Physical Chemistry: Statistical Mechanics [Paperback]

Horia Metiu (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0815340850 | ISBN-13: 978-0815340850 | Publication Date: February 21, 2006 | Edition: Pap/Cdr

This is a new undergraduate textbook on physical chemistry by Horia Metiu published as four separate paperback volumes. These four volumes on physical chemistry combine a clear and thorough presentation of the theoretical and mathematical aspects of the subject with examples and applications drawn from current industrial and academic research. By using the computer to solve problems that include actual experimental data, the author is able to cover the subject matter at a practical level. The books closely integrate the theoretical chemistry being taught with industrial and laboratory practice. This approach enables the student to compare theoretical projections with experimental results, thereby providing a realistic grounding for future practicing chemists and engineers. Each volume of Physical Chemistry includes Mathematica® and Mathcad® Workbooks on CD-ROM.

Metiu's four separate volumes-Thermodynamics, Statistical Mechanics, Kinetics, and Quantum Mechanics-offer built-in flexibility by allowing the subject to be covered in any order.These textbooks can be used to teach physical chemistry without a computer, but the experience is enriched substantially for those students who do learn how to read and write Mathematica® or Mathcad® programs. A TI-89 scientific calculator can be used to solve most of the exercises and problems.


® Mathematica is a registered trademark of Wolfram Research, Inc.
® Mathcad is a registered trademark of Mathsoft Engineering & Education, Inc.

Editorial Reviews

Review

 Horia Metiu has created a significant set of volumes on undergraduate physical chemistry. The integration of Mathematica and Mathcad workbooks into the four texts provides instructors with an attractive new option in teaching. Metiua's writing style is folksy and the graphics minimal, a refreshing approach¦.Taken as a whole, the four volumes on physical chemistry by Metiu are impressive, particularly Thermodynamics and Quantum Mechanics¦.Without a doubt, the four textbooks provide essential materials of great utility to physical chemistry instructors. The bottom line is that the set of four volumes is a must have-a keeper- as a novel resource or invaluable classroom tool.

Journal of Chemical Education

February 2008, Vol. 85, No. 2, p. 206

About the Author

Horia Metiu is Professor of Chemistry and Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He received his Ph.D. from MIT in 1974. Prof. Metiu has won several Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar awards and is a former Alfred P. Sloan Fellow. He received the Exxon Solid State Chemistry ACS Award, the UCSB Faculty Research Lectureship, and a Senior Humboldt Award. Prof. Metiu is Associate Editor for the Journal of Chemical Physics and a fellow of the American Physical Society and Japan Association for the Promotion of Science.

Product Details

• Paperback: 236 pages
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis; Pap/Cdr edition (February 21, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815340850
• ISBN-13: 978-0815340850
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,238,998 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful, November 27, 2006

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Spinradical - See all my reviews

This review is from: Physical Chemistry: Quantum Mechanics (Paperback)

I was a TA for an undergraduate quantum mechanics class that used this book. It provides a more modern approach to solving problems using Mathematica. Its use of Mathematica to solve problems had major advantages and disadvantages. It allowed for students to solve problems that they otherwise would not have been able to do, and required them to develop some computational skills that will be useful to them in the future (I have had to learn several different programming languages in my graduate work). However, learning both Mathematica and Quantum Mechanics simultaneously proved to be quite a task, and I fear that some of the meaning in both was lost. Metiu provides great examples of how to solve problems for each chapter in the Workbook CD that accompanys the text. I doubt if everybody would have been able to make much progress on HW problems without these examples. In many instances the code Metiu provided was used to solve similar HW problems without much knowledge of how the programs worked, and in others, his examples were followed without knowing what was being solved. This book seems very distinct from others as Metiu describes QM much differently than other introductory works, and provides important details that other books completely omit. I enjoyed his approach which helped me to understand better. This book would be great for an advanced (honors) undergraduate class, one that already has some experience with solving problems with computers, or one that is able to schedule a weekly tutorial time to go over problems using Mathematica, otherwise another text may be best. It is newly released so there are some errors but nothing major.