Page 20 - Fundamentals of Air Pollution

Preface XIX

chemical and mechanical engineering beyond that which can be included
in a one-volume textbook on air pollution. Before venturing into the field
of engineering control of air pollution, a student should, as a minimum,
master courses in internal combustion engines, power plant engineering,
the unit processes of chemical engineering, engineering thermodynamics,
and kinetics. However, this does not have to be accomplished before taking
a course based on this book but can well be done simultaneously with or
after doing so.
The third point of view is that no one, regardless of their professional
background, should be in the field of air pollution control unless they
sufficiently understand the behavior of the atmosphere, which is the feature
that differentiates air pollution from the other aspects of environmental
protection and management. This requires a knowledge of some basic
atmospheric chemistry in addition to some rather specialized air pollution
meteorology. The viewpoint presented in the textbook is that very few
students using it will have previously studied basic meteorology. It is hoped
that exposure to air pollution meteorology at this stage will excite a handful
of students to delve deeper into the subject. Therefore, a relatively large
proportion of this book has been devoted to meteorology because of its
projected importance to the student.
The authors have tried to maintain a universal point of view so that the
material presented would be equally applicable in all the countries of the
world. Although a deliberate attempt has been made to keep American
provincialism out of the book, it has inevitably crept in through the exclusive
use of English language references and suggested reading lists, and the
preponderant use of American data for the examples, tables, and figures.
The saving grace in this respect is that the principles of chemistry, meteorol-
ogy, and engineering are universal.
As persons who have dedicated all or significant parts of their profes-
sional careers to the field of air pollution, the authors believe in its impor-
tance and relevance. We believe that as the world's population increases,
it will become increasingly important to have an adequate number of well-
trained professions engaged in air pollution control. If we did not believe
this, it would have been pointless for us to have written this textbook.
We recognize that, in terms of short-term urgency, many nations and
communities may rightly assign a lower priority to air pollution control
than to problems of population, poverty, nutrition, housing, education,
water supply, communicable disease control, civil rights, mental health,
aging, or crime. Air pollution control is more likely to have a higher priority
for a person or a community already reaping the benefits of society in the
form of adequate income, food, housing, education, and health care than
for persons who have not and may never reap these benefits.
However, in terms of long-term needs, nations and communities can
ignore air pollution control only at their peril. A population can subsist,