Contents

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter I
2. Preface V
3. Contents VII
4. 1 Biology and chemistry of cooking 1
5. 2 Water and steam – cooking in a pressure cooker 13
6. 3 Phase transitions in nature – steam, dew and fog 45
7. 4 The ideal gas – Cornelis Drebbel’s miracle apparatus 75
8. 5 Fundamental concepts: kinetic theory of gases 93
9. 6 The first law – thermodynamics of the oven 125
10. 7 Adiabatic processes – thermals and clouds 173
11. 8 Thermodynamic cycles – heating with heat pumps 203
12. 9 Fundamental concepts: entropy as a state variable 235
13. 10 Fundamental concepts: the second law 261
14. 11 Fundamental concepts: microscopic interpretation of entropy 289
15. 12 Power plant processes – electricity from the sun 309
16. 13 Mechanisms of heat transfer – wind chill 329
17. 14 Transient heat conduction – the perfect breakfast egg 371
18. A References and image credits 391
19. B Tables and list of symbols 397
20. Index 413