Pt. I. Uniform heating from below. On convection currents in a horizontal layer of fluid when the higher temperature in on the under side / Lord Rayleigh -- The stability of a layer of fluid heated below / H. Jeffreys -- Some cases of instability in fluid motion / H. Jeffreys -- The instability of a compressible fluid heated below / H. Jeffreys -- On the criterion for stability of a layer of viscous fluid heated from below / A.R. Low -- On maintained convective motion in a fluid heated from below / A. Pellew and R.V. Southwell -- pt. II. Effects of rotation. Motion of solids in fluids when the flow is not irrotational / G.I. Taylor -- Experiments with rotating fluids / G.I. Taylor -- pt. III. Uniform heating from below with rotation. The instability of a layer of fluid heated below and subject to Coriolis forces / S. Chandrasekhar -- The instability of a layer of fluid heated below and subject to Coriolis forces, II / S. Chandrasekhar and D.D. Elbert -- pt. IV. Horizontally non-uniform heating with rotation (the planetary atmosphere). On the phenomena of motion in the atmosphere / A. Oberbeck -- On atmospheric motions / H. von Helmholtz -- The function of cyclones in the general circulation / H. Jeffreys -- Relation between variations in the intensity of the zonal circulation of the atmosphere and the displacements of the semi-permanent centers of action / C.-G. Rossby and collaborators -- The dynamics of long waves in a baroclinic westerly current / J.G. Charney -- Long waves and cyclone waves / E.T. Eady -- Dynamic instability of two-dimensional nondivergent flow in a barotropic atmosphere / H.-L. Kuo -- Stability properties of large-scale atmospheric disturbances / R. Fjøtoft -- Symmetrical disturbances in a thin layer of fluid subject to a horizontal temperature gradient and rotation / H.-L. Kuo -- The forced flow due to heating of a rotating liquid / T.V. Davies -- On the forced motion due to heating of a deep rotating liquid in an annulus / T.V. Davies -- Energy-releasing processes and stability of thermally driven motions in a rotating fluid / H.-L. Kuo -- Forced and free meridional circulations in the atmosphere / H.-L. Kuo -- Further studies of thermally driven motions in a rotating fluid / H.-L. Kuo -- The general circulation of the atmosphere: a numerical experiment / N.A. Phillips.

This classic sets forth the fundamentals of thermodynamics and kinetic theory simply enough to be understood by beginners, yet with enough subtlety to appeal to more advanced readers, too.

Thermal Convection - Patterns, Stages of Evolution and Stability Behavior provides the reader with an ensemble picture of the subject, illustrating the state-of-the-art and providing the researchers from universities and industry with a basis on which they are able to estimate the possible impact of a variety of parameters. Unlike earlier books on the subject, the heavy mathematical background underlying and governing the behaviors illustrated in the text are kept to a minimum. The text clarifies some still unresolved controversies pertaining to the physical nature of the dominating driving force responsible for asymmetric/oscillatory convection in various natural phenomena and/or technologically important processes and can help researchers in elaborating and validating new, more complex models, in accelerating the current trend towards predictable and reproducible natural phenomena and in establishing an adequate scientific foundation to industrial processes. Thermal Convection - Patterns, Stages of Evolution and Stability Behavior is intended as a useful reference guide for specialists in disciplines such as the metallurgy and foundry field and researchers and scientists who are now coordinating their efforts to improve the quality of semiconductor or macromolecular crystals. The text may also be of use to organic chemists and materials scientists, atmosphere and planetary physicists, as well as an advanced level text for students taking part in courses on the physics of fluids, fluid mechanics, the behavior and evolution of non-linear systems, environmental phenomena and materials engineering.

The processes of freezing and melting were present at the beginnings of the Earth and continue to dominate the natural and industrial worlds. The solidification of a liquid or the melting of a solid involves a complex interplay of many physical effects. This 2001 book presents in a systematic way the field of continuum solidification theory based on instability phenomena. An understanding of the physics is developed by using examples of increasing complexity with the object of creating a deep physical insight applicable to more complex problems. Applied mathematicians, engineers, physicists, and materials scientists will all find this volume of interest.