13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thermodynamics without tears or mathematics!, August 1, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Warmth Disperses and Time Passes: The History of Heat (Modern Library Paperbacks) (Paperback)
Buy this book if you have given any thought to why coffee cools and orange juice always gets warm. This extremely well written book deals with the most important thoughts some of the most outstanding scientific thinkers throughout history have given to our concepts of heat and energy. What is really striking about the book is that it does so in a readily understood manner without resorting to a single formula or diagram. As a relatively young student I was exposed to a course in thermodynamics which left enduring scars on me. I developed a life long distaste for the likes of Carnot, Clausius and Clapeyron. This book has shown me the errors of my ways. Every faculty member who teaches thermodynamics and every student who wishes to really understand thermodynamics should be required to read this book before entropy is ever discussed again in a classroom. The single concern that I have about the book is it's failure to mention the name or contributions of Willard Gibbs.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
On the Trail of a Demonic Idea, May 29, 2002
This review is from: Warmth Disperses and Time Passes: The History of Heat (Modern Library Paperbacks) (Paperback)
This is an enjoyable history of thermodynamics. Maxwell's Demon does not actually come into it until about half-way through, and then becomes, gradually, the focus. Von Baeyer's approach is to advance his topic short chapter by short chapter. Each chapter treats the work of a man (alas, in science women have not, until recently, played much of a part) as it relates to the growing knowledge of the first and second laws of thermodynamics. The ideas, the experiments, the intellectual milieu, and the subject's life are all fair game in these little essays, and all are treated in a clear, serious, but still light-hearted way. The writing is very pleasing, the author's humane, humorous and cultured personality shines through.
The point of the book, of course, is to explore the Second Law of Thermodynamics, using the Demon invented by the physicist Maxwell. It has proved a remarkably troublesome sprite in spite of all the attempts to exorcise it over the years. Here you will learn some thermodynamics and some history, and when you are done you will have a general idea of the issues swirling around the notion of entropy. After reading this book, you very well might want to get your feet wet in an introductory text on thermodynamics, now that you know some of the issues in play. Or, if you already know some, this will fill in the human background, and may alert you to some current thinking.
One of the current issues is the relationship between the entropy from Information Theory and the entropy from Thermodynamics. As various folks keep trying to conflate them, our author reports on it. The discussion is detailed enough to actually convey some of the ideas that trouble modern researchers, and tantalizing enough to make the reader want to know even more. What else could one want from a popular book on the subject?
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Have fun with this book !, October 6, 2000
This review is from: Warmth Disperses and Time Passes: The History of Heat (Modern Library Paperbacks) (Paperback)
This is the best book about thermodynamics I have ever read ! In my opinion, it makes more to the understanding of this difficult and so misundertood discipline than any other "theoretical" book. Reading this is a funny and pleasant experience! It's like an adventure book, as it relives the history of the men who built the discipline of thermodynamics, and the curious and interesting circustances that brought them to their discoveries. some of that men and their histories I have never heard about!! Congratulations to Von Baeyer, who has done an outstanding and incredible job!!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
