At the heart of many fields - physics, chemistry, engineering - lies thermodynamics. While this science plays a critical role in determining the boundary between what is and is not possible in the natural world, it occurs to many as an indecipherable black box, thus making the subject a challenge to learn. Two obstacles contribute to this situation, the first being the disconnect between the fundamental theories and the underlying physics and the second being the confusing concepts and terminologies involved with the theories. While one needn't confront either of these two obstacles to successfully use thermodynamics to solve real problems, overcoming both provides access to a greater intuitive sense of the problems and more confidence, more strength, and more creativity in solving them.
This book offers an original perspective on thermodynamic science and history based on the three approaches of a practicing engineer, academician, and historian. The book synthesises and gathers into one accessible volume a strategic range of foundational topics involving the atomic theory, energy, entropy, and the laws of thermodynamics.
Industry Reviews
This book takes the approach of providing inspiration, confidence and creativity to students for ultimately solving a whole range of thermodynamic problems faced by chemical, mechanical, aerospace and environmental engineers in academia and industry. It is easy to read, providing meaningful information to someone with little background in thermodynamics. * Ashwani Gupta, J. Energy Resour. Technol., June 2022 *
an excellent (and very accessible) textbook... it should be on every refrigeration engineer's bookshelf * Andy Pearson, Star Refrigeration in Glasgow, Ashrae Journal *
Hanlon has written a masterpiece, 18 years in the making, a lifetime of learning, has resulted in perhaps the most thoroughly readable book on thermodynamics out there... we not only learn about the history of thermodynamics in Block by Block, we learn about the fundamentals of thermodynamics without getting overwhelmed with equations and mathematics. This should probably be a required textbook in school - learning about the foundations of thermodynamics before trying to work out the math would be the smartest way to master the subject. * Mike Pauken, Senior Engineer, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and author of Thermodynamics for Dummies *
This book is for those who frequently ask "why is this happening?" instead of "what is happening?" That's why this book is different than any textbook on this subject. It is such a rich material, organized in the way that gives to the reader (being an experienced professional or an under-graduate student) the ability to question and understand the concepts behind the Laws of Thermodynamics. The most important, reading this book is like reading a novel about a very exciting subject. * Dr Roger Riehl, National Institute for Space Research (INPE). *
This is the book I wish I had 25 years ago! Bob Hanlon describes in beautiful detail the meaning behind thermodynamics concepts that our teachers and books missed. He provides new perspectives on entropy, heat and work, and statistical mechanics. Along the way we get to meet our heroes, people like Carnot, Clausius, of course Gibbs. A gem of a book! * Darrell Velegol, Distinguished Professor, Penn State University *
