chemical

I wish there was an option to give this negative stars. Or at least zero.
If you think this book is good, then it is because of one of two things. Either: 1.) You have NOT HAD to read this book (i.e., for a graduate course in chemical thermo), or 2.) You are a sadistic professor who likes to see their students suffer. There is nothing here of any value. The problems are near impossible to solve, and the text does not explain terms at all. The so called "postulatory approach" provides zero insight into this subject. If you are looking for a text to learn thermo, then keep looking. If you have to buy this book, you have my prayers. If you have to use this book for a class, then I would HIGHLY suggest that you pick up Sandler's "Chemical and Engineering Thermodynamics." You will use it 10X more then Tester's text.

A student five years above me did not like this book. A student four years above me also did not like this book. A student two years above me did not like it either. A student a year above me hated this book. And what a surprise, I didn't like it either. See the pattern?

There are several reasons why so many people dislike this book. First of all, the style of the writing is very roundabout and philosophical. If you're reading this book out of interest, it can be interesting. But when you actually have to solve the problems in the back of the chapter by the next day, this indirect approach can be annoying, since you never really know what you really need to know.

The first few chapters based on the First and Second Law are written well, compared to the rest of the book. Chapter 9 is a horrible chapter (on Mixtures) with 200+ Equations in the chapter. Not that having 200+ equations is bad in itself, but the way the chapter is written, you have no idea what equations are important.

Chapter 10 on Classical Stat Mech is also very difficult to read. If you've studied Stat Mech before, it may not be too bad. For someone who's never seen Stat Mech, the chapter takes hours to read, and after you've read it, you still have absolutely no idea what the book is trying to say.

As for buying this book, if you're really into thermodynamics and you really love and understand it, you might like this book. For a professor, it might be a refreshing read. For normal people who have to buy this book, since it's required for a class -- I feel your pain. Do the world a favor -- once you're done with the book, give it away to someone younger who also needs to suffer through it. I guarantee you that once you're done with it, you'll never pick it up again (and find yourself picking up Smith and Van Ness instead).

I found this book to be almost worthless in my efforts to learn thermodynamics at a graduate level. Even concepts that I understood were not clear to me after reading this text. Only buy this book if it is required for your course, and even then do not expect it to be useful.