Kuo (mechanical engineering, Pennsylvania State U.) updates his classic text to include major advances in the field. He emphasizes modeling as an analysis tool in his examination of a wide range of topics in combustion, including chemical thermodynamics, chemical kinetics and reaction mechanics, conservation equations for multicomponent reacting systems, detonation and deflagration waves of premixed gases, premixed laminar flames, gaseous diffusion flames and combustion of a single liquid fuel droplet. Appendices include an evaluation of thermal and transport properties of gases and liquids, constants and conversion factors often used in combustion, naming of hydrocarbons and properties of hydrocarbon fuels, melting, boiling and critical temperatures of elements, the periodic table, and electronic configurations of neutral atoms in ground states. Kuo includes both author and subject indices. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)