3 comments about Elementary Fluid Dynamics (Oxford Applied Mathematics and Computing Science Series).

1. This book is well organized and full of examples, but it's will be better to explain more about the math operation and what does it means in the real world.



2. This book is one of the most stimulating books on fluid mechanics that I have come across. It is very carefully written and well organized. The physics behind the phenomena are vividly explained. The subject is, however, mathematically difficult and the book should not be attempted without advanced calculus and vector analysis.



3. This is the clearest book on fluid dynamics that I've seen. It's perfect for physics students who need a quick review of the subject. It does an amazing job of relating the math to the reality. Many of the problems make reference to research as recent as the 1980's. This book isn't the last word on anything (for example the information on instability is only the beginning), but it's an amazing place to start. As for the down sides, the math requirements in my opinion are a little steeper than the back cover implies. It pretty much assumes that you know complex variables and the residue theorem, and although it avoids the more difficult PDEs, it might help to know some things about them. And this isn't really a down side, but a lot of interesting information is tied to the problems, which may bother some readers.

No comments about Introduction to Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer + EES Software.

5 comments about Advanced Engineering Thermodynamics.

1. "This is a very new way of thinking thermodynamics! It bridges the "old Thermodynamics" based on the three well-known laws with brand new developments that encompass generation of structure in flow systems for which the "Constructal Law" provides a sound basis. It invites the reader to a new vision, and to challenging new ways of thinking old problems! The real world is out of equilibrium, develops structure and morphs in time. At every chapter the reader is defied to see real problems with an open-mind though by the eyes of the engineer. I strongly recommended it to my students!"



2. The third edition of this book provides complete detail of the first and second laws of thermodynamics, including detail perspectives of their historical foundation. It also provides a complete course in advanced engineering thermodynamics in the area of entropy generation minimization, destruction of available work etc., as well as introducing the emerging area of constructal law of configuration generation, a new law of physics. In fact, this book bridges the gap between the old thermodynamics and the new way of thinking (Constructal law) that makes thermodynamics very interesting. Having used this book as a graduate student, I strongly recommend this book. It is a must have book for all engineers in the area of thermal sciences.



3. « Advanced Engineering Thermodynamics » by A. Bejan is an astonishing construction of classical thermodynamics and of high-level recent developments such as entropy generation minimisation and the constructal theory. This book can be used either by engineering students or by confirmed researchers belonging to a wide range of fields such as thermodynamics of course but also, more generally, physics. The remarkable historical dimension of the book concerning the emergence and the evolution of thermodynamics as a science has to be noticed. By covering the phenomenon of geometry generation in all physics, Bejan's "constructal" contribution to thermodynamics and to science is becoming irreversible!



4. Bejan's AET book offers a unique, clear and straightforward exposure to classical thermodynamics. The book neatly dissects the most fundamental concepts of thermodynamics, while covering total flow exergy, restricted dead state and unconstrained equilibrium state, heat transfer, fluid flow and chemical irreversibilities, thermodynamic optimization, irreversibility distribution ratio, lost exergy, EGM, etc, from a fundamental and applied stand point (e.g., power generation, solar power, low temperature refrigeration). Chapter 13 also brings the latest developments in Constructal Theory. I strongly recommend this book to grad and undergrad students interested in advanced, yet accessible, thermodynamics.



5. This book is truly engaging and many chapters are simply memorable.
   Unlike many similarly hefty texts, this new edition of Advanced Engineering Thermodynamics gives a lucid, informative and insightful approach to the laws of thermodynamics and their real-world applications. Moreover, it also reports on the latest advances made based on the author's constructal theory. The text flows smoothly, with excellent illustrations and has been meticulously proofread, a credit to both Dr. Bejan and his editors.
   I thoroughly enjoyed reading this 3rd edition of Advanced Engineering Thermodynamics; therefore, I can most sincerely recommend it. In summary: a must-read in the field for university students and scientific researchers alike.

5 comments about How to Solve Physics Problems (College Course).

1. Beginning with the "How To Use This Book" and "How To Excel in Your Physics Course", (especially the latter) and throughout its pages, this is, without a doubt in this readers opinion, the very best book on the subject I have found to date (And I have many). It puts you through the paces. If you want to know this subject and excel in it, these authors have placed before you the practice you will need. I recommend this book highly for your first experiences in this subject. Starting with the mathematical background required; then on to Classical through Special Relativity. It covers each and every topic, in a clear, concise method that enhances learning and improves retention greatly in each and every area. It's a great reference to have on the shelf. EXCELLENT! My thanks to the authors. Your book has helped me much more than I ever expected.



