Customer Reviews

Understanding Thermodynamics (Dover Books on Physics)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Understanding Thermodynamics is an exceptional introduction to a subtle and complex topic. The First and Second Law of Thermodynamics are seemingly trivial, and yet an understanding of theoretical and applied thermodynamics often eludes even the best of students. This 100-page overview is much better than the chapter or two on thermodynamics in a first year physics text. It is a more lucid and interesting discussion than is even found in Feynman's Lectures in Physics, Volume 1.

H. C. Van Ness, a professor of chemical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and expert in thermodynamics, approaches his subject in an uniquely interesting fashion, stressing that the First and Second Law are assumptions based on empirical data. They are fundamental statements that cannot be derived from other principles.

In chapter 1 Van Ness borrows a humorous analogy from Feynman to explain the reasonableness of the abstract concept of internal energy and the relationship between internal energy, heat, and work.

Chapter 2 introduces the concept of reversibility, and explains its fundamental importance to thermodynamics. In doing so he carefully exposes our underlying assumptions.

In chapter 3, titled Heat Engines, Van Ness emphasizes that the reversible process represents the limiting behavior of actual systems, the best that we can hope for. Also, in most cases we are not even able to make calculations unless we simplify our problem by assuming that our system exhibits reversibility. Van Ness carefully explains the basic engineering calculations for both the Otto engine cycle and the Carnot theoretical heat engine.

In chapter 4 Van Ness guides the reader carefully through detailed thermodynamic analysis of a large scale power plant. In doing so, he provides an intriguing look at the unintended and unavoidable environmental impact of large power plants.

Van Ness introduces the Second Law of Thermodynamics by asking whether we can uncover any hidden relationships in a set of empirical data for reversible heat processes. After being led down several blind alleys, we unexpectedly discover a quantity that seems even more abstract than the concept of internal energy. We decide to call it entropy.

The last two chapters - More on the Second Law, and Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics - were slightly more difficult. The section on statistical mechanics would normally be found in a physical chemistry textbook.

The chapters are written in an informal manner, much like lectures. The mathematics assumes some calculus, but it is not any more difficult a first year physics text. It makes good independent reading, but Van Ness intended for Understanding Thermodynamics to be used along with a standard engineering or physics text. No problems sets are found at the end of the chapters.

Thermo is hard for two reasons. The equations are messy, and the properties are so abstract. Van Ness deals directly and only with the second problem. His discussion of energy functions and energy transformations just as rules between observables is very helpful. Using that notion to get at what he means by a property and then making entropy understandable as a PROPERTY of a system is the core of much of the book. The derivation of some basic stuff in statistical mechanics is quite clear, and the logical relationship to classical thermo is very clear. An index would be nice.

This book is an excellent conceptual introduction to thermodynamics. It helps you to get the "big picture" without getting into mathematical details. The first few chapters are suitable for high-school students that are interested in the fundamental concepts and laws of thermodynamics.

Van Ness cures the common problem of vapid thermodynamics texts by clearly explaining the basics and then stopping.

His little book is an easy read, and firmly roots the student in the reality of what thermodynamic laws and equations actually mean. Most importantly, van Ness repeatedly makes clear that thermodynamics is about imaginary processes that will never occur in real machines.

This should be the first week's read of every course in thermo.

This thin book is a must-have for anyone who wants to understand thermodynamics. A better title for this book may be `Thermodynamics Companion'. This it not a stand alone text, but a supplement to a text book or more advanced reference. This author explains in detail (and without a lot of mathematical mumbo-jumbo) the basics of thermodynamics. It is geared toward the advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate student in engineering or physics who wants to understand thermo. The mathematics is simple (anyone with a little knowledge of calculus can handle it), so the reader won't get bogged down in the equations. If you really want to get a handle on what thermo means (beyond just manipulating equations), this would be a great place to start. This book contains the best discussion of entropy that I've ever found. The notion of entropy is a difficult one for many new to thermo. It is easy to learn how to manipulate the equations, another thing to really understand what they mean. The latter is the author's goal in this book, and he has succeeded. At less than $8, this is a no-brainer.

First, skip over the silly introductory analogy of a little kid playing with marbles or whatever. But then it gets good. Aside from introducing an equation (p.28) including the variable S without even defining, let alone explaining, it, the 1st and 2nd law are explained very lucidly and with much care (I am a graduate electrical engineer with a full-semester thermodynamics course under my belt who's forgotten most of the subject). Entropy is very well dealt with. The last part of the book deals with thermodynamics vs statistical mechanics & there it gets pretty rough. I didn't try to assimilate too much of that part, not being as intetersted, but it's rigorous and doubtlessly also a fine exposition.

This book is certainly worth the small price and a chunk of your time.

Who knew that thermodynamics could actually be entertaining? This book is a joy to read regardless of your technical background or interests. It isn't meant to be a text, or even a demonstration of the subject's importance, but, rather, an invocation of the sheer wonder that can lie in the most mundane things if only you can look at them from the viewpoint that thermodynamics offers.

This book is excellent. I have taken several thermodynamic courses but still the concepts seem too abstract to have a complete grasp of the subject. This books makes it clear. The combination of Understanding Thermodynamics and Thermodynamics by Fermi are a powerful refresher.

I liked this book, but based upon the title, it was not quite what I expected it to be. I expected a book that was focused of "Understanding Thermodynamics", but it is really just a short textbook on thermodynamics. To be sure, the book does aim at presenting some concepts, but in the end I thought that it read much like my other thermodynamics texts, albeit a very short one. Being only about 100 pages long, the book is not very rigorous.

The first chapter did utilize Feynman's analogy of "Dennis and the 37 sugar cubes" to illustrate the idea of the conservation of energy and the first law of thermodynamics. I liked this approach and I was hoping that the rest of the book would focus on the underlying ideas, as opposed to equation manipulation. The next chapter, which was on the concept of reversibility, also focused on concepts, but then the next two chapters jumped into applications and equation manipulation, without delving much into the origin of the equations that were employed. The author explained that this was an unconventional approach and that he was presenting applications instead of difficult and confusing concepts in order to show the utility of thermodynamics. Instead of applications, I would have liked more of an attempt to explain these difficult and confusing concepts. These chapters were followed by two on the second law. I found these interesting, but similar to those found in standard texts. The final chapter was on Statistical Thermodynamics. The beginning of this chapter did focus on general concepts, but then devolved into a complex eight-page derivation.

All in all, this is a reasonably good adjunct to a standard thermodynamics text, but I do not believe that it is very good as a standalone book, nor was it meant to be. Many will undoubtedly find this to be useful in helping them to understand thermodynamics, but they will also need a more rigorous textbook to provide a more in-depth presentation.

Clear explanation on thermodynamics basics - just what I was looking for. I am not from engineering or physics background, but this book certainly gives a way to start. Simple and basics concepts for beginners who are interested in general concepts of conversion energy into work and heat.