Book excerpt: Here is a comprehensive and comprehensible treatment of engineering thermodynamics from its theoretical foundations to its applications in real situations. The thermodynamics presented will prepare students for later courses in fluid mechanics and heat transfer, and practicing engineers will find the applications helpful in their professional work. The book is appropriate for an introductory undergraduate course in thermodynamics and for a subsequent course in thermodynamic applications.The chapters dealing with steam power plants, internal combusion engines, and HVAC are unmatched. The introductory chapter on turbomachinery is also unique. A thorough development of the second law of thermodynamics is provided in chapters 7-9. The ramifications of the second law receive thorough discussion; the student not only performs calculations, but understands the implications of the calculated results.Computer models created in TK Solver accompany each chapter and are particularly useful in the application areas. The TK Solver files provided with the book can be used as written or modified and merged into models developed to analyze new problems.The book has two particularly important strengths: its readability and the depth of its treatment of applications. The readability will make the content understandable to the average students; the depth in applications will make the book suitable for applied upper-level courses as well.