Acknowledgements

My special thanks go to Hendrick van Ness († 2008), who taught me the laws of nature with valuable suggestions and, at times, sharp criticism.
Dr. Michael Lemperle and Prof. Ottmar Knacke(† 2004) also made crucial contributions to the mathematical formulation of thermodynamic phenomena in AsTher algorithms.
Dr. Urban Meurer made a significant contribution to the thermodynamic modelling of metallurgical processes.
Last but not least, I would like to thank Prof. John Francis (Jack) Richardson († 2011), Mr. Thomas Breuer, and Prof. Christian Malek for their support in utilisation AsTher applications.

Oguz Barin