Customer Reviews

Statistical Physics, 2nd Edition

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Thermodynamics gives a phenomenological description of properties of matter that are dependent on temperature. Whereas Statistical Physics attempts to give a microscopic view point of properties of matterThere is no concept of heat as such in the statistical approach . The two subjects though different in their approach complement each other. The crux of the difficulty is a begginner must try not imagine very much in a microscopic level when he learns thermodynamics. But when a student learns Statistical Physics he has to imagine in microscopic terms. There are usually two broad varieties of text books, Those which emphasize thermodynamics and leave statistical physics. But the worst case is books which start with a microscopic view.(e.g books by Pippard , Zemansky & Dittmanetc) These books fail to make a student appreciate the beauty and mathematical completeness of classical thermodynamics.(e.g popular books by Rief Kittel & Kromer,Baierlin). I have seen a ! few friends of mine who could manipulate details from partitiomn functions , but they don't understand even the first twolaws of thermodynamics. Here is where Mandl's book succeeds.It introduces both the subjects in such a meticulous way that you don't feel pertuturbed by the different views. The book is short and yet comprehensive.It covers few well known examples like paramagnetism , blackbody radiation in detail. The advanced portions are maked with asterisks or gray tint(this is typical of all books in the series. I would recommend this book instead of two sepeate courses on thermodynamics and Statistical Physics. Though the approach is not in chronological order it avoids much tautology of learning and unlearnig between the macroscpic and microscopic view.Yet another noteworthy aspect is a good treatment of open systems via the grand canonical ensemble in the last chapter. The problems in this book are superb. There are a few confidence building problems and there are hi! nts , answers and even complete solutions for tougher probl! emsThis book is ideally suited for both class room and self study..

This book has for many years been the book on our University's
second-year course on thermodynamics and statistical physics. It gives a good introduction to both topics and especially
how the two relate to each other. It is mostly clearly written and
has good examples. It is not perfect by any means, e.g.
the blackbody radiation is inexplicably presented before the
Bose-Einstein distribution is derived, and the example
on the Clausius-Clapeyron equation uses an unnecessarily
crude approximation, but overall it still remains one of
the best conxise texts on the subject.

This book is really one of the most interesting books I've ever read, and is my favorite book in physics. The writing style is clear, the figures and graphs well-done, and the book contains valuable exercises and partial solutions. As an undergraduate text it requires a basic background in diff. eq., classical mechanics, e&m etc, but never gets too intimidating. In a graduate statmech class I found the background I received from Mandl carried me almost all the way through. What a great book!

Pedagogically speaking, this is probably the best intermediate level statistical physics book out there. The concepts are laid out very clearly and logically. The examples are very useful and effective.

Maybe the best part of the book is that is contains solutions (not just answers!) to the end-of-chapter problems, which makes it a student-friendly textbook. Therefore it is very suitable for those who like self-studying.

It is a relatively short book, but it includes only the essentials, it does not inundate you with fancy details. Very strongly recommended!

I originally wanted to obtain a self-study guide for thermodynamics and statistical physics. I noticed that F. Mandl's book was always checked out at the local university library which could have implied it was a certain professor's favorite reading assignment, but the current Amazon reviews gave it an excellent grade.
I have completed the first chapter and exercises thus far. I have to say that the presentation of the first law of T.D. is very simple, but the exerices are much more challenging than the chapter contents and examples. I have broswed the other chapters and read subsections, and so far the book seems to be written very well and to the point. One of the best things about this book is the Hints for solving problems (which is really a small solution appendix). I would already have carried forward several errors if not for this material. Even if you've taken an introductory sequence in the past, it is good to lay aside your assumptions and allow Mandl to navigate you through without prior prejudice.