Classical and Statistical Thermodynamics

by Ashley H. Carter

Publisher: Prentice Hall
ISBN: 0137792085

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Book Description

This book provides a solid introduction to the classical and statistical theories of thermodynamics while assuming no background beyond general physics and advanced calculus. Though an acquaintance with probability and statistics is helpful, it is not necessary. Providing a thorough, yet concise treatment of the phenomenological basis of thermal physics followed by a presentation of the statistical theory, this book presupposes no exposure to statistics or quantum mechanics. It covers several important topics, including a mathematically sound presentation of classical thermodynamics; the kinetic theory of gases including transport processes; and thorough, modern treatment of the thermodynamics of magnetism.

It includes up-to-date examples of applications of the statistical theory, such as Bose-Einstein condensation, population inversions, and white dwarf stars. And, it also includes a chapter on the connection between thermodynamics and information theory. Standard International units are used throughout. An important reference book for every professional whose work requires and understanding of thermodynamics: from engineers to industrial designers.

Customer Reviews

This book was heavily used in my program class Statistical Mechanics at UOIT Physics Faculty. Great and easy read, though not very detailed, it focusing on getting all the key facts down in a compact textbook.

I think this book is written in a really easy to read, accessible way - and takes you through all the math that you need to know in order to understand the derivations. However, all of the practice problems (or a majority) at the end of each chapter are nearly identical - after the 157th "prove this [ridiculous identity]" problem, I stop feeling like I'm learning something about physics and feel like I'm on a differential equation treasure hunt, where the hunting grounds get ever larger and the trails ever more complicated but the treasure gets no more valuable each time the book progesses to a new chapter! It feels like a lot of busy work to me. Other problems are either way way too easy, like one step, or just noticing that they moved something on one side of an equation to another, or are way too hard because there simply isn't enough information in the book to explain what they are asking. For instance, there are problems in there asking you to prove identities involving first order phase transitions, but the book never actually mathematically characterizes first order phase transitions! Either way, its not a bad book overall as long as you want a simple intro, skip the problems that don't have enough information to be solved, and don't want to go too in depth into any of the theory involved.