Top Engineering books curated by experts

At MentorCruise, we are all about making the most out of the experience of others. As part of that, we have connected and asked dozens of experts and professionals about their favouriteEngineering books – and here are the answers.

  • Curated by industry experts
  • Proven learning resources
  • Updated annually
Top Engineering books recommended by experts
User Check

Did you know?

We have over 3,000 mentors available right now!

Fundamentals of Engineering

Understanding the concepts of Engineering starts with understanding the fundamentals. On your way to mastery, it's crucial for you to understand how certain concepts were derived, and why things work like they do. Starting with these resources is the best way to do so.

Clean Code

Clean Code

But if code isn’t clean, it can bring a development organization to its knees. Every year, countless hours and significant resources are lost because of poorly written code. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Noted software expert Robert C. Martin, presents a revolutionary paradigm with Clean C…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World

The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World

The rise of manufacturing could not have happened without an attention to precision. At the dawn of the Industrial Revolution in eighteenth-century England, standards of measurement were established, giving way to the development of machine tools—machines that make machines. Eventually, the appl…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

The Effective Engineer: How to Leverage Your Efforts in Software Engineering to Make a Disproportionate and Meaningful Impact

The Effective Engineer: How to Leverage Your Efforts in Software Engineering to Make a Disproportionate and Meaningful Impact

The most effective engineers — the ones who have risen to become distinguished engineers and leaders at their companies — can produce 10 times the impact of other engineers, but they're not working 10 times the hours. They've internalized a mindset that took me years of trial and error to figure…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Structures : Or Why Things Don't Fall Down

Structures : Or Why Things Don't Fall Down

For anyone who has ever wondered why suspension bridges don't collapse under eight lanes of traffic, how dams hold back--or give way under--thousands of gallons of water, or what principles guide the design of a skyscraper, a bias-cut dress, or a kangaroo, this book will ease your anxiety and an…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

The existential pleasures of engineering

The existential pleasures of engineering

Humans have always sought to change their environment--building houses, monuments, temples, and roads. In the process, they have remade the fabric of the world into newly functional objects that are also works of art to be admired. In this second edition of his popular Existential Pleasures of E…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Design for the real world.

Design for the real world.

Design for the Real World has, since its first appearance twenty-five years ago, become a classic. Translated into twenty-three languages, it is one of the world's most widely read books on design. In this edition, Victor Papanek examines the attempts by designers to combat the tawdry, the unsaf…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Additional Engineering Reading

These books are not required for you to learn Engineering, but they are highly recommended for you to deepen your knowledge.

The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn

The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn

What inspires and spurs on a great idea? Can we train ourselves to think in a way that will enable world-changing understandings and insights to emerge?
Richard Hamming said we can. He first inspired a generation of engineers, scientists, and researchers in 1986 with “You and Your Research,” …

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Carroll Smith's Engineer to Win

Carroll Smith's Engineer to Win

Current state of the art in racing technology by a foremost expert in the field. Covers all forms of racing cars and includes a thorough analysis of metallurgy, metal fatigue and general materials technology. Details specific components and specific activities such as heat treatments, stress rel…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Few books transform a generation and then establish themselves as touchstones for the generations that follow. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is one such book. This modern epic of a man’s search for meaning became an instant bestseller on publication in 1974, acclaimed as one of the m…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

The Goal

The Goal

Alex Rogo is a harried plant manager working ever more desperately to try and improve performance. His factory is rapidly heading for disaster. So is his marriage. He has ninety days to save his plant - or it will be closed by corporate HQ, with hundreds of job losses. It takes a chance meeting …

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software

Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software

Capturing a wealth of experience about the design of object-oriented software, four top-notch designers present a catalog of simple and succinct solutions to commonly occurring design problems. Previously undocumented, these 23 patterns allow designers to create more flexible, elegant, and ultim…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design

To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design

How did a simple design error cause one of the great disasters of the 1980s - the collapse of the walkways at the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Hotel? What made the graceful and innovative Tacoma Narrows Bridge twist apart in a mild wind in 1940? How did an oversized waterlily inspire the magnificen…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

This list is curated by MentorCruise and can include Amazon affiliate links. Have any other suggestions? Add here.

Augment your Engineering books

There is no better source of accountability and motivation than having a personal mentor. What used to be impossible to find is now just two clicks away! All mentors are vetted & hands-on!

Still not convinced? Don't just take our word for it

We've already delivered 1-on-1 mentorship to thousands of students, professionals, managers and executives. Even better, they've left an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 for our mentors.

Find a Engineering mentor