2. this is a very good book except there are some mistakes(but the mistakes are easily found and corrected by yourself). This book gives you how to attack problems in a very organized manner even though the problems are not so difficult. I came to be able to solve more challenging problems in a different book after solving the easy but organized ones in this book. I recommend this book!



3. it's a good book, it helped a great deal. I wish time was taken to correct typographical errors. I lost valuable time that could have been used to study.



4. This book is a decent book for those being taking a freshman physics course for non-majors. This is a good supplement to a calculus based physics textbook.



5. Other than a few typos, this book is awesome. I learn the basic concepts from this book, and then do the problems in my textbook. This book has helped me when my professor couldn't/wouldn't. You cannot learn physics from this book only, but it is an excellent addition to any textbook.

5 comments about Thermodynamics and Its Applications (3rd Edition) (Prentice Hall International Series in the Physical and Chemical Engineering Sciences).

1. I wish there was an option to give this negative stars. Or at least zero.
   If you think this book is good, then it is because of one of two things. Either: 1.) You have NOT HAD to read this book (i.e., for a graduate course in chemical thermo), or 2.) You are a sadistic professor who likes to see their students suffer. There is nothing here of any value. The problems are near impossible to solve, and the text does not explain terms at all. The so called "postulatory approach" provides zero insight into this subject. If you are looking for a text to learn thermo, then keep looking. If you have to buy this book, you have my prayers. If you have to use this book for a class, then I would HIGHLY suggest that you pick up Sandler's "Chemical and Engineering Thermodynamics." You will use it 10X more then Tester's text.



2. I have taken 3 years of thermodynamics with different books. This book being the worst! I felt I 'delearned' after trying to read some of the chapters. The early chapters were good in explaining the basis of thermodynamics. The rest of the book is way too general, the equations are derived for extremely general cases and it makes trying to relate to real world situations near impossible. The problems at the end of the chapters are not easy and there are NO good examples within the chapters. The problems are written poorly and often open to interpretation so students can get 5 or 6 different answers to one problem. If you are forced to use this book I would recommend that you do NOT read the chapters, only work the problems. Buy a different book to study thermodynamics from.



3. I am taking this course as a graduate student and I have taken three previous courses in Thermodynamics. I know less about this subject and am more confused then I was before I read this book. In my undergraduate degree I did really well in the thermodynamics courses I took and felt like I had a good understanding of the topic. You wouldn't think one book could undo three solid semesters of learning Thermodynamics, but it did for me. The title of this book implies that it is application based, but it is just a pure lie. This book serves the purpose of stroking the ego of professors, and demeaning the moral of the students. I am completely unsatisfied with this book.



