Book excerpt: Every operator who is responsible for monitoring critical rotating equipment will greatly benefit from this handy reference book. The goal of this book is to present proven techniques that will enable rookie and veteran operators alike to detect problems early and, we hope, eliminate major outages and/or maintenance costs. To achieve this goal we shall explain the basics of lubrication systems, bearings, drivers, seals and sealing systems, for centrifugal and positive displacement pumps as well as turbines, centrifugal compressors and reciprocating compressors. We will then present common sense inspection methods for centrifugal and positive displacement pumps, gear boxes, motors, heat exchangers, and turbines.