Engineering textbook by State team heads South--very South

Contact: Maridith Geuder

An engineering textbook co-authored by a Mississippi State University professor is going international.

"Classical Thermodynamics" by MSU mechanical engineering professor George A. Adebiyi and former faculty member Lynn D. Russell is being issued for the first time in Spanish. South American publisher Addison Wesley Iberoamericana recently had it translated from the original English version released in 1993 by Oxford University Press.

Thermodynamics deals with the relationship of heat and mechanical energy and the conversion of one into the other.

The newest version of the 944-page text is intended primarily for use in South America. University scholars in Mexico and Spain completed the conversion to Spanish.

An in-depth analysis of the fundamentals of thermodynamics, the book focuses on areas such as systems boundary, units, process, work and heat. Also available is an accompanying software package called "ThermoProps."

"We developed 'Thermo-Props' to aid students in various types of problem-solving," Adebiyi said. The software provides assistance in determining values from tables and in analyzing heating, refrigeration and air conditioning systems, he added.

A Hearin-Hess Distinguished Professor of Engineering at Mississippi State, Adebiyi holds bachelor's and doctoral degrees from the University of Manchester, England.

Co-author Lynn Russell is a Mississippi State graduate who once led the university's faculty senate. Former dean of engineering at the University of Alabama, Huntsville, he now serves in the same capacity at Boise (Idaho) State University.