ISBN0471152323

This book is so hard for an undergrad to understand , dont buy this book. There are many others that are much better. Teachers like it because it has a lot of problems to solve but these guys could not describe how to turn out a light and make it understandable. I would recommend Cengal and Boles over this book.Thermodynamics: An Engineering Approach with Student Resource DVD

This book assumes you memorize everything they say once. In an example in chapter six, they went from V/2 to V/2 x 788 x 37.12 without saying why, without using symbols to show what the numbers represent, without even including units to help you figure out what they are doing. It turned out to be a conversion mentioned on a page in a chapter, not in any of the tables or indexes for conversion. Trying to follow their train of thought is like trying to walk up a flight of stairs with three foot high steps.

Over the past twenty-five years, I have used this book (or its earlier editions) as a student, teaching assistant, adjunct professor and as a practicing engineer and have found that I used this book more than the dozen or so books that I have on thermodynamics. This introductory book on thermodynamics contains many chapters devoted to the basic principles such as defining the state and the definition and determination of work. Later chapters include cycles, combustion, equilibrium and compressible flow. It is a very valuable reference for anyone involved in thermodynamics, because it contains a good overview of all the major topics and concerns.

Some of the reviews provided by current students are appropriate. The authors sometime assume that the first-time reader has a much stronger background than they do and or that can remember everything in the previous chapters. As a result, the sample problems are lacking in a detailed explanation of the concepts leaving the reader confused; however, once the reader understands thermodynamics, these sample problems can be a great help.

This book does have one merit. The thermodynamic tables in the back are extensive and easy to read. There is a wealth of information there that makes this a worthwhile reference book.

However, this book is first and foremost a textbook, and as a learning instrument it is an utter failure.

The book is littered with errors. Some are trivial, such as misspelled words or incorrect references. However, many are serious errors such as incorrect formulas or errors in the answer key and can leave you dumbfounded as you try to figure out how a seemingly impossible miracle of mathematics can take place.

I remember one incident where I spent almost two hours working on one problem, trying everything I could think of to get my answer to line up with the answer in the back of the book. I eventually gave up and asked my professor the next day. He worked it out and it turned out that my original answer was correct and the book was wrong! This was an all-too-frequent experience for me as I used this book, and if I had a nickel for every minute I wasted finding errors in this book I would have an easy time paying for my other textbooks.

Second, the book is incredibly confusing. I had over a 3.7 GPA going into Thermo I and was in my university's honors program. I don't typically have problems with comprehending textbooks, even poorly written ones. However, this book is totally incomprehensible to a student who has never taken a course in thermodynamics. The logic meanders to and fro apparently lacking any direction. The main points of each chapter are often hidden and poorly outlined. The explanations sometimes get sidetracked by pointless trains of thought, making it rather hard to pay attention. It might as well be in Greek.

Third, the book makes almost no connection between theory and practice. If you are a visual learner, you are completely out of luck. I can't remember one single picture in the book. Most textbooks utilize pictures just for the sake of having pictures or to give the author an excuse to write a new revision. This book is in dire need of a few well-chosen pictures, but all you will get are a plethora of vague and boring diagrams. An appropriate picture can help a student make the transition from theory (in this case, the text and discussion of the book) to practice (the problems). I found that I could (with great difficulty) translate the unintelligible babble of the text into an understanding of the fundamental concepts, but when I needed to use this understanding to solve a complicated problem, the connection between theory and practice wasn't there.

The sad thing is that, if your professor uses this book and assigns problems from it, you'll probably have to buy it anyway. It's a total waste and I hope your professor is a good one because you won't be learning anything in these pages.

I would say it's more for grad students than undergrad, the way it's written makes you pull your hair out. If you really have to get this book make sure you get something else with it. also you better hope your professor is really a good teacher or else you're screwed. I always teach my self, but not with this book.