One common feature of new emerging technologies is the fusion of the very small (nano) scale and the large scale engineering. The classical environment provided by single scale theories, as for instance by the classical hydrodynamics, is not anymore satisfactory. The main challenge is to keep the important details while still be able to keep the overall picture and simplicity. It is the thermodynamics that addresses this challenge. Our main reason for writing this book is to explain such general viewpoint of thermodynamics and to illustrate it on a very wide range of examples.

Contents
Levels of description
Hamiltonian mechanics
Irreversible evolution
Reversible and irreversible evolution
Multicomponent systems
Contact geometry
Appendix: Mathematical aspects

• Preface 8
• Contents 10
• 1. Introduction 16
• 2. Levels of description 18
• 3. Hamiltonian mechanics 68
• 4. Irreversible evolution 140
• 5. Reversible and irreversible evolution 162
• 6. Multicomponent systems 216
• 7. Contact geometry 258
• A Mathematical aspects 266
• Bibliography 282
• Index 290