One of the most highly debated topics in recent years has been climate change. While it may not be an immediate threat, climate change raises numerous concerns and presents a “wicked” problem, one that has many sides and no simple single solution. In his recently published book Climate Change: A Wicked Problem, Frank P. Incropera tackles the issues from several points of view. What this provides the reader is a comprehensive, objective, and critical assessment of the many factors related to climate change — from the science and technology of climate to its economic ramifications and ethical implications. Incropera discusses cultural and behavioral issues while also examining the influence of special interests and public policy. In short, he gives his reader a full range of the strengths and weaknesses of the basic scientific facts and societal arguments while allowing the reader to draw his or her own conclusions.
Incropera, the H. Clifford and Evelyn A. Brosey Professor Emeritus of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering and former Matthew H. McCloskey Dean of the College of Engineering, is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and one of the 100 most frequently cited engineers in the world. He is also a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), as well as the recipient of the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) Ralph Coats Roe Award for excellence in teaching, the ASEE George Westinghouse Award for achievements in education, the ASME Heat Transfer Memorial Award, and the Senor Scientist Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of the Federal Republic of Germany.
A fellow of the University’s John J. Reilly Center for Science, Technology, and Values, Incropera’s current work deals with the assessments of energy technology options and related economic and environmental issues, the influence of public policy and geopolitics, and pathways to a sustainable energy future. It is to this end, and to his wife and grandchildren, that he has dedicated this book.
He came to Notre Dame in 1998, having served as professor and then head of the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University since 1966.
The author and co-author of numerous books on heat and mass transfer, his book Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer is the premier textbook in the field. Climate Change was published by Cambridge University Press in September 2015.
For more information contact Frank P. Incropera.