.

[GuinnessMan]

Title: ISGOTT
Author: N/A
Good for: Everyone. It's a big thing that has all the tanker requirements in it.
Worth Buying: Not on a cadet's pay no, hell even on my pay I don't want to shell out for that.

Title: SIGTTO
Author: SIGTTO themselves
Good for: Everyone. It's another big book that has all the requirements for LNG/LPG tankers in it.
Stage: Relevent to those going on one of those vessels.
Worth: Library again.

Title: ISM
Author: IMO
Good for: Everyone again.
Stage: Right from the get go.
Worth Buying: It's cheap, about ?20 so yeah or just go and read the article on it.

[gadget123]

Title: Mariners Handbook
Author: UKHO
Good for: Looking allsorts of things up, weather, buoys, charts. Generally a lot of things that you want to quickly look up
Stage of course: Whole career
Worth buying, or just get from library?: Its free on the internet somewhere cant remember where or if your lucky you'll be on a ship when it gets a new edition and the captain/second mate says you can have the old one.

[EFC92]

Any "seafarer" meterology books? Not too over the top. One that explains tricks of the trade in regards to weather

[CharlieDelta]

Title: Reeds Maritime Meteorology
Author: E Ives and M Cornish
Good for: Explains meteorology in a pretty simple way, relevant to seafarers.
Stage of course: First sea phase and second college phase.
Worth buying, or just get from library?: Will be in college library and probably on ship too.
Interweb link (Amazon, etc etc): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reeds-Mariti...8821666&sr=1-2

[Steve]

Meteorology For Mariners.

[Dingo]

Title : Ship Stability OOW
Author : Martin Rhodes
Good for : Straight forward explanations and doesn't go beyond the OOW level. Good questions and worked examples. Particularly useful at Glasgow as the lecture notes/powerpoints are all based on Martin Rhodes work.
Stage of course : Cadet OOW. Used extensively with PD Phase 1 stability at Glasgow college.
Worth buying, or just get from library? : Get it from the library. Only buy the Rhodes higher level book for mates/masters.
Interweb link (Amazon, etc etc) : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ship-Stabili...8817223&sr=8-9

Title : Ship Stability for Mates/Masters
Author : Martin Rhodes
Good for : Explains by example in an easy to follow format. Highly recommended. Again, concurrent with notes at Glasgow
Stage of course : All levels above OOW. Used extensively during PD phase 3 stability at Glasgow.
Worth buying, or just get from library? : I have it on permanent loan but will buy it when I leave college yes.
Interweb link (Amazon, etc etc) : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stability-Ma...817223&sr=8-12

Title : Navigation Mates and Masters: Advanced
Author : Anwar Nadeem
Good for : Highly informative and great layout. Fantastic for passage planning, bridge procedures, Sailings, Routeing, Celestial Navigation, everything etc.
Stage of course : All levels. Don't let the 'Mates and Masters: Advanced' put you off. I wish I found this in phase 1.
Worth buying, or just get from library? : Yes it is worth buying
Interweb link (Amazon, etc etc) : http://www.witherbyseamanship.com/na...sters-126.html

Title : Practical Navigation for Officers of the Watch
Author : A Frost
Good for : I found it handy for chartwork (position fixing on a chart) and tides. It makes the Sailings more complicated than they need to be. Celestial section was good. It regular book sized (not textbook size) so is good for carrying about to class or whatever (lighter/smaller than the Nadeem book above)
Stage of course : OOW
Worth buying, or just get from library? : Library - buy the Nadeem book above.
Interweb link (Amazon, etc etc) : http://www.witherbyseamanship.com/li...ls-3rd-ed.html

Title : Cargo Notes
Author : Dhanijay Swadi
Good for : Fast and simply laid out and doesn't overreach. Good for quick reference during OOW cargo operations study. Nice colours. Not in depth but sufficient for at least phase 1 pd cargo operations. If your going for bullet point answers this is great. I found the DJ house 'Cargo work' interesting but waffley compared to this book.
Stage of course : Cadetship only.
Worth buying, or just get from library? : Good find in the library. Don't buy it.
Interweb link (Amazon, etc etc) : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cargo-Notes-...8818669&sr=1-1

Title : Marine Survival. 3rd Edition
Author : David J House
Good for : Everything you want to know about lifeboats, sea survival, marine evactuation, communications, etc. Well done.
Stage of course : All levels - deck and engine
Worth buying, or just get from library? : Depends - this knowledge could save lives but check it out in the library first before deciding if you are cheap like me. The information should be readily available on your ship so it's not like a take away to sea book. It would be a nice addition to the ships library though.
Interweb link (Amazon, etc etc) : http://www.witherbyseamanship.com/ma...d-edition.html

Title : MacNeil's Seamanship Examiner OOW Pocketbook
Author : MacNeil? Witherby Seamanship?
Good for :Purely questions for Orals prep. No waffle, just questions. First half is just questions. Second half is just the answers. Made me realise how little I know half way through my cadetship. It is nice and small too so easy to take anywhere.
Stage of course : Cadet OOW
Worth buying, or just get from library? : Yes - cheapish too.
Interweb link (Amazon, etc etc) : http://www.witherbyseamanship.com/ma...-book-700.html

Title : Liquefied Gas Handling Principles on Ships and in Terminals 3rd Ed.
Author : McGuire and White
Good for : For special interest in liquid gas cargoes. Could be a bit dated in parts but still solid information.
Stage of course : All levels.
Worth buying, or just get from library? : Only if gas is your life's work and you have ?95.
Interweb link (Amazon, etc etc) : http://www.witherbyseamanship.com/li...ls-3rd-ed.html

