Acknowledgments

This book is the product of some 20 years of teaching thermodynamics at Penn State, but it would not have happened without the help, direct or indirect, of several individuals, colleagues, students, and friends. I must start by thanking Andrew Zydney, my colleague and department head, who encouraged me to spend my 2010–2011 sabbatical finishing this textbook. Without Andrew’s nudging, the book would have remained in the perpetual state of a draft-in-progress. I want to thank my colleagues, Darrell Velegol, Scott Milner, Seong Kim, Rob Rioux, and Enrique Gomez, who trusted drafts of the book, in various stages of completion, for use in their classes. Among those who reviewed the near-final draft, I want to thank Michael M. Domach and Tracy J. Benson, who offered comments that were especially insightful and encouraging. The number of students, whose feedback over the years shaped this book, is too large to list. But special thanks must go to my Fall 2011 class of CH E 220H, the honors section of Thermo I, on whom fell the unenviable task of debugging the first finished version of this book. They did this admirably. Of all the students in that class special mention goes to Steph Nitopi, Twafik Miral, Brian Brady, and Ashlee Smith, whose attention to detail was nothing but extraordinary. Bernard Goodwin and Michelle Housley of Pearson Education guided me through this book project—my first one—with a light hand and flexible deadlines. I want to thank Elizabeth Ryan, John Fuller, and Michelle Gardner, who, as members of the production team, brought my vision of this book to life. My wife Kristen, and daughter Melina, helped in many ways, big and small, in carrying this project out. And lastly, I feel grateful to LuLu, our little dog, who sat approvingly on my armchair next to me through countless hours of typing.