Customer Reviews

Thermal Physics

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

While a nice, non-intimidating introduction to the field with an emphasis on physical insight and "back of the envelope" reasoning, it is NOT suitable as a graduate level text for statistical & thermal physics, contrary to what is stated on the back cover. I would say that if one were to use this and Reif as a combo as an undergraduate, one would get a good picture of the field from both a classic and a well done modern presentation.

For graduate studies, by all means look elsewhere. McQuarrie, Kubo, Huang (if need be), heck, digging up the Dover reprints by Hill and Wannier wouldn't be such a bad idea, really.

This is by far and away the best book on introductory thermal physics I've read. It is written in plain and clear English and the development of concepts and the required mathematical framework is language-based rather than formula-driven.

The first three chapters give a beautifully concise overview of the basic concepts of first-year thermodynamics, with a very clear introduction of the concept of entropy. The highlight of the book is perhaps the development of the chemical potential and the Helmholtz and Gibbs free energies.

Baierlein gives a great introduction to thermal physics. He emphasizes the how and why and writes in english, i.e. this book is not a collection of formulas.

He does a very good job of explaning statistical mechanics, providing insiteful discussions of the Maxwell-Boltzman, Einstein-Bose, Fermi, and canonical distributions. Great description of the chemical potential. Easy to understand discussion of entropy and multiplicity and also of the partial and exact differentials used in thermal physics.

IMHO, it is the best introduction to the topic available. A similar book, but not as well written is "Thermal Physics" by Kittel and Kroemer. Of course if you are looking for a reference on Statistical Mechanics, chock full of mathematics, try Reif, Reichl, or Landau.

The writing is not your usual dry textbook writing. There are actually quite a few interesting examples and stories. It is not extremely rigorous either. All necessary information is presented without getting bogged down in unnecessary technical matters. Great for undergrad level.

Book has fairly good qualitative descriptions. However the books description and work regarding analytically problem solving is minimal at best. Good for courses that focus on qualitative but bad for courses focusing on the analytic.

This book was very clear and concisely written. It made my understanding of Thermodynamics greater in depth, than any other resource I have used in the pass.

Baierlein is chatty and presents the material in a friendly manner, however too often the material is simply glossed over and the results presented in a purely qualitative manner.

In particular, his development of the early quantum theory has gaps in it, or rather, it is presented in a convoluted manner that does more harm than good.

Also, the last chapter, on critical phemonena covers a difficult subject in a totally unacceptable manner.

The textbook is little to no help when it comes to learning physics. The language is simpler, but it tells you very little about wear equations come from, how they are derived, what the constant values are, and the homework practically leaves you hanging. There are almost no example problems to help you understand actual numerical calculations. Not to mention the Index is completely useless. Even things that the book defines and names are hard to find using the index. I had to use a bunch of tabs to mark where things were. Also, the homework problems are poorly worded. Towards the later chapters, I honestly had the hardest time trying to figure out what the problem was asking for. I learned more online and through wikipedia and other sites than using this book. Also, the overlap in the use of certain variables does not help to comprehend equations and relationships. Simply terrible book.

I would not recommend spending that kind of money on this text. I suggest checking the school library or borrowing from a friend or even the professor himself. BTW, don't even try to look for homework help online or even trying to type in keywords from the problem. You aren't going to find anything that is similar to the problems this book asks you to solve.

The book physical properties are good. Nice cover finish for a paperback. Pages are solid and well bounded.

Thermal Physics

This textbook on applied statistical mechanics is intended for use by advanced undergraduates in physics and astronomy. The first five chapters (plus chapter 7) are a gloss of basic thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. The rest of the book applies statistical mechanics to various topics: photons and phonons, fermions and bosons, chemical equilibrium, phase equilbrium, etc.

The book presumes a familiarity with thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, and statistical mechanics. Because the author presumes a familiarity with many of the concepts that he considers, he sometimes introduces terms and even variables without defining them. What's more objectionable is that throughout the book the author reasons by "handwaving" arguments instead of rigorous logic; that is, he argues that his results are plausible but he doesn't prove them. Although the book is intended for astronomy majors, there is almost no mention of astronomical topics in either the text or the problems. Furthermore, some chapters offer few references for further study. There are better texts on statistical mechanics.

This has been one of the worst book I have every bought!!! You cant really use it if you dont have any previous knowledge of the material... And for those that have to use the book and have no choice because its the class textbook, dont even bother to look for the solutions to the exercises. The book does not come with any solution what so ever to any problem in the book. And dont try to look for it online beacause its RESTRICTED to professors only!!!! There is no help from Cambridge in this matter. They have no sense of helping students achieve better grades or to overcome this difficult course. If you dont have to buy it, DONT, it will not help anyway!!! I DO NOT RECOMMEND IT!!!