The Principles of Chemical Equilibrium: With Applications in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

by K.G. Denbigh

This is the fourth edition of an established textbook of chemical thermodynamics used by university and technical college students of chemistry and chemical engineering. The text covers the same ground as previous editions, presenting the general theory of chemical equilibrium, including its statistical development, and illustrating its many applications in the laboratory and industry. This edition has been extensively revised in the light of recent contributions to the literature. Many new references have been added; the re-writing of certain passages, especially of those concerning the statistical interpretation of entropy and the present understanding of order-disorder transitions, also reflects changes of emphasis.

Genres: Science

516 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1981

About the author

Kenneth George Denbigh, chemical engineer and philosopher of science was born in Luton, Bedfordshire on 30 May 1911. He died in London on 23 January 2004.

Kenneth Denbigh was trained as a chemist; he became a chemical engineer during the Second World War, and in the last phase of his career was distinguished also for his writings on the metaphysical problems of "time" and its relation to thermodynamics.

He was born in 1911 of Yorkshire farming and industrial stock. His father, George Denbigh, was the manager and later a director of Brothertons, a chemical works in Wakefield. It was Kenneth's early experience of these works that led him to chemistry. He graduated with first class honours at Leeds in 1932 and in two further years completed a PhD with Robert Whytlaw-Gray.

Reviews

[Thomas Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Denbigh's text is, quite simply, the best. If you're a physical chemist or chemical engineer looking to understand thermodynamics and apply it to real problems, this is the text for you. I've read through quite a few thermo books over the years: Smith, Dugdale, Van Ness, Carnot (yes, that Carnot - Kelvin did the translation), Callen, Planck, Sandler, Reiss, and probably a few others (Tester and Model! Gmehling!) Some of these books are fantastic (I highly recommend Callen for a physicist's perspective; at the very least, spare yourself a whole load of pain and read through his chapter on the Maxwell relations!) but none of them have the overarching clarity of Denbigh. Where other textbooks left me with more and more questions, Denbigh left me perfectly satisfied. In the years since I read through Denbigh (twice, doing all the problems), I've applied thermodynamic techniques to a wide range of research problems: capsule compression, exergy analyses, material design, analysis of VLE data. There are precious few people out there who understand the power of thermodynamics, which is a real shame, because it's a truly beautiful subject. If you're at all interested in chemical thermodynamics, Denbigh is the place to start.