4. Prentice Hall, a more or less new member of the world-wide Pearson Education Group, offers countless texts on thermodynamics at their prenhallDOTcom site. At least five of them feature in the series labelled 'Prentice Hall International Series in the Physical and Chemical Engineering Sciences': BalzhiserSamuelsElliassen1; ElliottLira1; Kyle3; PrausnitzLichtenthalerAzevedo3; TesterModell3. Although you might have put up with it yet (I own four titles from that series.), just to state this irrefutable fact: With regard for the existing competition, the overall book quality, unimaginative content presentation, disorderly, ugly content layout, horridly cheap(!) quality of beige-coloured sheets of paper, amateurish typeset, yuckily yellow hardcover, lack of (online) companion resources, and maybe most of all, the horribly sloppy editorial supervision monitoring (typo-)graphical errors, hardly add to a convincing marketing concept. So this, the beauty of book quality, is not what you pay for or what you get for your two-star bucks. What is left as only, possible decision-maker is the taco bell distillate: the pure, intellectual text content. And letting me anticipate, of all the mentioned yellow fives, this advanced textbook is the only worth talking about contents (ie. dont ever/even bother with the other four yellows. sincerely!). To begin, to quote the preface, "The third edition *now* is intended for a two-semester subject in graduate-level chemical thermodynamics". I am not sure if you got this, so again: as an chemical engineering student (and this text is for ChemE's only. Only.) you usually have passed two standard semesters of thermo (called ENGINEERING thermo; something which virtually *all* eng stud's of diverse fields CivilE, MechE, EnvironE, ChemE etc share. boring and easy stuff) by the end of sophomore's. It is then mandatory for one of your very first junior courses to be *a* semester of 'chemical thermodynamics' which is almost the same as 'chemical engineering thermodynamics'. For the average aspired this is it, not more. Well, sophisticated college of engineering programs do offer additional optional, more-in-depth lower division level thermo courses (=undergrad courses) for your remaining senior years (often called 'Advanced Phase Equilibria Blah-blub'). Now, the world-famous M.I.T., Cambridge MA, goes even further by offering another(!) two, *higher division* level courses in ChemE thermo (theoretically your 5th and 6th thermo-semester!) for its aspiring graduates wow. And the JWTester3 text (?. the book rather appears to constitute a monograph. although with examples and end-of-chapter problems ;-) is to accompany this 1st-gradyear at MIT. Hopefully you are by now in the picture of the MIT situation. Be it as it may, PolingPrausnitzOConnell5 classifies the monumental 942pages-work as "semiadvanced text" whereas Koretsky1 calls it an "advanced text and monograph". Little old me would even title it as "*highly* advanced" without exaggeration. But, and here the wonderful comes, all this hard, high-level, dry theory is wonderfully interconnected with everyday world, experience, love, phenomena, science, technology, ie. not only with the typical, boring MechE or ChemE apparatus, devices and engineering cycles Carnot etc. Where other typical core texts such as Sandler4 or SmithVanness7 limit themselves to engineering applications of immediate engineering interest, Tester3 --a fellow of RReid, JPrausnitz, HVanNess, WDeen, PHarriott, MDuncan-- regards thermodynamics as a global, unifying theory which can be applied to any process, any phenomena, any part of nature, any thing, any time, any system, any subject. And not only standard engineering matter. So Tester's book was not titled 'Chemical thermodynamics and its engineering applications' but 100% appropriately 'Thermodynamics and its applications', since it is about *any* existing thermodynamics (treats and unifies engineering thermo, chemical thermo, chemical engineering thermo, statistical thermo, classical thermo, mathematical thermo and modern thermo) and about *any* application of that colossal theory web to *any* reality in its most general form including all special cases. Isnt this cool? It is! So a great book? Sure, no doubt. The most comprehensive, the only all-round thermo treatment, and also from a modern point of view, Third Edition, and ©1996. And why only a two-star rating? Because the book's usability is limited to a hee itsy-bitsy audience. For the bulk part of ChemE students the entire book, theory, examples, problems and appendices are faaar beyond scope [sic] (Normally, textbooks note in foot notes the contrary [sic!], namely that a mentioned subtopic is "beyond the scope of our text. please refer to the literature, see supplemental reading at the end of this chapter blah-blah"). Not useful and of limited student's practical value: I bet that for 98.5% of the AMAZON.COM users who stumble upon this review of mine the book is not "it", so steer clear of Tester3. For the other 1.5%, be sure you can handle this highly advanced treatment! And also, with the lack of a student's solutions manual or study guide and the lack of Prentice Hall PTR's overall book quality, I would never recommend its purchase. If you need it, borrow a lib copy. But dont buy new! And if you still think of buying, you better wait. It has come to my bad ears that a new edition ©2007 is to be out at the end of 2006. Ten years later, finally. By the by, an exemplary text of more usefulness and practical value to the general ChemE student to accompany the full undergrad higher education is Sandler4, if that is what you are looking for. As to the education at higher division, Tester3 might *well* be the best...because the only ;-P
   A last note, a personal. I do like the book, because I do appreciate its completeness, its scope, the many unusual topics treated (much material which i have never seen before or elsewhere. especially not in a book, which calls itself a "text"!), the advanced mathematical level of treatment, the lengthy, overly(!) hard problems, the illustrations, graphs, tables, collections of formulas, the detailed examples, the exact referencing, and the fantastic applications of high-level, dry theory to everyday world. As a gaga fan of thermodynamics science I wish I could exchange my old SmithVanness for a used copy of Tester3. But who wants a SmithVanness copy after having read my review of it? *g* Even if I am interested and find the book highly interesting/fascinating, I would never be willing to pay full price (=brand new copy) for Tester3 nor for Tester4 because of diverse reasons, as mentioned earlier in the whole review. Please also read my other thermo (intro) text reviews at AMAZON.COM for more relevant titles *for you*. You are definitely wrong *here*! (98.5%-probability ;-)



5. It is impossible to understand how a prof can choose this book. I am an grad student and forced to buy this book. This book contains no useful engineering applications whatsoever. It is very confusing and hard to follow. I had to purchase two other thermo books to finally understand what was going on. End of chapter problems are very hard and not enough sample problems. I have too much negative things to say about this book than positive.

5 comments about Boundary-Layer Theory.

