Molecular Physical Chemistry for Engineers

Designed as a one-semester undergraduate course for engineers and materials scientists who need to understand physical chemistry, this book emphasises the behaviour of material from the molecular point of view.

About the Author :
John T. Yates, Jr. received his B.S. degree from Juniata College and his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from M.I.T. He spent 19 years at the National Bureau of Standards (NBS--now NIST) before joining the University of Pittsburgh as the R. K. Mellon Professor of Chemistry in 1982. He is the founding director of the University of Pittsburgh Surface Science Center. His work in the field of surface science includes the use of many types of surface measurement methods to develop new concepts about the behavior of atoms and molecules adsorbed on metal, semiconductor, and insulator surfaces. He is the author of over 650 research papers, editor and author of several specialized books dealing with surface science, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He has won many national and international awards for his research in surface chemistry. He is active in both undergraduate and graduate teaching in Chemistry. In 2007, he will become a Professor and Shannon Fellow in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia. J. Karl Johnson received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Brigham Young University in chemical engineering. He earned his Ph.D., also in chemical engineering, from Cornell University. He was a National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council Associate at the Naval Research Laboratory before joining the University of Pittsburgh, where he is currently the William Kepler Whiteford Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering. He is also a Faculty Fellow at the National Energy Technology Laboratory and co-director of the Center for Molecular and Materials Simulations at the University of Pittsburgh. His research interests include adsorption and transport of fluids in nanoporous materials, hydrogen storage in porous media and metal hydrides, solubility of polymers in liquid and supercritical carbon dioxide, and atomic-level processes on surfaces. He uses the tools of quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics to perform molecular simulations of complex systems, giving detailed information that complements experimental work and leading to predictions of new phenomena. He is the author of over 70 research articles, several of which are joint experimental/theoretical papers in collaboration with Professor Yates.

Review :
"I had a lot fun reading through this textbook. Its main assets are an excellent choice of topics, a logical sequence of chapters, and, in particular, a very patient and detailed introduction to the difficult concepts of quantum mechanics and statistical thermodynamics. Very importantly for engineering students, the authors end with a chapter on engineering applications."--Peter G. Vekilov, University of Houston "In summary, the book is, overall, excellent."--TCE Today, September 2008 "This book fits exactly my needs for a textbook in teaching our course specifically designed for Chem Engineering majors...I profoundly thank and congratulate the authors for putting this book together. It is greatly needed, will be widely used, and enormously appreciated."--Professor D. Wayne Goodman, Texas A&M