Customer Reviews

Introduction to Physical Gas Dynamics

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is a classic which covers everything from deriving Maxwell's distribution from first principles to modeling gases in thermal, chemical, and vibrational nonequilibrium. Covers many topic not covered in courses, and can be read cover to cover, unlike many texts. Buy it before it goes out of print again.

This is an invaluable resource if your study/work is anywhere in the fields of high temperature or high speed gas dynamics. It is a graduate level text that assumes a grasp of classical thermodynamics. Gives a solid foundation in the areas of statistical thermodynamics and kinetic theory for use in equilibrium and non-equilibrium flow analysis. John D. Anderson references this book in several of his own (if you know who John Anderson is, you know that in itself is a compliment). A large part of the kinetic theory in Anderson's Hypersonic and High-Temperature Gas Dynamics, Second Edition (Aiaa Education Series) is based on this work by Vincenti and Kreuger.

My review would be 5 stars if it weren't for the binding. The binding for this edition is cheap and stiff, and is already falling apart from light use. I plan to use this book for a long time, so I am actually looking into the possibility of having it rebound. I sincerely wish I could have gotten hold of an older edition that was well cared for. My boss used this as a textbook when he was getting his master's degree, and has held on to his copy... still in great shape. It stays open to the page you open it to when you set it down, and is still totally intact even after years of heavy use. I've had mine for about 2 months, and the spine is already tearing because I have to manhandle it to make it stay open.

Using it for a course right now. A little technical, but does have a lot of explanations. Highly recommended reference book/textbook.

This book is fairly old and I don't feel that it gives enough example problems.