Thermal Physics (2nd Edition) [Hardcover]

Charles Kittel (Author), Herbert Kroemer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 1980 | ISBN-10: 0716710889 | ISBN-13: 978-0716710882 | Edition: Second Edition

CONGRATULATIONS TO HERBERT KROEMER, 2000 NOBEL LAUREATE FOR PHYSICS
 
For upper-division courses in thermodynamics or statistical mechanics, Kittel and Kroemer offers a modern approach to thermal physics that is based on the idea that all physical systems can be described in terms of their discrete quantum states, rather than drawing on 19th-century classical mechanics concepts.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: W. H. Freeman; Second Edition edition (January 15, 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0716710889
• ISBN-13: 978-0716710882
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 1.1 x 9.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #223,625 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #55 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Physics > Dynamics > Thermodynamics

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fresh Look at a Beautiful Subject December 2, 2001

By Zhigang Suo

Format:Hardcover

This is by far THE BEST textbook on the subject. As many people say, thermodynamics is a subject that one has to learn at least three times. I can easily understand the very negative review from the undergraduate student at Berkely. The subject itself is hard, and simply is not for everyone, not for the first run at least. I say this from experience. I earned a Ph.D. degree over ten years ago, and took courses on thermodynamics at both undergraduate and graduate levels. I didn't understand the subject at all, and didn't find much use in my thesis work. However, something about the subject has kept me going back to it ever since. I now own about 40 books on the subject, and use the ideas almost daily in my research. I discovered Kittel-Kroemer only recently, and have found it absolutely great. The book took an unconventional approach, as the authors explained well in the Preface and the Introduction. This approach makes the central concept, the entropy, as well as the derived ideas, the temperature, the chemical potential and the Boltzmann factor, so clear that one has to wonder why they are obscure in many other books. I find this approach the most direct and satisfying. The book contains a wonderful collection of examples. The book is written with authority and great care. It is beautifully produced, and a joy to read. (My copy hasn't fall apart, and doesn't look it ever will!) If there is a new edition, I'd like to see more links to thermodybnamics in practice. Some rudimentary description of measurements of basic quantities will further enhance the book. A few device examples, in addition to the battery, will help to make the connection. The beautiful logic structure notwithstanding, thermodyanmics is an experimental sceince. Some quantities are easy to calculate, others are easy to measure. The division of labor, an idea so natural in research and everyday life, is often missed in textbooks.

I recommend this book most strongly, and wish more people will discover its beauty.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Unclear and unhelpful October 24, 2005

By D. Grady

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

As a textbook for an undergraduate course on thermal physics, this offering is quite poor. The authors lack the gift of clearly communicating their (obviously quite good) understanding of thermal physics; the writing, particularly when explaining what should be simple concepts, is dense and opaque. Figures often function as nothing more than page-fillers, and do not serve to clarify the text. Important results are scattered, in many cases not even set off from the main text with any sort of visual cue. The problems for each section (and the text itself) will frequently bring in detailed information from other areas of physics or chemistry without making any attempt to explain its relation to the subject at hand. The authors often use the problems as extensions to the text, adding a half page of extraneous commentary after asking a question that takes a single line to state. As another reviewer remarked, the problems in general can take an hour to interpret and five minutes to solve. Overall, the book is very wordy when it doesn't need to be, confusing, and difficult to use.

If you are an undergraduate taking a first class in thermal physics, it will be a tremendous chore to learn it from this book.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Both sides are right about this book September 25, 2010

By John Public

Format:Hardcover

This IS one of the better books on the subject, but that's just because no one who understands the subject can explain it in a clear manner. That goes for Kittel as well. This book has little conceptual content, few examples, and is basically a math text that's not quite as dry as normal. What is most irritating is the way steps are skipped in the logic, as if we can all somehow see into his mind.

Most members in my class, or at least those who have tried reading the book, feel the above is a pretty accurate assessment.

The subject COULD be a lot of fun with a good textbook. The concepts are fairly straightforward to understand despite the poor way they are worded in this and other texts. It doesn't HAVE to be a difficult subject. Am seriously thinking at making an effort to write my own textbook on the subject.

Just ordered the number one textbook on the subject, as rated by Amazon readers, offered here by an author named dill. Every reviewer says his writing is easy to follow. Have my fingers crossed and plan to review that text in a few months. I am done trying to use Kittel's book. The flat spot on my forehead from banging it against the wall is starting to hurt.