Thermodynamics in geochemistry. The equilibrium model / Термодинамика в геохимии. Равновесная модель

In the preface to a book on thermodynamics it is customary to offer an excuse for writing yet another. Often the excuse is that no good text is available for this or that specialized subject. Although it is true that we are not completely satisfied with the texts available in the thermodynamics of geochemistry, one would have to be tremendously devoted to teaching for this to be sufficient reason for undertaking the prodigious amount of work involved in writing a book. In our case the reason is probably to be found rather in a long fascination with the subject, an accumulation over the years of topics that we felt were usually badly presented in books, and a desire to see what the final product would look like if we were to put all our convictions on paper. Still, it will have been a sterile effort if there are not at least some students who are helped a little over the hurdles that are encountered in trying to learn this most useful and most difficult of subjects <...>