In May 2002 a number of about 20 scientists from various disciplines were invited by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities to participate in an interdisciplinary workshop on structures and structure generating processes. The site was the beautiful little castle of Blankensee, south of Berlin. The disciplines represented ranged from mathematics and information theory, over various ?elds of engineering, biochemistry and biology, to the economic and social sciences. All participants presented talks explaining the nature of structures considered in their ?elds and the associated procedures of analysis. It soon became evident that the study of structures is indeed a common c- cern of virtually all disciplines. The motivation as well as the methods of analysis, however, differ considerably. In engineering, the generation of artifacts, such as infrastructures or technological processes, are of primary interest. Frequently, the analysis aims there at de?ning a simpli?ed mathematical model for the optimization of the structures and the structure generating processes. Mathematical or heuristic methods are applied, the latter preferably of the type of biology based evolutionary algorithms. On the other hand, setting up complex technical structures is not pos- ble by such simpli?ed model calculations but requires a different and less model but rather knowledge-based type of approach, using empirical rules rather than formal equations. In biochemistry, interest is frequently focussed on the structures of molecules, such as proteins or ribonucleic acids. Again, optimal structures can usually be de?ned.

This 2007 book presents the development of modern molecular models for fluids from the interdisciplinary fundamentals of classical and statistical mechanics, of electrodynamics and of quantum mechanics. The concepts and working equations of the various fields are briefly derived and illustrated in the context of understanding the properties of molecular systems. Special emphasis is devoted to the quantum mechanical basis, since this is used throughout in the calculation of the molecular energy of a system. The book is application oriented. It stresses those elements that are essential for practical model development. The fundamentals are then used to derive models for various types of applications. Finally, equation of state models are presented based on quantum chemically based models for the intermolecular potential energy and perturbation theory. The book is suited for graduate courses in chemical and mechanical engineering, physics and chemistry, but may also, by proper selection, be found useful on the undergraduate level.

The book guides the reader from the foundations of statisti- cal thermodynamics including the theory of intermolecular forces to modern computer-aided applications in chemical en- gineering and physical chemistry. The approach is new. The foundations of quantum and statistical mechanics are presen- ted in a simple way and their applications to the prediction of fluid phase behavior of real systems are demonstrated. A particular effort is made to introduce the reader to expli- cit formulations of intermolecular interaction models and to show how these models influence the properties of fluid sy- stems. The established methods of statistical mechanics - computer simulation, perturbation theory, and numerical in- tegration - are discussed in a style appropriate for newcom- ers and are extensively applied. Numerous worked examples illustrate how practical calculations should be carried out.

In May 2002 a number of about 20 scientists from various disciplines were invited by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities to participate in an interdisciplinary workshop on structures and structure generating processes. The site was the beautiful little castle of Blankensee, south of Berlin. The disciplines represented ranged from mathematics and information theory, over various ?elds of engineering, biochemistry and biology, to the economic and social sciences. All participants presented talks explaining the nature of structures considered in their ?elds and the associated procedures of analysis. It soon became evident that the study of structures is indeed a common c- cern of virtually all disciplines. The motivation as well as the methods of analysis, however, differ considerably. In engineering, the generation of artifacts, such as infrastructures or technological processes, are of primary interest. Frequently, the analysis aims there at de?ning a simpli?ed mathematical model for the optimization of the structures and the structure generating processes. Mathematical or heuristic methods are applied, the latter preferably of the type of biology based evolutionary algorithms. On the other hand, setting up complex technical structures is not pos- ble by such simpli?ed model calculations but requires a different and less model but rather knowledge-based type of approach, using empirical rules rather than formal equations. In biochemistry, interest is frequently focussed on the structures of molecules, such as proteins or ribonucleic acids. Again, optimal structures can usually be de?ned.

This book presents the development of modern molecular models for fluids from the interdisciplinary fundamentals of classical and statistical mechanics, of electrodynamics and of quantum mechanics. The concepts and working equations of the various fields are briefly derived and illustrated in the context of understanding the properties of molecular systems. Special emphasis is devoted to the quantum mechanical basis, since this is used throughout in the calculation of the molecular energy of a system. The book is application oriented. It stresses those elements that are essential for practical model development. The fundamentals are then used to derive models for various types of applications. Finally, equation of state models are presented based on quantum chemically based models for the intermolecular potential energy and perturbation theory. The book is suited for graduate courses in chemical and mechanical engineering, physics and chemistry, but may also, by proper selection, be found useful on the undergraduate level.

