Thermodynamics DeMYSTiFied

I bought this for the section on Psychrometricd and it is worth it just for that section.

I purchased this book develop an understanding of thermodynamics and entropy. It worked sufficiently for the geology course that I was taking. This book is a good aid for those needing a refresher or for those wanting a basic understanding.

The book gives a pretty good summary of the 4 laws. The applications to heat engines, like the famous idealized Carnot cycle and the practical Rankine cycle are good too. The tables in the back also are not too overwhelming.

It's a pretty good supplementary book for a standard text book, and would do just as good if it was your only book.

Great!

I was expecting a book that dealt with the foundations of thermodynamics in depth.This is is not what the book is about: it's treatment of temperature (for example) is too cursory.Rather, this is a practically oriented book aimed at people designing and analysing real systems like engines.It works the reader through a lot of problems.If that is your concern you would probably give it more stars.

I ordered this book because I was taking a Thermodynamics class during a semester abroad in France, and I wanted to have a text in English, as my class used no book nor handouts. I'm glad I had a book I could refer to at all, but after having used it, I would have spent the money and gone with an actual textbook instead.The language is relatively easy to understand if you have some amount of background in physics and science. However, unlike a textbook, I found it hard to read for more than a few minutes at the time, and I often had to read the same thing over and over to figure out what it was trying to say. I usually have no such problem with ordinary textbooks. It had plenty of graphs, which were helpful, and lots of example problems. Though, these were at times difficult to understand; I'll explain why in the next part.The main problem I had with this book is that it made extensive use of the tables in the appendices. While this is certainly an acceptable method of explaining a subject and teaching, I have never been in a class that used tables of certain defined variables. I either had to figure them out as part of the problem, or the value was given in the directions. It was more than a little frustrating that the writer did not just give the numbers in the problem. In a work situation, I imagine the tables would be more useful, but in a classroom situation, I think not. This also made the examples rather difficult to work through.To wrap it up in a nutshell, this book really is as it says on the cover: a classroom *supplement*. I would NEVER use it as a stand-alone book. It is NOT a self-teaching guide (even though it says that on the cover as well), unless you have an actual textbook or teacher to go with it.

It was easy to follow and great step up by step

Top quality, highly recommend

I am really in two minds about this book and I could not decide whether to award it 2 or 3 stars. I could not give it '5 stars' because on the back cover it states: 'Simple enough for a beginner' and this book is definitely not for a beginner unless that beginner already possesses a science degree, or a degree is a related subject, and preferably an advanced qualification in mathematics. Much of the book uses mathematical equations to describe processes and this can lead to a degree of abstraction that can confuse, confound and even annoy. This book is not intended for the casual reader who wants to know what thermodynamics is all about.I have an Honours Degree in Science & Technology but even this knowledge did not prepare me for this book. I have read the Introduction but found it extremely hard going and difficult to read. This first chapter is intended to define terminology and introduce thermodynamic concepts and principles that are expanded upon throughout the remainder of the book. I have read other papers on thermodynamics and their explanations have been far more lucid and practical. The narrative style and technical prose used by Professor Merle C. Potter, the author, is in my opinion, a significant handicap for the 'true' beginner. I have encountered professionals working in academia who are extremely knowledgeable but they sometimes lack the skills and the ability to be able to reduce the complexity of the subject they teach to a level that even a true beginner can understand.I think persistence may be the key to reading and understanding this book but a good scientific background is not just important it is absolutely essential.The book has many hundreds of worked examples and test questions and maybe this is where this book really excels, as a refresher prior to taking examinations. It also claims to be a 'self-study tool' but I cannot envisage it being used much outside of the classroom, except as indicated previously, i.e., a revision tool. It is not a big book, only 338 pages, but as the author states, some introductory books concerning thermodynamics exceed 900 pages.In summary, if the potential purchaser is comfortable with Advanced Calculus, Differential Equations and is prepared to grapple with some quite abstract concepts then this book might be for them.