Hydraulic drives are being used increasingly in all areas of mechanical engineering. Therefore, there has been a continuous demand across all branches of industry for an introduction to the field of hydraulics that addresses all the issues that arise when equipping new machines with hydraulic drives. I hereby present such an introduction. The book primarily provides development engineers, designers, operations managers, and manufacturing engineers with an overview of the standard hydraulic components available today, as well as the main applications of hydraulics in various fields of mechanical engineering. Additionally, it addresses the questions that arise when a decision must be made for or against the implementation of a hydraulic drive.