This book is a highly recommended reference for all mechanical (and, I suppose, some electrical) engineers working on packaging. The book covers many topics with enough detail so that the engineer may have a good holistic understanding of everything from: - pcb design, layout and fabrication - component fundamentals including IC's - EMC issues - interconnect issues - reliability - testingHowever, the book won't replace practical experience since the areas detailing typical manufacturing issues are very weak. In particular, you won't get fundamental machine-shop information relating to design materials and processing. That is, this book won't replace a thorough knowledge of basic machining-type information covered in the good old "Machinery's Handbook". Analysis related to mechanical issues such as FEA and CAD is not covered.The book is rather weak in its thermal section and has nothing about fiber optic design or MEMs/MOEMs. These areas should be addressed in future editions to keep it up to date.