The Oblique Basis Method from an Engineering Point of View

The oblique basis method is reviewed from engineering point of view related to vibration and control theory. Examples are used to demonstrate and relate the oblique basis in nuclear physics to the equivalent mathematical problems in vibration theory. The mathematical techniques, such as principal coordinates and root locus, used by vibration and control theory engineers are shown to be relevant to the Richardson - Gaudin pairing-like problems in nuclear physics.