Customer Reviews

Thermodynamics (Dover Books on Physics)

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

These lectures by Enrico Fermi make great reading for undergraduates in chemistry or physics, particularly those undergoing the rigors of physical chemistry and chemical thermodynamics. Fermi writes with clarity, always carefully laying the appropriate groundwork for each topic.

The mathematics assumes familiarity with calculus, including partial differentiation. Fermi provides clear explanations and motivation for the mathematics and the derivations are complete and easy to follow. For example, he carefully explained the form of a perfect differential of two variables and how it can be more readily integrated. I appreciated this help.

The first four chapters will be familiar to students of physics: Thermodynamic Systems, First Law of Thermodynamics, Second Law of Thermodynamics, and Entropy. The derivation of the Clapeyron equation and the Van der Waals equation may be new to some students.

Thereafter, the text begins to look more like physical chemistry with chapters titled Thermodynamic Potentials, Gaseous Reactions, Thermodynamics of Dilute Solutions, and the Entropy Constant. I found these last chapters to be more difficult, but not overly so.

At some points Thermodynamics becomes a real page-turner, but not in the sense of a fast-paced action story. The page-turning is necessary to retrieve earlier mathematical expressions. Occasionally, you will encounter statements like "the expression for the free energy is immediately obtained from equations (111), (29), and (86)." Fermi does not allow the reader to forget earlier derivations and discussions.

If your familiarity with thermodynamics is limited (or now foggy due to the passage of years), I suggest first reading Understanding Thermodynamics by H. C. Van Ness. This 100-page book, a series of lectures, is an excellent introduction to thermodynamics from an engineering and physics perspective. It corresponds to the first four chapters of Fermi's text.

Last week I was having dinner with friends in a restaurant in northern New Mexico. All physicists, slightly drunk, we were debating as different topics as "why did Hannibal not march on Rome after annihilating its legions at the battle of Canne?", or "how could those 19th century guys figure out a concept as like entropy BEFORE knowing statistical mechanics", when many lamented how unnatural thermodynamics felt as undergraduates, and how all textbooks were perhaps not incomplete but incapable of convey the physics. And then I said "well, there is Fermi's Thermodynamics..." end soon everybody agreed. My freshman course in thermodynamics, in Italy, was based on this book: although it is short and concise, no other text has its compelling clarity in explaining the basic laws. And it has that distinctive Fermi style: cutting the crap, straight to the physical point. Undergraduates learning the subject on any other book are really missing out.

fermi presents thermodynamics with beutiful economy. many other authors obfuscate the subject with extraneous detail, often missing the most important points. fermi misses absolutely nothing of importance, but does not weigh down his explanations with ramblings or tangents either. he presents the bare core of thermodynamics.

though the following analogy is somewhat cheesy, i find it appropriate: most authors who have written on thermo are like beginning kung fu students who do all sorts of fancy moves, backflips, and sommersaults but who ultimately land on their behinds. fermi is like the grand master who uses a stunning sparsity of moves, but each one is necessary and each one is enough. in the end, his competition doesn't stand a chance. he's just that good.

Fermi presents Thermodynamics in a clear, precise and almost irrefutable way that gives your all the results within only a few pages. Quite often, after he arrives at a well known result effortlessly, I find myself going back a few pages to make sure I understand how he got there, because it just seemed too easy and so different from the arduous arguments for the same outcome I learned from a different source. After this book, you will say, of course, this has to be. Truly a masterful work.

Would you be interested in an introductory piano "how to" written by Mozart? How about a Driver's Education couse taught by Al Unser?

No student of physics or chemistry should be without this clear, cogent examination of thermodynamics. As one of the top scientists of this century, one can consider Fermi's thermo text as science that's "straight from the horse's mouth."

Edward Perryperryer@concentric.ne

Profound. This book is a beautiful work on the subject of thermodynamics. I consider this a classic treatise. All that one requires is a knowledge of basic calculus.

First published in 1937, this book is a masterful treatment by a master physicist. Weighing in at just over 150 pages, it manages to cover all the really essential topics in this subject. Furthermore there are a few excellent examples that nicely illustrate the power of thermodynamic methods. The treatment and use of free energy are notable high points in this work.

Sadly, this book is probably still not appropriate for readers who have no knowledge of thermodynamics or the physics of heat more generally, but it would make an ideal second book on the subject. However, The Feynman Lectures are enough to make this book accessible.

The chapter titles give a good idea of the contents:

1) Thermodynamic Systems
2) The First Law of Thermodynamics
3) The Second Law of Thermodynamics
4) The Entropy
5) Thermodynamic Potentials
6) Gaseous Reactions
7) Thermodynamics of Dilute Solutions
8) The Entropy Constant

In order to get a quick review of the first semester of physical chemistry, you get a perfect edition. Everything is proved, there are several examples of classical experiments and later you can skip the text and just read the formulas for even better repitition.
One thing I'm missing is the complete behavior of real gasses, here you just find the Van-der-Waals equation and not the Virial-equation, fugacity or Thompson-effect and so on, but I think this was not the intention of the book.
I read it because I wanted, as a german, to get into english thermodynamical terms and I read it as an introduction to statistical thermodynamics, where I now go thru the text of Schrödinger.

This is Fermi at his best. A charming booklet which presents thermodynamics using the elegant Carnot cycle method. It stands out from the competitors by showing many enlightening applications with physics always having the limelight. The study of the adiabatic atmosphere, with the derivation of the dependence of temperature on height,is particularly delightful.

I am a recently retired electrical engineer.

One goal I have had for retirement is to try to become knowledgable about energy, on account of it being in my view the most crucial technical issue that will determine the well-being or lack thereof of mankind in the coming years.

As I have read various articles and books on contemporary energy topics, it dawned on me that I need to get a better grounding in thermodynamics and chemistry.

I had one course in thermodynamics in school, but, as an EE, I think I just learned it well enough to pass the tests without understanding it in depth.

There is an excellent book on renewable energy called "Fundamentals of Renewable Energy Processes" that covers the gamut of energy alternatives, and is geared toward someone with a science/engineering background, as compared to the many books on the topic of energy that are written at a layman's level.

There is some good material in the early chapters of that book on thermodynamics and heat engines. However, I felt like I should get a few additional books on thermodynamics to make sure I have a good grasp of the fundamentals.

Fermi's book has proved to be very useful in that regard. I have only gone through the chapters on the 1st & second laws and entropy, which I think may be all I need to know for now.

I was concerned that a book by Fermi might be over my head.

To my delight, I found that is not the case. For me, the level of difficulty was just right- he does not cut corners, but it is at a level where I think most undergraduate engineering students would be able to grasp it without tremendous agony. But, although it is not overly abstract, Fermi approaches the subject from a physicist's perspective, which is: Whatever concept he is covering, he doesn't pull it out of a hat, he explains where it comes from.


I believe everything I ever did in my engineering career that was of substance was in an area where I had a decent grasp of the origins of the formulas and concepts I was working with.

Fermi's book is the most valuable tool I have found to get such a grounding in the basic laws of thermodynamics.

I have only read through the chapter on entropy- I'm not sure whether I will need the rest of the material, but I will probably discover before too long that the answer is yes.

I now feel better prepared to read up on practical heat engines. I believe it will be easier to learn such material and I will understand it better on account of having gotten the fundamentals from Fermi's book.