Book excerpt: A quick scan of any bookstore, library, or online bookseller will produce a multitude of books covering power systems. However, few, if any, are totally devoted to power distribution engineering, and none of them are true textbooks. Filling this vacuum in the power system engineering literature, the first edition of Electric Power Distribution System Engineering broke new ground. Written in the classic, self-learning style of the first edition, this second edition contains updated coverage, new examples, and numerous examples of MATLAB applications. Designed specifically for junior- or senior-level electrical engineering courses, the author draws on his more than 31 years of experience to provide a text that is as attractive to students as it is useful to professors and practicing engineers. The book covers all aspects of distribution engineering from basic system planning and concepts through distribution system protection and reliability. The author brings to the table years of experience and, using this as a foundation, demonstrates how to design, analyze, and perform modern distribution system engineering. He takes special care to cover industry terms and symbols, providing a glossary and clearly defining each term when it is introduced. The discussion of distribution planning and design considerations goes beyond the usual analytical and qualitative analysis and emphasizes the economical explication and overall impact of the distribution design considerations discussed. See what’s new in the Second Edition: Topics such as automation of distribution systems, advanced SCADA systems, computer applications, substation grounding, lightning protection, and insulators Chapter on electric power quality New examples and MATLAB applications Substation grounding Lightning protection Insulators Expanded topics include: Load forecasting techniques High-impedance faults A detailed review of distribution reliability indices Watch Turan Gonen talk about his book at: http://youtu.be/OZBd2diBzgk