Customer Reviews

An Introduction to Statistical Thermodynamics (Dover Books on Physics)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Written in 1960 and revised in 1986 this is a general treatise on
stat-thermo in the tradition of Tolman and McQuarrie. I have a well
used copy on my desk, bought originally as a textbook for a graduate
course - probably the cheapest textbook I ever bought at $12.95.

The first chapter derives the ensembles from the quantum perspective.
This has the advantage of generality and the disadvantage that
it requires some rudimentary knowledge of quanta and is less
expedient for the scientist who is only concerned with classical
stat-mech.

Once the foundations are laid, the book is divided into
applications to non-interacting and interacting systems. In the
latter category is the virial expansion for imperfect gases. This
derivation makes an unnecessary effort to introduce a relative
activity. The derivation in Jackson's book is more transparent
and shorter without sacrificing rigor. The Mayer expansion for
hard spheres is treated in useful detail.

Chapter 18 includes a good description of the Debye-Hueckel theory
of electrolytes. The derivation of the Flory-Huggins theory of
polymer solutions in Chapter 21 is excellent - more concise and
effortless than all others that I have seen. Chapter 14 covers the
solution of the one-dimensional Ising magnet but I still have trouble
understanding this one. The appendices are useful and include
the maximum term method and method of undetermined multipliers
which are the cornerstone of the fundamental theorems.

Twenty five years since I've seen a classroom. I had a burning desire to pick up where I left off. What I needed was a good introduction but I could not find my "Elements of Statistical Thermodynamics" by K. Nash (an excellent little book). So I tried Chandler's book, modern but not a beginners text. For the true beginner, I'd suggest "Intro. To Thermophysics by Espinola, WCB (c) 1994". After Espinola, go to Hill's book a great bridge at a bargin before going to Chandler. Hill's style is clear but examples are given a condensed treatment. Not a problem solving book, but a good book if physical understanding and a bridge forward is your goal.

If you are intrested with studing statistical mechanics then start here. Hill starts from the defintions and postulates of thermodynamics and then moves into applications and problems. You will need to understand Diff EQ for this book.

The first chapter took me a week to read and work out the math but then I red the rest in 4 weeks. It is a hard start because Hill develops your background before starting with applications of the theory. I really began to grasp the subject after reading this book. Ohter books will not lay the mathout as well as Hill does. It is a hard read because Hill is so thorough, but the rewasd is well worth the struggle. It is a great introduction and I suggest all of Hill's Stat mech book. Another great bargin from DOVER PRESS.

At the price I recomend it to all graduate chemical engineers and chemists

This is an ancient stat. mech. book with a lot of old topics. Most of the chapters after 8 (there are 22 I think) are directed towards chemical applications. I think this book and McQuarrie are about even, Chandler is better if you know a little about stat mech already, much much worse if you know nothing. This book is also really cheap so I don't think you can go wrong in getting it. The explanations are pretty good in both this and McQuarrie, though I don't always like the organization of Hill.

I am a devout follower of this book - it's written by a genius for people who really want to understand stat thermoD, not just to prepare for classes, but to gain a perspective on how to handle the tedious mathematical structure of stat themoD. I am absolutely in love with this book and have found it to be much much more challenging and interesting that other comparable books, which border on spoon feeding its reader with every morbid detail (most of which are often quite basic concepts). It's to the point, written with authority. He covers quite a large number of topics. Although the book is quite old, its structure is very appealing to me.
Those who like succinct equations to try and understand a concept - they would love with this book, right from the very first chapter. This book has another complementary book by the same author (Statistical Mechanics: Principles and Selected Applications) which takes things a step further. People who prefer long discussions rather than equations would absolutely hate this book. I would strongly reccommend everybody to take a chance with this book. I am a beginner only and do not have a good idea about the other books out there - but I find this book much more useful than those by Landau or Macquarrie (although I dunno about Chandler or Kardar or Pahtria). People with a decent math background who are looking to learn stat mech should absolutely try this out and it's so damn cheap - wouldn't hurt if you don't like it eventually. But I like this book so much that I would even volunteer to be a spokesperson for it :P

This was the textbook in the statistical mechanics course I took a few years ago. The single greatest feature of this book compared to so many other texts in statistical mechanics and related fields is its clear presentation of some sort of intuition behind the concepts. That alone makes it worth buying. And it's so cheap that you may as well just buy it.

I'm a second year grad student coming from some measure of background in quantum mechanics and thermodynamics, but with no experience in statistical mechanics. I found Hill's book a fantastic introduction to the topic. Of particular note is his terse but clear writing - he very quickly and accurately conveys requisite information in each of his derivations, making the text easily understandable. I've had none of the problems of ambiguities or a lack of clarity that can be encountered in many physics textbooks.

I can highly recommend this title, it's one of the better written physics textbooks I've seen.

i'm a student of applied chemistry and this book has everything you need too know as undergraduate of statistical thermodynamics

An excellent text book for Physical Chemist who want to get sound footing in Statistical Thermodynamics.Inorder to really get a good view of the basics of statistical mechanics the reader really needs to spend an adequate amount of time in digesting the contents of the initial chapter. However, after spending some amount of time in reading those initial chapters, one can grasp the latter parts of the book in a quite interesting fashion.In my opinion, this book is a must for those who want to master the statstical thermodynamics. Infact, one would be really amazed at the standard of the book considering the fact that it is reasonably old. No new standard books on ' Statistical Mechanics' can provide such an adequate foundations as it in this book. I would strongly recommend this book along with the other book 'Statistical Mechanics' by the same author.
Sasisanker Padmanabhan

I am enjoying reading the book.
The basic theory has been well established in this area, although the book was written a few decades a ago, it is still a very classic book for a beginner in this area.