Book excerpt: Metallurgical Thermodynamics, as well as its modified version, Thermodynamics of Materials, forms a core course in metallurgical and materials engineering, constituting one of the principal foundations in these disciplines. Designed as an undergraduate textbook, this concise and systematically organized text deals primarily with the thermodynamics of systems involving physico-chemical processes and chemical reactions, such as calculations of enthalpy, entropy and free energy changes of processes; thermodynamic properties of solutions; chemical and phase equilibria; and thermodynamics of surfaces, interfaces and defects. The major emphasis is on high-temperature systems and processes involving metals and inorganic compounds. The many worked examples, diagrams, and tables that illustrate the concepts discussed, and chapter-end problems that stimulate self-study should enable the students to study the subject with enhanced interest.