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Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Thermo Book - Not for the weak minded
Review: A truly excellent text on chemical thermodynamics...every topic is throughly and accurately explained in detail. However, this book is too intense for the average engineering student. But if you are sick of your lame thermo text and/or professor and want to know the real meat and potatoes of chemical thermo...this is a good place to start. This book teaches thermo at a level required of all ChemE's and ME's 20 or 30 years ago...it's too bad enigneering education has weaken to the point where people complain about a class "obviously being too hard because the majority of the class failed"...maybe the majority of class didn't have the desire or intelligence to be an engineer.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Thermo Book - Not for the weak minded
Review: A truly excellent text on chemical thermodynamics...every topic is throughly and accurately explained in detail. However, this book is too intense for the average engineering student. But if you are sick of your lame thermo text and/or professor and want to know the real meat and potatoes of chemical thermo...this is a good place to start. This book teaches thermo at a level required of all ChemE's and ME's 20 or 30 years ago...it's too bad enigneering education has weaken to the point where people complain about a class "obviously being too hard because the majority of the class failed"...maybe the majority of class didn't have the desire or intelligence to be an engineer.
Rating: 
Summary: Bringing chaos to order
Review: I personally find it very difficult to review this book. The subject matter is particularly hard; thus it could be the case that my inability to grasp the material might render me incapable of a sound judgment of the quality of the book. When it comes to engineering books, a particular system of units may comes as annoyance to those unfamiliar with it. Prof. Sandler however managed to avoid the indulgence of deluging the book with non-SI units, a certain pitfall many authors fell victim to in their endeavor to expose students to the real-world situations where units don't come nicely in meters and Kelvins. Well, as they say, the road to thermodynamic hell is paved with good intentions. The derivation of the equations are sufficiently rigorous, and the algebra can be dauntingly so. As someone who appreciates mathematical formalism and rigor, I should find the course satisfying this [interest] of mine. Events did not turn out that way however; when the conceptually simple but algebraically tedious calculation is repeated over and over again with different variables (eg calculating the partial molar property of G, then for H, then for S, etc) one easily becomes stultified; the mind thenceforth approaches the book merely as an exercise in clever manipulation of mathematical symbols. This is most probably not a particular "fault" of this book, but the field itself. The book took an axiomatic development of thermodynamics; some historical snippets are inserted to help the intuition whenever necessary. Much to the wisdom of Prof. Sandler, his examples are clear and illustrative of the underlying concept he wishes to clarify; again here he managed to avoid the all-too-common indulgence in "cute" story problems (eg "Your uncle's friend Fred has opened a plant ...") that in some books may span two annoyingly long paragraphs. (I have actually sit for a 50-minute exam where students were expected to extract vital informations from such vague story problems. As expected, the students did not find them funny.) The last complaint I have for this book is the apparent lack of numerical answers at the back. At least numerical answers would help one check whether the solution worked out is reasonable. I know students who have become frustrated by this absence. The psychological effect is apparent: students, especially those motivated by instant gratification, simply refused to do the work reasoning that it is useless to labor on something without at least having the comforting feeling that one is nearing the answer at each step.
Rating:
Summary: *The* fundamental work. A "Strong Buy" for anybody!
Review: If you know more or less what eng and or chem thermo is about and feel more advanced and confident in this subject and do not need/want a 'Book-For-Dummies', then go and purchase the world-wide highly renowned textbook by Stanley I. Sandler. This has now become the definitive standard and top reference in class. It is full of words and formulas, tables, charts and illustrations, examples, problems, diagrams and appendices, all presented in a modern, attractive manner. You can use it as a 'detailed text' or as a 'look-up reference'. Due to the nature of the subject matter, this book is not 'easy': a complete, detailed, thorough book on a hard, dry subject will result in a hard (and dry?) reading for anybody! Nevertheless, the modern, beautiful presentation will make the reader's efforts worthwhile. This is not an "enjoyable" reading as such, but the most in-depth, thorough, detailed, modern treatment for class. I consider this book a must-have reference on your ChemE bookshelf. If you go for *one* book only on thermo, then buy Sandler's. rated: Strong Buy for anybody. Even after having mastered this subject, this book will *still* serve as a valuable tool: as a detailed ("advanced") intro text and as a fine look-up reference. Sandler's book *is* a monograph, and it should be titled "Fundamentals of Chemical Thermodynamics" only, because it does not cover much of "Engineering Thermodynamics" (see books by Moran/Shapiro or Yunus A. Cengel for fantastic intro tomes on eng thermo. see also book by Smith/VanNess/Abbott 2001.). This book is a challenge, but if you are a smart learner and can handle this hard subject matter, there is no better intro or advanced text on chemical thermodynamics, chemical engineering thermodynamics or phase/physical/chemical equilibria! No doubt a 5-stars rating.
Please also read my pos reviews of thermo books by Noel de Nevers 2002 and Stanley M. Walas 1985. See also my neg review of thermo book by Smith/VanNess/Abbott 2001. For a complete listing of relevant thermo titles have a look at table 8-1, pages 8.2-8.4, in Poling/Prausnitz/O'Connell 5th ed. c2001.
Rating:
Summary: Best up to date chem eng thermo book in print
Review: If you're the head of a university, don't get this book at all! You're students will loathe it. If you're a student looking for a study aid-think again, this book is simply terrible. Sandler has no idea how to put what he knows into a manner that undergrads will understand, not at all. Save yourself a heart attack and look somewhere else for a thermo book.
Rating:
Summary: Bringing chaos to order
Review: Reading this book is like peeling an onion in that it has no well defined core. It is also like walking into a jungle without a map since it is so badly organized. His skill for manipulating equations is marginal, making things even worse. In a few places, the author confuses a necessary condition with a sufficient condition. The book also contains many logical and conceptual errors. It would have hit the garbage a long time ago if it wasn't a textbook. Having said that, the book has several good sections in it, along with a wealth of information, if you know what (and where) you are looking for. Most of basic elements are in the book. But, you have to know how to weave a coherent story out of them in order to benefit from the book. I should add that problems at the end of each chapter are quite good.
Rating: 
Summary: Prerequisite: P-Chem
Review: This book is applauded for its precision and details, but complained for its level of rigor that is not welcomed by an average undergraduate student. Students should have taken physical chemistry or at least be familiar with concepts of thermodynamic mixing in order to read this book. Discussion on basic laws of thermodynamics is very terse that readers should look elsewhere (i.e. Atkins' Physical Chemistry or McQuarrie's Physical Chemistry: A Molecular Approach) for such topics. Treatise on liquids, chemical equilibrium, and real substances is excellent. Overall this is not a bad text if you've met the prerequisite.
Rating:
Summary: Prerequisite: P-Chem
Review: This book is applauded for its precision and details, but complained for its level of rigor that is not welcomed by an average undergraduate student. Students should have taken physical chemistry or at least be familiar with concepts of thermodynamic mixing in order to read this book. Discussion on basic laws of thermodynamics is very terse that readers should look elsewhere (i.e. Atkins' Physical Chemistry or McQuarrie's Physical Chemistry: A Molecular Approach) for such topics. Treatise on liquids, chemical equilibrium, and real substances is excellent. Overall this is not a bad text if you've met the prerequisite.
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