Learning Paths¶
FanPedia's 27 chapters teach 581 concepts in prerequisite order, and reading every one of them is the most complete route. Most readers, though, come to the book with one job to do. A learning path is a shorter route built for that job: it lists the chapters to read in full, the sections to skim, the chapters you can skip, the MicroSims to practice on and the quizzes to take.
Choose Your Path¶
| Path | It is for you if you... |
|---|---|
| Inside Sales and Customer Service | enter orders, prepare quotes, look up model codes and catalog data, and need every line of an order to be right the first time. |
| Outside Sales and Manufacturer's Representatives | call on customers, match a job to a product line, and talk through performance, construction and options. |
| Specifying, Consulting and Application Engineers | select fans to a duty point, correct catalog ratings, account for system effect and sound, and write or review specifications. |
| Plant and Facilities Staff | look after installed fans and need to identify one, describe it correctly, and recognize its bearings, seals, isolation and special construction. |
Two jobs, one path?
Pick the path for the job you do most, then use the Chapter by Chapter table below to add any chapter another path marks R. Every path starts with Chapter 1, so you can begin there while you decide.
How the Paths Are Built¶
Each path starts from 8 to 15 target concepts taken from the learning graph, chosen because the course description names them as outcomes for that kind of work. The paths then add every concept those targets depend on, directly or through other concepts, so nothing on a path assumes a term the path has not taught. A chapter is marked read when a large share of its concepts is on the path, skim when only a few are (the path lists the exact sections), and skip when none are. Each path page lists its targets and the reason for each one.
The tables below are generated from the learning graph and the chapter text by scripts/build-learning-paths.py, so they stay in step with the chapters when the book changes.
Compare the Paths¶
| Path | Chapters read / skim / skip | Reading | Sims | Quizzes | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inside Sales and Customer Service | 7 / 11 / 9 | 8 h 05 min | 1 h 55 min | 1 h 41 min | 11 h 41 min |
| Outside Sales and Manufacturer's Representatives | 11 / 11 / 5 | 11 h 48 min | 1 h 10 min | 2 h 28 min | 15 h 26 min |
| Specifying, Consulting and Application Engineers | 15 / 11 / 1 | 14 h 42 min | 2 h 05 min | 3 h 10 min | 19 h 57 min |
| Plant and Facilities Staff | 2 / 12 / 13 | 3 h 47 min | 2 h 00 min | 46 min | 6 h 33 min |
| The full book | 27 / 0 / 0 | 19 h 44 min | – | – | – |
Times assume 200 words per minute for reading, each sim's stated duration, and 1 minute per quiz question.
Chapter by Chapter¶
R = read the chapter, S = skim the listed sections, – = skip.
Prefer the Whole Book?¶
The paths are shortcuts, not a replacement for the book. If you have the time, read the chapters in order: every concept is introduced right after the ones it depends on. You can also browse the MicroSims gallery, look up any term in the glossary, or explore the learning graph to see how the concepts connect.