1. This is the best and the most classical fluid mechanics book that i have read. Read it through carefully and you will get much from it. Reading it from time to time can give you many new knowledge every time.



2. this is a classic book. however, the new 8th edition is not translated very well. i have an older english version (6th edition, 1968) that is translated much better. even where the content is the same between the two editions, the "updated" translation is worse that in the original version.



3. This is the classic book on the subject to be ever written and retains its class by incorporating some of the recent developments in the boundary layer theory.
   
   A great collection for anyone in the field of turbulence, aerodynamics ...



4. Although I have only the first edition, I still find it to be of immense value, and hands-down superior to any other book on the subject (save the newer edition perhaps). It seamlessly weaves together theory, mathematics, and experimental observation, into a very readable and (surprisingly) interesting text. Because it explains the fundamentals so well, Schlichting's book is one of those rare engineering classics that will continue to be of value for a very long time to come.



5. Good value - well worth the money. I also like the updated sections available in the Springer edition.

3 comments about Schaum's Outline of Thermodynamics With Chemical Applications (Schaum's Outline Series).

1. Unfortunately the authors are still using a sign convention for work which has been outdated for years. This can only confuse students.



2. This outline, like that of Clyde R. Metz (Physical Chemistry) is defective in its presentation of the very first fundamental quantities of thermodynamics, Enthalpy (H) and Internal Energy (U). I find it hard to believe that the authors of these supplements can't seem to understand that (1) PV has units of ENERGY, *not* units of energy/mol*K, (2) H and U (and their associated changes) would PERFORCE have to have units of energy also, since H = U + PV, and (3) using "molar volume" without explicitly defining it as V/n while using the SAME symbol as "ordinary" volume without telling the reader is nothing more than pedagogical carelessnes...or possibly stupidity. Abbot and Van Ness aren't doing anyone any favors by doing silly things like blithely declaring the Ideal Gas Law to be PV = RT, which automatically gives the student pause wondering if it's a typo. Having foolishly bought both Metz' "Physical Chemistry" and Abbot & Van Ness' "Thermodynamics With Chemical Applications", I'm here to warn anyone else contemplating similar purchases: DON'T DO IT, UNLESS YOU LIKE BEING CONFUSED. These authors are apparently too "advanced" and "learned" to bother with such petty details of presentation, and unless you learned your elementary thermo on some other planet where they don't use n (or always use molar quantities,) you're going to be scratching your head wondering where n went, or where n suddenly came from in their example problems. How such supposed experts could be so sloppy on small but important details like these is beyond me.



3. The Schaum Outline Series has stood the test of time and Thermodynamics by Abbott and Van Ness is no exception. If you want to learn thermo beyond the typical undergraduate level, progressively working through the problems chapter-by-chapter in this book will do the trick.
   
   Although this book does follow the old sign convention for work (positive when the system does work on the environment), it properly follows the specific energy convention of "energy/mass". Thus, the ideal gas equation is PV = RT, where V has units of "volume/mass". Once this simple terminology is understood, steam tables can be readily used without confusion.

3 comments about A Brief Introduction to Fluid Mechanics, Student Solutions Manual.

1. This was the book used for my first course in fluid mechanics and it was great. The text is easy to understand and follow. Example problems are done out fully. The material in the book is not in-depth enough to make it a great reference, but as far as instruction goes, this book is superb. Another great part of this book is that it is not as expensive as other texts. A new copy of the second edition was less than $40 at the campus bookstore.
   
   A note to instructors, the solution manual (which is also excellent) is readily available online - or at least it used to be.



2. Although brief (as the name of the text implies), I have found that this is a wonderful companion text for any fluid mechanics course. Such courses are often taught during the upper level undergrad or entry level grad portions of the C.Eng., Hydrology, M.Eng., and Env.Eng. programs. The selling point in this text is the detail of the diagrams and examples. This alone should interest students. These examples are really good and the level of detail is thorough so that one can easliy apply concepts from problem to problem. My only complaint is minimal. The complaint is that the text is indeed brief and as such, sometimes the wording and explanation suffers. Aside from that, I highly recommend this text as a companion to other texts used in fluid mechancs courses.



3. This solutions manual does not provide answers to the questions at the end of each chapter of the fluid mechanics book; instead the solutions correspond to the Review Problems section on the book website. There are around 15 problems worked out per chapter, all of which are easy to follow and understand. This book is a good reference to have but for me isn't worth the money since it doesn't help me work through my homework problems.

5 comments about Time Traveler: A Scientist's Personal Mission to Make Time Travel a Reality.

