Modern Thermodynamics: From Heat Engines to Dissipative Structures.

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first_page settings Order Article Reprints Font Type: Arial Georgia Verdana Font Size: Aa Aa Aa Line Spacing:    Column Width:    Background: Open AccessBook Review Modern Thermodynamics: From Heat Engines to Dissipative Structures. by Shu-Kun Lin Molecular Diversity Preservation International (MDPI), Kandererstrasse 25, CH-4057 Basel, Switzerland Entropy 1999, 1(4), 148-149; https://doi.org/10.3390/e1040148 Received: 7 September 1999 / Published: 1 December 1999 Download Download PDF Download PDF with Cover Download XML Download Epub Versions Notes For readers interested in the Prigogine school of thermodynamics, this book is the first choice because it is a textbook. Conventionally textbooks are places where only mature theories are described and carefully presented [1]. The other important source is Prigogine's Nobel lecture [2]. The representative original literature is listed in this book, particularly on page 455. This book is in contrast to other thermodynamic textbooks regarding time. Many other authors of thermodynamic texts insist that thermodynamics is independent of time. However, here time and the "arrow of time" have been mentioned frequently and time t appears in mathematical expressions throughout this thermodynamics textbook, even in the first chapters where traditional thermodynamics is otherwise well presented. In order to avoid confusion for students, the reviewer (Lin) believes that time-dependent phenomena and theories should be discussed elsewhere in the context of chemical kinetics, and fluid dynamics, etc., not in thermodynamics [3]. Traditionally thermodynamics also discusses the open system and nonequilibrium. Prigogine has introduced a dissipative structure concept and mathematical equations for entropy S and time t for the open system and nonequilibrium. These are presented in chapters 12-18. The dissipative structure is defined as being really far from the equilibrium case. However, the higher-order terms in the Taylor series of entropy expression of fluctuation cannot be neglected if the considered system is really far from equilibrium (Chapter 18). Readers must duly have expected the earnest application of this entropy theory in the final two chapters. However, only many familiar equations of chemical kinetics have been applied. Amazingly the symbol of entropy S did not appear once in any of the many equations in Chapter 19, Dissipative Structures. AcknowledgmentsI am very grateful to Dr. Dilip Kondepudi ([email protected], Wake Forest University) and Dr. Andrew Slade ([email protected], Wiley) for their kind assistance.References and NotesSeveral books co-authored by Prigogine were published recently. For example, Stengers, I.; Prigogine, I. The End of Certainty: Time, Chaos, and the New Laws of Nature; Free Press: New York, 1997. [Google Scholar] Prigogine, I. Time, structure, and fluctuations. Science 1978, 201, 777–785. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]Lin, S.-K. Editorial: diversity and entropy. Entropy 1999, 1, 1–3. ( http://wwwmdpiorg/entropy/htm/e1010001htm). [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] © 1999 by MDPI (http://www.mdpi.org). Reproduction is permitted for noncommercial purposes. Share and Cite MDPI and ACS Style Lin, S.-K. Modern Thermodynamics: From Heat Engines to Dissipative Structures. Entropy 1999, 1, 148-149. https://doi.org/10.3390/e1040148 AMA Style Lin S-K. Modern Thermodynamics: From Heat Engines to Dissipative Structures. Entropy. 1999; 1(4):148-149. https://doi.org/10.3390/e1040148 Chicago/Turabian Style Lin, Shu-Kun. 1999. "Modern Thermodynamics: From Heat Engines to Dissipative Structures." Entropy 1, no. 4: 148-149. https://doi.org/10.3390/e1040148 Find Other Styles Article Metrics No No Article Access Statistics For more information on the journal statistics, click here. Multiple requests from the same IP address are counted as one view.