Uber die Geltung der Evolutionstheorie fur den Bereich der lebendigen Natur besteht Einigkeit. Doch man kann auch fragen, ob und inwieweit sie sich auf andere Bereiche ubertragen lasst. So wird heute der Kultur nicht nur eine Stellung im Prozess der Evolution zuerkannt, sondern es werden auch besondere Gesetze der kulturellen Evolution ermittelt. Zwar ist die Evolutionstheorie im strengen Sinne keineswegs eine globale Totaltheorie fur kontinuierliche Entwicklungsprozesse jedweder Art. Gleichwohl ist es reizvoll und ertragreich, den Gemeinsamkeiten von Natur, Technik und Kultur in der Perspektive der Evolution nachzugehen. Dies ist das Ziel des vorliegenden Bandes. Die historischen, methodologischen und systematischen Dimensionen der Evolutionstheorie werden interdisziplinar vermessen. Es zeigt sich, dass tatsachlich viele Prozesse in Technik und Kultur auffallige Analogien zu den Entwicklungsprozessen der Natur haben. Das gilt fur die grossen technischen Veranderungen unserer Welt ebenso wie fur das Entstehen und Vergehen von Ideologien und kulturellen Umwalzungen. Mit Beitragen von: Jan Assmann, Bettina Bock von Wulfingen, Horst Bredekamp, Olaf Dossel, Wolfgang Forstmeier, Andreas G. Franke, Volker Gerhardt, Gerd Gigerenzer, Onur Gunturkun, Gangolf Hubinger, Nicole Karafyllis, Kristian Kochy, Dirk Lanzerath, Klaus Lieb, Klaus Lucas, Hubert Markl, Randolf Menzel, Axel Meyer, Jurgen Mittelstrass, Jens Reich, Ortwin Renn, Hans-Jorg Rheinberger, Arnold Sauter, Hans-Paul Schwefel, Karl Sperling, Gunter Stock, Markus Vogt und Hans-Gunther Wagemann"

Die thermodynamischen Eigenschaften fluider Systeme sind von interdisziplina- rem Interesse. Entsprechend wendet sich dieses Buch an einen interdisziplinaren Leserkreis, zu dem neben Ingenieuren auch Chemiker, Physiker und anwendungs- orientierte Mathematiker gehoeren moegen, soweit sie uber das Grundsatzliche hinaus an praktischen thermodynamischen Rechnungen interessiert sind. Die Klassische Thermodynamik stellt ein allgemeines Netzwerk von Bezie- hungen bereit, das die thermodynamischen Gleichgewichtszustande beschreibt. Sie gibt jedoch keine Hinweise auf explizite Gleichungen fur die thermodynami- schen Funktionen, z. B. die thermische Zustandsgleichung oder die Abhangigkeit der Aktivitatskoeffizienten in einer fluiden Mischung von Zusammensetzuung, Temperatur und Druck. Diese notwendigen zusatzlichen Informationen sind sy- stemspezifisch und mussen daher grundsatzlich aus Messungen an dem betrachte- ten System gewonnen werden. Da in der Regel nur einige wenige Daten zur Verfugung stehen bzw. aufgenommen werden koennen, kommt es darauf an, von diesen wenigen Daten den bestmoeglichen Gebrauch zu machen, d. h. sie gegebe- nenfalls weit uber den durch Messungen abgedeckten Bereich hinaus zu extrapo- lieren. Zu diesem Zweck benoetigt man systemspezifische Gleichungen, also solche die dem betrachteten System in seinem molekularen Aufbau weitgehend physika- lisch angepasst sind. Die Entwicklung solcher Gleichungen fur die thermodynami- schen Funktionen auf der Grundlage von Molekulmodellen ist Aufgabe der Angewandten Statistischen Thermodynamik. Dieses Buch enthalt eine integrierte Darstellung der Theorie und Anwendung der Statistischen Thermodynamik.

Das bew hrte Lehrbuch beginnt mit den wichtigsten empirischen Erkenntnissen zu Energie- und Stoffumwandlungen. Es erl utert die thermodynamische Analyse und das Verhalten fluider Materie, um dann die Gesetze der Massen- und Energieerhaltung sowie der Entropieproduktion zu pr sentierten. Zu Kontrollfragen und Aufgaben in jedem Kapitel sind Antworten bzw. L sungen angegeben. Neu in der 7. Auflage ist die Einf hrung in die gemeinsamen Grundgesetze der Energie- und Stoffumwandlungen und ein erster Einblick in die Energie-, Verfahrens- und Umwelttechnik.