1. "The moving finger writes and having writ moves on, nor all your piety can lure it back nor your tears wash out a word of it." Jon Donne.
   
   If Prof. Ron Mallett has his way, the words of Jon Donne will be a quaint aphorism that people used to say. The reason Mallett says this is because he believes that the time barrier can be broken and that -- someday -- people will have the technology to travel into the past.
   
   Almost immediately on announcing his speculations, Mallett became the topic of intense media interest including a Learning Channel special and great media coverage. And this is rightly so because the back story of Mallett's motivation -- so ably told in this book -- is itself so compelling.
   
   In 1955, while still a child, Ron Mallett lost his father who died of heart failure at the age of 33. Loving his Dad as intensely as he did, Mallett began to dream of breaking the time barrier to rejoin his father just to tell him "I love you."
   
   Just as everyone can easily connect with Mallett's motivation, mostly everyone will find themselves somewhat befuddled by the science behind Mallett's speculations. This isn't because he doesn't do a good job of explaining himself, but rather simply because scientific explanations typically tend to tax comprehension.
   
   That being said, his theory is an ingenious one: that just as gravity can used to distort time, so can concentrated light. In this way, Mallett must now consider it the sweetest serendipity that he worked in the private sector with lasers for a formative part of his early career. In this way, he became immediately acquianted with the very device he intends to employ in his time travel device.
   
   The typical time travel scenerios that have been set out involve a radical twisting of space. If we were bugs living on a sheet of Christmas wrapping paper, our travel from one end of the sheet to the other would be greatly speeded if we could somehow get the paper from the ends to connect with each other. And indeed, this is what the tradition theories of time travel all propose: that somehow -- whether it's through cosmic strings as speculated by J Richard Gott or black holes as speculated by Kip Thorne -- a force so great is created that space is litterally forced to warp back on itself.
   
   Unfortunately, at the end of the day, Mallett's theories will probably face the same fate at those of Gott and Thorne respecting time travel by people into the past...failure. However, having opened by quoting Donne, it's perhaps best to close by quoting Theodore Roosevelt who said:
   
   "Pity not those who have failed but those who live in that grey twilight that knows neither success nor failure."
   
   By dint of genius, Mallett -- ultimately successful or not -- has irrevocably taken himself out of that "grey twilight" and us with him...if only in our hearts and imaginations.



2. I enjoyed the auto-biography and the quantom physics lessons along the way. I wish more was said about the more recent events concerning the time travel experiments. I felt hungry for more information on the whole subject and was left wanting more.
   
   This was an easy read and I enjoyed reading non-the-less...



3. I heard Dr. Mallett on NPR and ordered the book right away. While some aspects of this book are less than satisfying (Dr. Mallett alternates between hubris and humility in an odd fashion at times....), the emotional quest that set the author on the path of theoretical physics cannot be anything other than deeply affecting. While his personal accounts were sometimes just not quite authentic or unfeigned to me (hey, he's not perfect!), what truly shines in this book is Dr. Mallett's love of science, of math, and his gift for explaining some of the very complex aspects of relativity theory. In this respect, I heartily recommend the book and would hope that he would write further for the general public on the subject. As a PhD chemist myself, I am very appreciative of the gift of teaching with which he is endowed, a rarity among great researchers. His explanations to a general science audience are almost as powerful as those of Feynman. Dr. Mallett's commitment to his lifelong work, his dogged pursuit of any and all tools (mathematical and instrumental) to achieve that goal stand as a shining example. His story should be required reading for minority youth interested in the sciences, engineering, or just seemingly forging ahead in academia. Any flaws in the book are dwarfed by his true artistry in theoretical physics.



4. My son is thoroughly enjoying this book -- he loves learning about astronomy and time travel!



5. Spike Lee has acquired the film rights to this story (spring 2008). "Lee, who will co-write the script for the film and direct it, says he is 'elated to have acquired the rights to a fantastic story on many levels, but also a father-and-son saga of loss and love.'" (University of Connecticut Advance, June 23, 2008)

3 comments about Internal Combustion Engines: Applied Thermosciences.

1. Great book. Easy to read through. Chapters are short and concentrate on only one subject at a time. Some of the derivations are left to the student/reader so if you do not already have a thermo book investing in one is a good idea. Overall, great text.



2. This book lacks example problems and has an errata almost as thick as itself. Poorly explained topics complete this debacle.



3. This was a great book that I received which is currently helping with a course that I am enrolled at in college. It is very interesting and very informational