This book is a concise, readable, yet authoritative primer of basic classic thermodynamics. Many students have difficulty with thermodynamics, and find at some stage of their careers in academia or industry that they have forgotten what they learned, or never really understood these fundamental physical laws. As the title of the book suggests, the author has distilled the subject down to its essentials, using many simple and clear illustrations, instructive examples, and key equations and simple derivations to elucidate concepts. Based on many years of teaching experience at the undergraduate and graduate levels, “Essential Classical Thermodynamics” is intended to provide a positive learning experience, and to empower the reader to explore the many possibilities for applying thermodynamics in other fields of science, engineering, and even economics where energy plays a central role. Thermodynamics is fun when you understand it!

Essentials of Thermodynamics offers a fresh perspective on classical thermodynamics and its explanation of natural phenomena. It combines fundamental principles with applications to offer an integrated resource for students, teachers and experts alike. The essence of classic texts has been distilled to give a balanced and in-depth treatment, including a detailed history of ideas which explains how thermodynamics evolved without knowledge of the underlying atomic structure of matter. The principles are illustrated by a vast range of applications, such as osmotic pressure, how solids melt and liquids boil, the incredible race to reach absolute zero, and the modern theme of the renormalization group. Topics are handled using a variety of techniques, which helps readers see how concepts such as entropy and free energy can be applied to many situations, and in diverse ways. The book has a large number of solved examples and problems in each chapter, as well as a carefully selected guide to further reading. The treatment of traditional topics like the three laws of thermodynamics, Carnot cycles, Clapeyron equation, phase equilibria, and dilute solutions is considerably more detailed than usual. For example, the chapter on Carnot cycles discusses exotic cases like the photon cycle along with more practical ones like the Otto, Diesel and Rankine cycles. There is a chapter on critical phenomena that is modern and yet highly pedagogical and contains a first principles calculation of the critical exponents of Van der Waals systems. Topics like entropy constants, surface thermodynamics, and superconducting phase transitions are explained in depth while maintaining accessibility for different readers.

Mon but n'a jamais be de m'occuper des ces matieres comme physicien, mais seulement comme /ogicien ... F. REECH, 1856 I do not think it possible to write the history of a science until that science itself shall have been understood, thanks to a clear, explicit, and decent logical structure. The exuberance of dim, involute, and undisciplined his torical essays upon classical thermodynamics reflects the confusion of the theory itself. Thermodynamics, despite its long history, has never had the benefit of a magisterial synthesis like that which EULER gave to hydro dynamics in 1757 or that which MAXWELL gave to electromagnetism in 1873; the expositions in the works of discovery in thermodynamics stand a pole apart from the pellucid directness of the notes in which CAUCHY presented his creation and development of the theory of elasticity from 1822 to 1845. Thermodynamics was born in obscurity and disorder, not to say confusion, and there the common presentations of it have remained. With this tractate I aim to provide a simple logical structure for the classical thermodynamics of homogeneous fluid bodies. Like any logical structure, it is only one of many possible ones. I think it is as simple and pretty as can be.

This new edition is designed for a one semester introductory course in thermodynamics, either in mechanical or aerospace engineering, or in an engineering science program. The book contains a section on the geometry of curves and surfaces, in order to review those parts of calculus that are needed in thermodynamics for discussing the thermodynamic equations of state of simple compressible substances, and their approximation by linear interpolation. It presents the First Law of Thermodynamics as an equation for the time rate of change of system energy, the same way that Newton’s Law of Motion, an equation for the time rate of change of system momentum, is presented in Dynamics, and presents the Second Law mathematically as a lower bound for the time rate of change of system entropy. Moreover, this emphasis illustrates the importance of thermodynamics to the study of heat transfer and fluid mechanics. These laws and the associated new thermodynamic properties, energy and entropy, are introduced with extended motivating discussions rather than as abstract postulates, and connections are made with kinetic theory. Thermodynamic properties of the vaporizable liquids- condensible gases needed for the solution of practical thermodynamic problems (e.g. water and a typical refrigerant) are presented in a unique tabular format that is both simple to understand and easy to use. All theoretical discussions throughout the book are accompanied by worked examples illustrating their use in practical devices. These examples of the solution of various kinds of thermodynamic problems are all structured in exactly the same way in order to make, as a result of the repetition, the solution of new problems easier for students to follow, and ultimately, to produce themselves. Many additional problems are provided, half of them with answers, for students to do on their own.

This 2006 textbook discusses the fundamentals and applications of statistical thermodynamics for beginning graduate students in the physical and engineering sciences. Building on the prototypical Maxwell–Boltzmann method and maintaining a step-by-step development of the subject, this book assumes the reader has no previous exposure to statistics, quantum mechanics or spectroscopy. The book begins with the essentials of statistical thermodynamics, pauses to recover needed knowledge from quantum mechanics and spectroscopy, and then moves on to applications involving ideal gases, the solid state and radiation. A full introduction to kinetic theory is provided, including its applications to transport phenomena and chemical kinetics. A highlight of the textbook is its discussion of modern applications, such as laser-based diagnostics. The book concludes with a thorough presentation of the ensemble method, featuring its use for real gases. Numerous examples and prompted homework problems enrich the text.

This book introduces a new and successful concept for thermodynamics: nonequilibrium phase diagrams. This concept has been successfully applied to diamond synthesis. The book goes on to demonstrate how these diagrams lead to a complete new systematization of modern thermodynamics.

Essentials of Radiation Heat Transfer presents the essential, fundamental information required to gain an understanding of radiation heat transfer and equips the reader with enough knowledge to be able to tackle more challenging problems. All concepts are reinforced by carefully chosen and fully worked examples, and exercise problems are provided at the end of every chapter.

Essentials of Optoelectronics offers a comprehensive treatment of the optical and electronic principles that form the foundation of optoelectronics. Along with the fundamentals, the material includes detailed coverage of lasers, waveguides (including optical fibers), detectors, nonlinear optics, optical signal processing, and optical computing. In a self-contained presentation that foregoes detailed mathematical analysis in favor of building deeper insight, the author imparts a fundamental understanding of the subject and its applications. He focuses on physical ideas, demonstrates their interdependence, and develops them to explain the more complex phenomena. Professor Rogers reinforces and enlivens the concepts with detailed examples of current applications ranging from antireflective coatings and audio CDs to holography and coherent detection in optical fibre communications systems. With exercise sets, references, and suggestions for further reading in each chapter, Essentials of Optoelectronics forms an outstanding introductory text that helps interest, enlighten, and stimulate students to further pursue the subject.