Nothing Is Fixed, Everything Changes: Simple Mathematical and Physical Models for Different Types of Changes

Everything changes in our universe, in our world, and in ourselves.

From observations, collection of historical data, experimental data, and our vision, we have tools at our disposal to understand these changes. Algebra, calculus, differential equations, probability, and statistics all help us to model a changing dependent variable with respect to governing independent variables.

M. Kemal Atesmen, a longtime mechanical engineer, examines seventeen different physical or everyday life phenomena in this book. Topics include zeroth order and first-order changes, namely changes that can be modeled using zeroth order and first-order finite difference and differential equations; problems focusing on optimization of a dependent variable with respect to an independent variable using simple algebraic equations; and changes in a process or in a measurement system in high volume production using industrial statistics.

Using simple models, the author examines the behavior of twenty-four different change phenomena. Most of the mathematical models he uses are first-order difference (change) equations, and several use statistics and probability to approximate a change.

This introductory mathematical model for change will be a valuable resource for anyone trying to predict, understand, and navigate change.

M. Kemal Atesmen completed his high school studies at Robert Academy in Istanbul Turkey in 1961. He received his B. Sc. degree from Case Western Reserve University, his M. Sc. degree from Stanford University, and his Ph. D. degree from Colorado State University, all in mechanical engineering. He is a life member of ASME. He initially pursued an academic and an industrial career in parallel and became an associate professor in mechanical engineering before dedicating his professional life to international engineering management and engineering project management for thirty-three years. He helped many young engineers in the international arena to bridge the gap between college and professional life in automotive, computer component, data communication, and offshore oil industries.