Book excerpt: From an authoritative expert whose work on modern helicopter rotor blade analysis has spanned over three decades, comes the first consistent and rigorous presentation of beam theory. Beginning with an overview of the theory developed over the last 60 years, Dr. Hodges addresses the kinematics of beam deformation, provides a simple way to characterize strain in an initially curved and twisted beam, and offers cross-sectional analysis for beams with arbitrary cross sections and composed of arbitrary materials. He goes on to present a way to accurately recover all components of cross-sectional strain and stress before providing a natural one-dimensional (1-D) theory of beams. Sample results for both cross-sectional and 1-D analysis are presented as is a parallel treatment for thin-walled beams.