A heady historical drama about a British family who open an upper-class hotel on the magical Italian Riviera during the 'Roaring 20s'. Hotel Portofino has been open for only a few weeks, but already the problems are mounting for its owner Bella Ainsworth. Her high-class guests are demanding and hard to please. And she's being targeted by a scheming and corrupt local politician, who threatens to drag her into the red-hot cauldron of Mussolini's Italy. To make matters worse, her marriage is in trouble, and her children are still struggling to recover from the repercussions of the Great War. All eyes are on the arrival of a potential love match for her son Lucian, but events don't go to plan, which will have far reaching consequences for the whole family. Set in the breathtakingly beautiful Italian Riviera, Hotel Portofino is a story of personal awakening at a time of global upheaval and of the liberating influence of Italy's enchanting culture, climate and cuisine on British 'innocents abroad', perfect for fans of Downton Abbey and The Crown.

Thermodynamics: Fundamentals and Applications is a 2005 text for a first graduate course in Chemical Engineering. The focus is on macroscopic thermodynamics; discussions of modeling and molecular situations are integrated throughout. Underpinning this text is the knowledge that while thermodynamics describes natural phenomena, those descriptions are the products of creative, systematic minds. Nature unfolds without reference to human concepts of energy, entropy, or fugacity. Natural complexity can be organized and studied by thermodynamics methodology. The power of thermodynamics can be used to advantage if the fundamentals are understood. This text's emphasis is on fundamentals rather than modeling. Knowledge of the basics will enhance the ability to combine them with models when applying thermodynamics to practical situations. While the goal of an engineering education is to teach effective problem solving, this text never forgets the delight of discovery, the satisfaction of grasping intricate concepts, and the stimulation of the scholarly atmosphere.

Thermodynamics: Fundamentals and Applications is a 2005 text for a first graduate course in Chemical Engineering. The focus is on macroscopic thermodynamics; discussions of modeling and molecular situations are integrated throughout. Underpinning this text is the knowledge that while thermodynamics describes natural phenomena, those descriptions are the products of creative, systematic minds. Nature unfolds without reference to human concepts of energy, entropy, or fugacity. Natural complexity can be organized and studied by thermodynamics methodology. The power of thermodynamics can be used to advantage if the fundamentals are understood. This text's emphasis is on fundamentals rather than modeling. Knowledge of the basics will enhance the ability to combine them with models when applying thermodynamics to practical situations. While the goal of an engineering education is to teach effective problem solving, this text never forgets the delight of discovery, the satisfaction of grasping intricate concepts, and the stimulation of the scholarly atmosphere.