This account of the theory of plates and shells is written primarily as a textbook for graduate students in mechanical and civil engineering.The unified treatment of shells of arbitrary shape is accomplished by tensor analysis. This useful tool is introduced in the first chapter, and no knowledge of advanced mathematical methods is required. The general theory developed in the first eight chapters is applied in the remaining part to thin elastic plates and shells with special emphasis on engineering methods and engineering applications. A number of detailed examples illustrate the theory.

This authoritative text concentrates on the derivation of simple but reasonably accurate mathematical solutions, and the actual presentation of closed-form results for quantities that are of interest to the designer of shell structures.

This book attempts to bring the essence of shell structures within the grasp of engineers. It tackles the fundamental question of how bending and stretching effects combine and interact in shell structures from a physical point of view; and shows that this approach leads to an understanding of the structural mechanics of shells in general.

The objective of Volume III is to lay down the proper mathematical foundations of the two-dimensional theory of shells. To this end, it provides, without any recourse to any a priori assumptions of a geometrical or mechanical nature, a mathematical justification of two-dimensional nonlinear and linear shell theories, by means of asymptotic methods, with the thickness as the "small" parameter.