"The fourth edition of Elements of Chemical Reaction Engineering is a completely revised version of the book. It combines authoritative coverage of the principles of chemical reaction engineering with an unsurpassed focus on critical thinking and creative problem solving, employing open-ended questions and stressing the Socratic method. Clear and organized, it integrates text, visuals, and computer simulations to help readers solve even the most challenging problems through reasoning, rather than by memorizing equations."--BOOK JACKET.

The man who has ceased to learn ought not to be allowed to wander around loose in these dangerous days. M. M. Coady A. The Audience This book and interactive CD-ROM is intended for use as both an undergraduate-level and a graduate-level text in chemical reaction engineering. The level will depend on the choice of chapters and CD-ROM Professional Reference Shelf(PRS) material to be covered and the type and degree of difficulty of problems assigned. B. The Goals B.1.To Develop a Fundamental Understanding of Reaction Engineering The first goal of this book is to enable the reader to develop a clear understanding of the fundamentals of chemical reaction engineering (CRE). This goal will be achieved by presenting a structure that allows the reader to solve reaction engineering problems through reasoningrather than through memorization and recall of numerous equations and the restrictions and conditions under which each equation applies. The algorithms presented in the text for reactor design provide this framework, and the homework problems will give practice at using the algorithms. The conventional home problems at the end of each chapter are designed to reinforce the principles in the chapter. These problems are about equally divided between those that can be solved with a calculator and those that require a personal computer and a numerical software package such as Polymath, MATLAB, or FEMLAB. To give a reference point as to the level of understanding of CRE required in the profession, a number of reaction engineering problems from the California Board of Registration for Civil and Professional EngineersChemical Engineering Examinations (PECEE) are included in the text.1Typically, these problems should each require approximately 30 minutes to solve. Finally, the CD-ROM should greatly facilitate learning the fundamentals of CRE because it includes summary notes of the chapters, added examples, expanded derivations, and self tests. A complete description of these learning resources is given in the "The Integration of the Text and the CD-ROM" section in this Preface. B.2. To Develop Critical Thinking Skills A second goal is to enhance critical thinking skills. A number of home problems have been included that are designed for this purpose. Socratic questioning is at the heart of critical thinking, and a number of homework problems draw from R. W. Paul's six types of Socratic questions2shown in Table P-1. TABLE P-1. SIX TYPES OF SOCRATIC QUESTIONS Questions for clarification:Why do you say that? How does this relate to our discussion? "Are you going to include diffusion in your mole balance equations?" Questions that probe assumptions:What could we assume instead? How can you verify or disprove that assumption? "Why are you neglecting radial diffusion and including only axial diffusion?" Questions that probe reasons and evidence:What would be an example? "Do you think that diffusion is responsible for the lower conversion?" Questions about viewpoints and perspectives:What would be an alternative? "With all the bends in the pipe, from an industrial/practical standpoint, do you think diffusion and dispersion will be large enough to affect the conversion?" Questions that probe implications and consequences:What generalizations can you make? What are the consequences of that assumption? "How would our results be affected if we neglected diffusion?" Questions about the question:What was the point of this question? Why do you think I asked this question? "Why do you think diffusion is important?" Scheffer and Rubenfeld3,4expand on the practice of critical thinking skills discussed by R. W. Paul by using the activities, statements, and questions shown in Table P-2. TABLE P-2. CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS2,3 Analyzing:separating or breaking a whole into parts to discover their nature, function, and relationships "I studied it piece by piece." "I sorted things out." Applying Standards:judging according to established personal, professional, or social rules or criteria "I judged it according to...." Discriminating:recognizing differences and similarities among things or situations and distinguishing carefully as to category or rank "I rank ordered the various...." "I grouped things together." Information Seeking:searching for evidence, facts, or knowledge by identifying relevant sources and gathering objective, subjective, historical, and current data from those sources "I knew I needed to look up/study...." "I kept searching for data." Logical Reasoning:drawing inferences or conclusions that are supported in or justified by evidence "I deduced from the information that...." "My rationale for the conclusion was...." Predicting:envisioning a plan and its consequences "I envisioned the outcome would be...." "I was prepared for...." Transforming Knowledge:changing or converting the condition, nature, form, or function of concepts among contexts "I improved on the basics by...." "I wondered if that would fit the situation of ...." I have found the best way to develop and practice critical thinking skills is to use Tables P-1 and P-2 to help students write a question on any assigned homework problem and then to explain why the question involves critical thinking. More information on critical thinking can be found on the CD-ROM in the section on Problem Solving. B.3. To Develop Creative Thinking Skills The third goal of this book is to help develop creative thinking skills. This goal will be achieved by using a number of problems that are open-ended to various degrees. Here the students can practice their creative skills by exploring the example problems as outlined at the beginning of the home problems of each chapter and by making up and solving an original problem. Problem P4-1 gives some guidelines for developing original problems. A number of techniques that can aid the students in practicing and enhancing their creativity can be found in Fogler and LeBlanc5and in the Thoughts on Problem Solvingsection on the CD-ROM and on the web sitewww.engin.umich.edu/~cre. We will use these techniques, such as Osborn's checklist and de Bono's lateral thinking (which involves considering other people's views and responding to random stimulation) to answer add-on questions such as those in Table P-3. TABLE P-3. PRACTICING CREATIVE THINKING Brainstorm ideas to ask another question or suggest another calculation that can be made for this homework problem. Brainstorm ways you could work this homework problem incorrectly. Brainstorm ways to make this problem easier or more difficult or more exciting. Brainstorm a list of things you learned from working this homework problem and what you think the point of the problem is. Brainstorm the reasons why your calculations overpredicted the conversion that was measured when the reactor was put on stream. Assume you made no numerical errors on your calculations. "What if..." questions: The "What if..." questions are particularly effective when used with the Living Example Problemswhere one varies the parameters to explore t