JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION 0
THE THERMODYNAMICS OF THE STEADY STATE
K. G.Denbigh, University Lecturer, The Chemical Engineering Laboratory, Cambridge. Methuen and Co. Ltd., London. John 103 pp. 11 X 17 cm Wiley & Sans, Inc., New York, 1951 vii $1.75.
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THISis the second book on the seme subject that has appeared recently. The first was reviewed in the January number of THIS JOWAL. This book, one of "Methuen's Monographs on Chemical Subjects" is attractively designed and well written. The nature of its contents can be presented in the author's own words by using quotations from the introduction and by giving a l i d of the chapter headings. ". . . there has been an important development, which has become known as the 'thermodynamics of irreversible processes.' A more appropriate name would be the 'thermodynamics of the steady state!. . . A rather abstruse literature of the subject has developed and it has seemed worth while to attempt a simple interpretation of its content and an explanation of the main ideas.. . t h e theory leads to results which are useful only for certain types of procesa, such as thermal diffusion." In the foregoing clause, the inaccurate use of the word "process" is typical of this and several other books. The expressions "spontaneous obnge" and "spontaneous process" should not be used interchangeably. "Process" means the method of carrying out a given change. (To use the dictionary example: the process of making steel.) Actually, a given spontaneous change theoretically can be carried out by a reversible process or by a n irreversible process. The ebspter beadings are: (I) Introduction, (11) Tho Thomson Hypothesis Applied to Thermal Migration Phenomena, (111) Onsaeer's Theoru. . . IIV). The Rate of the Entronv. Increase in ~ u t & l l'rocci;r*.r.(L) Some yplirntio~moi the Tl.eory: Thrrmal \lirrntion, 1)iffusion Purenrial, E t v , (VI) Tllomwn'~HyIWI he& in Relation ru rlw T h n q ,,Onrxgcr. i
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W. F. LUDER
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ALCOA: AN AMERICAN ENTERPRISE
Charles C. Corr. Rinehart & Co., Inc., New York, 1952. ix 292 pp. 11 plates. 15 X 24.5 cm. 53.50.
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