Modern Thermodynamics: From Heat Engines to Dissipative Structures - Tapa dura

"An innovative text such as this one is strongly needed.... I feel this book emphasises the centrality of the second law to the whole of science, and should be of interest to biologists, and physicists as well as chemists.," Dr. A. J. MacDermott, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge., #"The authors of this book have identified a gap in the range of textbooks currently available, and have filled it, efficiently and admirably. Lecturers in physics, chemistry and engineering will find this text invaluable for their undergraduate students, and postgraduates in the area of thermodynamics will find it essential reading. Readers will appreciate the generous lists of references and sources of data at the end of each chapter; course teachers will welcome the plentiful examples and exercises. As an added bonus, several Mathematica programs are given by the authors. In short, a very useful book," Helen Milligan, Desk Editor, High Temeratures - High Pressures#

Thermodynamics is a core part of most science and engineering curricula. However, most texts that are currently available to students still treat thermodynamics very much as it was presented in the 19th century, generally for historical rather than pedagogical reasons. Modern Thermodynamics takes a different approach, and deals with the relationship between irreversible processes and entropy.The relationship between irreversible processes and entropy is introduced early on, enabling the reader to benefit from seeing the relationship in such processes as heat conduction and chemical reactions. This text presents thermodynamics in a contemporary and exciting manner, with a wide range of applications, and many exercises and examples. Students are also encouraged to use computers through the provision of Mathematica code and Internet / WWW addresses where real data and additional information can be found. FEATURES ? A truly modern approach to thermodynamics, presenting it as a science of irreversible processes whilst avoiding dividing the subject into equilibrium and non-equilibrium thermodynamics. ? An extensive range of applications drawn from science and engineering, along with many real world examples, and exercises. ? Written by two well-known authors, of whom Professor llya Prigogine was awarded the Nobel Prize for his research into thermodynamics. CONTENTS: Part I: Historical Roots: From Heat Engines to Cosmology: Basic Concepts; First Law of Thermodynamics; Second Law of Thermodynamics and the Arrow of Time; Entropy in the Realm of Chemical Reactions; Part ll: Equilibrium Thermodynamics: Extremum Principles and General Thermodynamic Relations; Basic Thermodynamics of Gases, Liquids and Solids; Thermodynamics of Phase Change; Thermodynamics of Solutions; Thermodynamics of Chemical Transformations; Fields and Internal Degrees of Freedom; Thermodynamics of Radiation; Part III: Fluctuations and Stability: The Gibbs' Theory of Stability; Critical Phenomena and Configurational Heat Capacity; Theory of Stability and Fluctuations Based on Entropy Production; Part IV: Linear Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics: Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics: The Foundations; Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics: The Linear Regime; Nonequilibrium Stationary States and their Stability: Linear Regime; Part V: Order Through Fluctuations: Nonlinear Thermodynamics; Dissipative Structures; Postface: Where do we go from here?