Many informational sources were consulted and used to synthesize my book on being a global engineer. You might be interested in consulting these yourself or you might want to read more on specific aspects. I have listed these informational sources below with my thoughts on each.

This is one of the classics in non-fiction on the practice engineering. The author focuses only on aeronautical technology and aviation, but does so from the beginning of aviation to the time of the books publication. This provides a case study on how engineers develop technology and the knowledge that comes with that technology. By doing this the author shows the reader how the engineering community progresses a technology from its nascent stages to maturity. After reading this the engineer will better better equipped to understand what type of challenge they are facing - depending upon the stage of the respective technology - and the best approach to equipping themselves with the ideal knowledge.

This is one of the most broadly and well researched books on engineering I have come across. It goes back the beginning of engineering - when it was perhaps more art than science - and follows it to the modern day. It drills down into what engineering is and puts forward convincing arguments on what the real attributes of an engineer should be.
One of the striking features is the explanation of why engineering and art were so entwined in the Renaissance and produced people like Leonardo da Vinci. After reading this, you will find art a little less mysterious and have greater pride and understanding of what it is to be an engineer.

What is is that turns someone into an engineer? How do they develop the language and way of thinking that they seem to use? This is essentially the focus of Designing Engineers. By taking examples of engineers working in practice and in different fields, the author casts light on the mysteries of what it is that make an engineer an engineer. When you read this book, you will notice things you do, things other engineers do and things that you can start doing better to become a better engineer.

Most of us know what satisfaction gain be gained from being an engineer. We also know how hard it is to explain this to none-engineers. This book takes on the task of understanding engineering from the point of view of what makes engineering so satisfying. In doing so it helps the engineer also understand more of the pleasure of that they might have not noticed in their job. Having a greater appreciation for this pleasure, and being an engineer, can be the exact extra motivation an engineer needs to excel. When you see the spiritual side of engineering and how it can satisfy a higher level need that few other vocations can, you simply put more into what you do. This books also helps explain engineering to the non-engineer.

It is unfortunate that many a professional skill is not developed in engineering education. many of these skills, like how to run a meeting, how to give thanks adapting to a new workplace and so on, are simply too difficult to teach and many engineering students feel it's a waste of time to do so anyway. Stuff You Don't Learn in Engineering School is full of advice you will need to survive the workplace as a professional engineer. Ideal for a graduate (even a graduation gift) or as a handy desk reference.

This is a series about some of the most impressive engineering projects of the industrial era. They are interesting to engineers in their own right. However, after reading about engineering attributes, the stories covered in these series provide an excellent opportunity to see the application of the attributes of expert engineers. You can understand how the engineers farmed their problem. You can see systemic issues come to light along with the application of first principles. You are also presented with real life examples of co-evolution and how engineers in the past dealt with it. Sometimes you learn what to do and sometimes you think of others (and you) could be better engineers. It's an excellent tool to help you reflect on what engineering is and how to be better at it.

For engineers, I think this is one of the most fun reality TV series ever made. In each episode, competitors (in two teams) need to take on a challenge that requires ingenuity to find a technical solution. Watch it to see how others take on the challenge and see how different ideas fair. By comparing the ideas and their success you can start to evaluate your own engineering skill as you see how your predictions on success of the different ideas prove correct or incorrect.

There will always be times when an engineer needs to allocate a number to something and they do not know enough to be able to do so precisely. In such cases you, as that engineer, will need to find way of coming up with a range (or tolerance) for that number's value. How can this be done? The book How to Measure Anything is full of such techniques. It is one of the few books that I think every engineer should read. When you do read it, make sure that you read it with a mindset of learning, growing and changing. You will get what you need from it if you do. Some engineers make the mistake of thinking everything must be known exactly at all times before any action can be taken. This results in paralysis (figuratively). Once you read this book, you will be an engineer can always keep on progressing no matter the uncertainty you face.

This book too is a case study. It takes the development of ant slip braking to understand more about what makes up engineering. It starts from the early days when the nature of the loss of control under braking was first understood, up to the application in aircraft, to the early attempts to translate the technology to automobiles to the development of the modern system allowed for by modern electronics. In the process of reading this book, you see many examples of how one technology allows for another and how technology can be accelerated when engineers adopt the right attitude to engineering. Many lessons for all engineers.

Design is an aspect of all engineering. However, many engineers think that they are not design engineers if they are in a role that does not have the word 'design' in it or if they have another word like 'manufacturing', 'quality', 'service', 'sales', 'warranty' and so on. However, the fact is that in all roles you will eventually need to create, refine, designate and then implement some idea to solve a problem. And that's what design (engineering or not) pretty much is. Therefore, understanding design will make you a better engineer. In this book, Nigel Cross (who has one of the more open views on design) collates the important insights into design at the time of writing. If you want to know what is known about design, then this is an excellent book to have.

Many would think that philosophy and engineering are very different. I have seen this myself where engineers have avoided reading philosophy texts on how to think and reason unless it was with an engineering slant - as if the basics of thinking were somehow different. This is unfortunate. Philosophy has literally thousands of years of history on analyzing thought and how to reason. In this book, Louis Bucciarelli shows how engineers can use the insights of philosophy to be better engineers. If you want to improve your reasoning skills and have a unique edge over other engineers, then this book is for you.

This is the third case study text on engineering. In this book, the turbojet engine is the focus. If you have read Hitting the Brakes and What Engineers Know and how They Know it, then you will see parallels in this book. You will then also have a solid handle on another aspect of engineering history and what engineering is. This book however covers a longer period and shows that while theory might have to come after practice at times, that theory can then lead to improved practice later. A fascinating read for those who love engines, jet engines, thermodynamics or just love love engineering.

This is a handy little book to have sitting on your desk. It's cheap and it gets to the point. You can pick it up at any times, flick to a random page, and read something that will make you reflect on how you work as an engineer and if you might be able to improve in some way. Given the low cost of it, you will get tremendous values from it.

Imagine a book that looks at technology from the point of view of the technology. That's what How We Got To Now does. By looking at the development of 6 innovations (Glass, Cold, Sound, Clean, Time, Light) within the context of the technology around them, the author shows how it is often circumstance and opportunity, as opposed to human intent, that leads to the continued development of our technological world. After reading this book, you will, as an engineer, become aware of how you can act more as a vessel for technology. From that, you can in turn become more aware of opportunity and how to best apply your efforts.

Is there any such thing as a natural engineer? You might think so. However, after reading this book you will be convinced of 2 things:

1. There is no such thing as a natural
   
2. With deliberate practice, you can be good at anything you want - like being a global engineer
   

One of the most enlightening books your can read.

The change to become a global engineer can be demanding, and need some serious will power. In fact, at times, engineering can be taxing and test your will power. Wouldn't it be good to know how you can increase it? Turns out you can. If you want the latest on how to improve your will power so you can overcome more obstacles, then seriously buy this book.

Thinking! We all need to do it, but engineers need to do it more than many others. Edward de Bono is man who loves to think about thinking. In this book, Six Thinking Hats - now a classic, de Bono covers a very powerful and useful technique that you can use on any problem you have. It's worth buying because it is a classic, but I can recommend it because of how often I use the techniques within.