★★★★☆ (4.5/5) Deducting half a point for the lack of updates on digital manufacturing, but the core content remains timeless.

Subtitled Foundry, Forming and Welding , this volume is essentially a bible for understanding how solid materials are cast, plastically deformed, or joined. Here is an in-depth look at why this book remains a staple on every engineer’s shelf. Unlike modern texts that jump straight into automation and CAD/CAM, Rao’s Volume 2 roots itself in process fundamentals . The book operates on the premise that to control a modern automated foundry or a robotic welding cell, an engineer must first understand what happens inside a sand mold, a forging die, or a weld pool.

In the landscape of mechanical engineering education, few textbooks achieve the status of a perennial companion. For undergraduate students in India and across Southeast Asia, P.N. Rao’s two-volume series on Manufacturing Technology has held that position for decades. While Volume 1 typically covers metal cutting and machine tools, Volume 2 delves into the primal, transformative processes of manufacturing: converting raw materials into usable shapes without removing material.