Title : Introduction to Marine Engineering
Author : D A Taylor
Good for : Deck officer cadets (PD) doing the engineering unit. Goes way beyond what we deck folk require but helps make sense of it. I found it useful on the ship when I spent a some time down in the ER.
Stage of course : All levels (from a deck officer cadets perspecti
Worth buying, or just get from library? : Library
Interweb link (Amazon, etc etc) : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Introduction...8820779&sr=1-1

Title : Seamanship Techniques
Author : David J House
Good for : Everything to do with seamanship. An absolute monster of a book you could spend years studying. And it's all interesting too!
Stage of course : All levels for deck.
Worth buying, or just get from library? : It is expensive so give it test run in the library; you won't be lunking this away to sea though.
Interweb link (Amazon, etc etc) : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seamanship-T...9&sr=8-1-spell

Title : Shipmaster's Business Companion
Author : Malcolm MacLachlan
Good for : This is another monster; consolidates laws and regulations to tell you why something (I mean everything) has to be done a particular way.
Stage of course : All levels.
Worth buying, or just get from library? : Library. Or get a PDF of it somewhere.
Interweb link (Amazon, etc etc) : http://www.nautinst.org/en/shop/chec...---4th-edition

Title : The American Practical Navigator
Author : Bowditch
Good for : Tonnes of information. I hope this book in the library of all the ships I go on. Brilliant for in depth/technical reference.
Stage of course : Better on the ship than in college.
Worth buying, or just get from library? : ?60 for massive heavy hardcover version or ?6 for the kindle version (bear in mind the kindle version isn't very well formatted but for that price...)
Interweb link (Amazon, etc etc) : http://www.amazon.co.uk/American-Pra...8822337&sr=8-2

Here is an free download of the Ship Capatains Medical guide. http://www.dft.gov.uk/mca/mcga-seafa...ical_guide.htm

Also be sure to ask your officers/fellow cadets if they have any electronic publications you can snag on a USB.

[electrolytic_coffee]

Title: Marine Electrical Equipment & Practice 2nd Ed (or higher if there is one..)
Author: HD McGeorge
Good for: ElectroTechnical Officer (ETO) Cadets
Stage of course: 1st College Phase & your sea time.
Worth buying, or just get from library?: If you can buy a decent 2nd hand copy do so.Shop around though. Its expensive even for 2nd hand (?14+ for 2nd hand on my link below). If your library stocks it it maybe worth taking out.
Interweb link (Amazon, etc etc): Click here

[Clanky]

Title: General Engineering Knowledge
Author: HD McGeorge
Good for: Particularly good for engineers obviously, but I would recommend it for ETOs and even for deckies who are interested in the technical side of things, it's one of the few engineering textbooks around that are kept suitable simple for cadets, most books available seem to be aimed at those studying for higher certificates of competency
Stage of course: Probably more use during / after first sea phase, but will give you an idea of what you might expect to see if you read it before you go.
Worth buying, or just get from library?:Definitely worth buying, I think the third edition is the most recent
Interweb link (Amazon, etc etc):Amazon, but price seems a bit steep

Be careful when you buy engineering text books, many of the shiny professional looking ones like the incredibly good Reed's Marine Engineering series are aimed at a much higher level than you need to know about as a cadet and sifting the info that you actually need can be difficult. For instance if you want to know what the big round metal thing which goes up and down in those big tubes is called you don't really want a diatribe on matching the TBN of cylinder oil to the sulphur contant of the fuel.

[gadget123]

Title : The American Practical Navigator
Author : Bowditch
Good for : Tonnes of information. I hope this book in the library of all the ships I go on. Brilliant for in depth/technical reference.
Stage of course : Better on the ship than in college.
Worth buying, or just get from library? : ?60 for massive heavy hardcover version or ?6 for the kindle version (bear in mind the kindle version isn't very well formatted but for that price...)
Interweb link (Amazon, etc etc) : http://www.amazon.co.uk/American-Pra...8822337&sr=8-2

Here is an free download of the Ship Capatains Medical guide. http://www.dft.gov.uk/mca/mcga-seafa...ical_guide.htm

Also be sure to ask your officers/fellow cadets if they have any electronic publications you can snag on a USB.

http://msi.nga.mil/NGAPortal/MSI.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=msi_portal_page_62&pubCode=0002

The Americans have put bowditch online for free. Its a bit of a pain as its one pdf per chapter but its free so cant complain. Comes in handy as most ships dont seem to carry navigation books to anywhere near that level. (and taking the paper copy would but a dent in your baggage allowance)

[tlloyd1983]

Title: Exercises In Astro-Navigation
Author: Gordon Watkins
Good for: Anything and everything celestial. If you're picking up a sextant in anger, this book will teach you everything.
Stage of course: Any
Worth buying, or just get from library?: Buying, I have my own copy, it was invaluable on ships where the officers have long forgotten how to navigate by the sun and stars.
Interweb link (Amazon, etc etc): Amazon link

[mak]

there are a lot of books (mcgeorge, some of the reeds series etc) available online for free if you look around a bit, scribd etc. i leave it to your personal morality to decide whether or not you should buy them.

[Chris10]

Title: Culture at Work in Aviation and Medicine
Authors: Robert L. Helmreich, Ashleigh C. Merritt
Good for: Whilst it may not be focused on the MN, the information on how culture (organisational, national, professional) affects operations, CRM etc. could be useful.
Stage of Course: Entire Career
Worth buying, or just get from library? Worth buying but quite expensive, quite heavy reading too.
Interweb Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Culture-Work...4763086&sr=8-1