Customer Reviews

Thermodynamics in Materials Science, Second Edition

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

 

 

This is in reference to the 1st edition.

What a great book.

This is the way thermo should be taught!! Don't you hate how thermo is boring and doesn't make any sense? I took a thermo class as an undergrad using a different textbook, and it didn't make any sense. I was constantly lost, trying to catch up by learning things backwards. Most thermo books try to teach you thermo by either one of two horrible methods:
1. reverse-engineer the phase diagram, or some other example.
2. memorize the equations and apply them.

Instead, this book walks you through the derivation of the equations that people use in thermo. It even spells out the mathematics you need to work through the concepts. You don't have to memorize anything. The gradual buildup of knowledge and principles, as ordered in this book, is the only way people like me can learn thermodynamics. I used this textbook in grad school and thermodynamics finally made sense.

YOU MUST endure through the first few chapters before you begin to appreciate the book. If you stop midway, it will be a total waste of your time.

My only grip is that there were numerous typos in the 1st edition, and each reprint had different typos in different places. My version had a typo in one of the state functions which really messed me up. I hope the 2nd edition does not have any of those problems.

Since it is primarily focused on teaching you thermodynamics, I don't think it is very useful as a "quick" reference material. In other words, it teaches you how to fish, but doesn't give you the fish. If you want a reference, I believe there are books with more depth and breadth out there.

I don't think it is worth buying unless you intend to sit down and read through the first ten chapters. The latter chapters are all optional and add some breadth. But really, you are not going to buy this book for its treatment of electrochemistry.

I used this textbook, taught by the author, as an undergraduate, and again for clarification in graduate school. Not only is Dr. DeHoff's book clear and logical, it dovetails nicely with the more advanced materials thermodynamics textbook by Dr. Claude Lupis. Now that Dr. DeHoff is retired, I hope that he writes an additional version of this book.

Dr. DeHoff should fix some errors in the problem sets, and extend a few topics:
-More solution models, which are useful in metallurgy;
-More on fugacity, non-ideal gasses, virial equations, and the like
-More meat on statistical thermodynamics

DeHoff and Lupis make a great combination for materials thermodynamics. DeHoff for clarity and Lupis for thoroughness and rigor.

Edit: He has now done that by writing a second edition, which I have not yet had the opportunity to read through.

This is a wonderful, well-written text in thermodynamics for undergraduates and graduate students as well. The unique feature of this book is the logical approach utilized for handling equilibrium in systems of varying complexity, which I believe is superior to many of the conventional approaches. Also unique is the procedure developed by the author for deriving relations between state variables. The problem sets are quite useful and should be very helpful in understanding the subject. A solution manual I believe is also available to instructors. What this book lacks for an advanced graduate student in this field, is a comprehensive treatment of solution models and more practical applications using many of the excellent thermodynamic software and databases currently available. I would hope with enough encouragement by readers (and publisher) that these topics will be included in a future, perhaps thicker edition. Many of the non-traditional topics in thermodynamics such as defect chemistry, capillarity, electrochemistry or external fields are also introduced in the text and can be quite useful too.
I had the privilege of attending this course (and others) taught by the author and would strongly recommend getting hold of the taped lectures for this course if available.

Comprehensive on nearly every materials science subject. A little dry and dense at times (like any college textbook) but overall a great resource.

I have to give this book a bad review, mainly for the errors. We are only halfway through our thermodynamics class and we have found over 30 errors so far. A lot of errors are in equations and solutions to example problems. This is very confusing for students who are just learning the subject, as it can make the student believe he is wrong and missing some underlying concept when the equation he derives does not agree with the book. This book can only be used if you carefully derive every equation on your own or use it in a class where an errata is given.

As the book progresses, the errors become increasingly frequent and the examples become more vague.

This is the 2nd edition, maybe the 3rd will correct the errors.

These books were great. They arrived on time and in great shape. The content within the books is excellent so far. I would recommend these to anyone entering the field of materials science!

I have been using this text for a solid state thermodynamics class I am teaching. The manner in which it is organized and structured allows one to sequentially build understanding of the complicated concepts of thermodynamics one layer at a time. For example, from the table of contents one can see a progression from the concepts of thermodynamic equilibrium to one component, multiphase systems, to multicomponent, single phase systems, then to multicomponent, multiphase systems, etc. Each chapter builds upon those that preceded it, and then becomes part of the foundation for those that follow. This organization makes it much easier for the instructor to teach this difficult subject, and I think easier for the student to comprehend it. My only objection is how phase diagrams are introduced in chapters 9 and 10. I think the presentation of the "structure of phase diagrams" in chapter 9 is confusing without the material in the first section of chapter 10. All, in all, I think this is the best undergrad text for thermo in materials science.

As is evaluated by many university teachers. It's very good to be a textbook for the beginners or a reference book for the advanced.

it looks new.
However, this is first edit which has different parts with the second edit.
But, totally speaking, it is worth such price.

The author spends the first two chapter talking of "properties" and "processes" and "relationships" between properties as if he were afraid to delve into them. Instead, the author mentions them, repeatedly, as if they were mystical creatures - almost as if he were afraid to awaken the Gods or something. Give me a break.

But the book isn't all bad, and while the first two chapters can be forgotten, DeHoff gets on his two feet for chapters 4 and beyond. If you've studied Thermal and Statistical Physics you will be picky about DeHoff's presentation - it'll come across as lacking rigor, and you'll feel you're being hand-fed by the author at certain points - but despit everything, the book is comprehensive and you'll come out with a good understanding of how to apply thermodynamics.

This is an edited review. In my experience a book that is weak in its first few chapters tends to be weak in its later chapters as well. While I don't think this book deserves more than three stars, I no longer think it is mediocre, as it picks up in a big way after the first few chapters - something unusual for a textbook.
You'll do well to supplement with another, perhaps better book, but you can't do wrong with this one.