Lavenda B.H. A New Perspective on Thermodynamics

1st Edition. — New York — Dordrecht — Heidelberg — London: Springer, 2010 — XVII + 207 p.: il. — ISBN 978-1-4419-1429-3, e-ISBN 978-1-4419-1430-9, Library of Congress Control Number: 2009940574.This text combines an old look at thermodynamics with a new foundation. A New Perspective on Thermodynamics can be considered a new edition of P.G. Tait's book, which profoundly impacted generations of thermodynamicists. The book will present a historical perspective which unravels the current presentation of thermodynamics found in standard textbooks, and which emphasizes the fundamental role that Carnot played in the development of thermodynamics. Conceptual flaws in timely topics, such as endoreversible engines, finite-time thermodynamics, and single-molecule measurements which use equilibrium changes in the free energy to determine nonequilibrium work, are highlighted.
The book introduces a new outlook on thermodynamics, showing that it was not formulated as a series of laws, like those of Newton, but, rather, as the desire to account for the effects of heat on otherwise mechanical systems, and the possible overlap of the interpretations of first and second laws. In fact, the historical development shows that there is no clear-cut distinction between the first and second laws; irreversibility can be characterized by an increase in entropy or a diminution in the internal energy. Notwithstanding this, it is Clausius’s approach which is almost universally adhered to. An approach to the development of non-Carnot efficiencies is given, and how it can be used in modern contexts. Critiques are given on finite-time thermodynamics, non-Carnot cycles, single molecule experiments that equate non-equilibrium work with equilibrium free energy chains.The Predecessors of Carnot
The Dawn of the Science of Heat
From Isothermal to Adiabatic Propagation of Sound
Sources for Reflexions
Carnot’s Thermodynamics
Thermodynamics from Carnot to Clausius and Kelvin
Reflexions: An Ignored Masterpiece
Doctrine of Latent and Specific Heats
Interconvertibility of Heat and Work
Integrating Factors Galore
Carath´eodory’s Attempt at the Second Law
Thermodynamics in a Carnot Equation
Why Exterior Differentials?
Two-and-a-Half Commandments of Thermodynamics
A Clash of Inequalities
Carnot’s Real Efficiency Resurrected
Equivalence of First and Second Laws
Laws of Thermodynamics: Local and Global Forms
Carnot’s Modified Axiom and His Criterion for Irreversibility
Beyond Steam Engines: Thermoelectricity
Irreversibility Viewed as Violations in the First and Second Laws
Work from Nonequilibrium Systems
What is Work?
Principle of Thermal Resistance
Principle of Maximum Work
Work and Free Energy
Nonextensive Thermodynamics
Incomparable Thermodynamic Laws
Einbinder’s N-Theorem
Unconventional Phase Equilibria
Nonextensive Adiabatic Potentials
The Second Laws
An Equivalent Carnot Cycle
Confines of Thermodynamics
Mathematical vs. Physical Inequalities
Comparable Means
Bounds on Mean Temperatures and Volumes
Geometry of Thermodynamics
Thermodynamics of Coding and Fractals