Essential Classical Thermodynamics

This book is a concise, readable, yet authoritative primer of basic classic thermodynamics. Many students have difficulty with thermodynamics, and find at some stage of their careers in academia or industry that they have forgotten what they learned, or never really understood these fundamental physical laws. As the title of the book suggests, the author has distilled the subject down to its essentials, using many simple and clear illustrations, instructive examples, and key equations and simple derivations to elucidate concepts. Based on many years of teaching experience at the undergraduate and graduate levels, “Essential Classical Thermodynamics” is intended to provide a positive learning experience, and to empower the reader to explore the many possibilities for applying thermodynamics in other fields of science, engineering, and even economics where energy plays a central role. Thermodynamics is fun when you understand it!

Ulf W. Gedde holds the professor chair of Polymeric Materials at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. Professor Gedde's research interests are plastics, polymers, and their properties, polymer physics, crystalline polymers–molecular structure, crystallization kinetics, morphology and properties, thermotropic liquid crystalline polymers, polymers in power-electronics, the long-term performance of polymers, relaxation processes in polymers, polymer fracture, transport properties, polymeric outdoor insulating materials and polymer nanocomposites. 

Gedde is the author of 300 peer-reviewed scientific papers and one textbook on Polymer Physics (1995) and 5 patents. He has graduated  44 Ph.D students and was one of the scientific sources for the development of bimodal polyethylene materials (Borstar). Gedde has been Editor of European Polymer Journal and is currently Editor of Polymer Testing. Gedde is member offour journal editorial boards. His teaching activities extends over 40 years and span over a wide range of fields across polymer science.