Fundamentals of Statistical and Thermal Physics 1st Edition by F. Reif (PDF)

Description

Reif first introduces basic probability concepts and statistical methods used throughout all of physics. Statistical ideas are then applied to systems of particles in equilibrium to enhance an understanding of the basic notions of statistical mechanics, from which derive the purely macroscopic general statements of thermodynamics. Next, he turns to the more complicated equilibrium situations, such as phase transformations and quantum gases, before discussing nonequilibrium situations in which he treats transport theory and dilute gases at varying levels of sophistication. In the last chapter, he addresses some general questions involving irreversible processes and fluctuations. A large amount of material is presented to facilitate students’ later access to more advanced works, to allow those with higher levels of curiosity to read beyond the minimum given on a topic, and to enhance understanding by presenting several ways of looking at a particular question. Formatting within the text either signals material that instructors can assign at their own discretion or highlights important results for easy reference to them. Additionally, by solving many of the 230 problems contained in the text, students activate and embed their knowledge of the subject matter.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I read 3 chapters of this book, but I can already list a number of insights. First, the author is way too wordy. For instance he spent almost 3 pages in ch.2 or 3 talking about thermometers as thermometric devices having different “theta” parameters, then concluded that “beta” = 1/(kT) is a better and more absolute measurement. There. I said it in one sentence. Sure, he could provide a few concise examples, but 3 pages? We are physics students, not English majors. Most of us don’t enjoy reading for reading’s sake. He seriously needs an English composition course to be more concise. There are sentences in which he uses 5 pronouns in a row…”that which whom it…” and confuses the hell out of you if you don’t pay careful attention to which pronoun is referring to what. Sure, being wordy is often better than not having explanations. However, you don’t need to read the book to do the problems! Go to class, pay attention, find solutions online to DOUBLE CHECK your solutions to the exercises. You will find that you can do most of these without reading the book – although reading it does provide a richer understanding at a huge cost of your time due to his wordiness. Have you ever read Landau and Lifshits? I’m not saying Reif needs to be that good and concise, but damn…at least try.A comment to all of you who complain that this is such a difficult subject: surely you have taken classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, and electrodynamics. Some of you even had thermodynamics. If you can handle those courses, what’s so difficult about this one? Take an advanced probability course, even an advanced statistics course if you have to – or just learn the math on your own. Yes, study the relationship between poisson and exponential probability distributions. You will see that the math in ch.1 is very manageable. Seriously, this stuff really isn’t that difficult so stop commenting about how this book illuminates a “difficult” subject. Just have the right background, and you will see that such a wordy textbook is wasting much of your precious time, especially if you are a good student and actually reads the damn book. Stop pretending that you had an intellectual orgasm reading this book. Some of the stuff in ch.1 takes you on a rabbit trail. If you are strong enough in probability theory and statistics (which really doesn’t take that much if you handled physics), you will see that he is just writing in circles a lot of the time.If I find that ch.6-9 are much better in quality, I will revise my review. I hope my revision will be for the better.

⭐The book may be somewhat repetitive in its approach to some of the concepts and prompt readers to skip over some of the examples that he uses to illustrate concepts. However, a closer look gives the reader a better appreciation of this repetition: it builds gradually and is well connected. It helped me gain an understanding of what I learned (which was not the same for other books). I think it is an excellent textbook in presenting the theory and foundations, but I would have liked more applications. I used this book as a secondary resource to my Statistical Mechanics class for Chemistry(which used Dill and Bromberg). I feel that statistical mechanics is somewhat similar to quantum field theory: it has many prerequisites and learning from various texts helps tremendously. However, the approach Reif presents has rather few prerequisities. Calculus is required and Probability is used, but what you need to know about probability is presented nicely in conjunction to the theory. Reif’s main audience seems to be physicist rather than chemists or biologist. Most of the examples have to do with gases, particles, and photons. Ideal solutions, raoult’s law, are not mentioned in this book. If you are either a biologist or a chemist, this book will not teach you enough. I suggest Terrell Hill, MacQuarrie, Nitzan, Dill & Bromberg, and Fowler (Fowler may be hard to obtain though). If you are comfortable with Statistics and Probability as well as Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics, I recommend Tuckerman.

⭐I was very lucky that my physics professor brought with him from America the Berkeley Physics course. So I have also been shaped by Frederick Reifs excellent volume 5 “ Statistical Physics” . On every page you get the impression that Professor Reif was trying his best to help an uneducated mind understand the physical ideas in use today for the explanation of how nature works.Well, the same is true for “Fundamentals of Statistical and Thermal Physics” where the topics are covered on 651 pages. I will not go through the contents as you can look them up and , as you can imagine, the book covers all essential aspects of the subject. Every chapter is closed by a further reading list and by an exercise section where the student can check his progress. We think the book will also be very useful for the professional physicist who wants to inform himself about a special topic with regard to statistical physics. One of the meanings of reif in German is mature and we think that“Fundamentals of Statistical and Thermal Physics” is indeed a mature book.

⭐This is a classic text. If you want a comprehensive and well written introduction at the advanced undergraduate or graduate level to the subjects of statistical and thermal physics, you should consider getting this book. For many people, statistical physics is a difficult topic to learn. Buying a single text will not make one an expert. However getting a good introductory text can really facilitate the journey to understanding. This is perhaps my favorite “all in one” textbook covering statistical and thermal physics. It’s a hefty tome, so it is best read opened on a desk with a pencil and pad of paper nearby.

⭐One of the better thermo books I’ve read. Some parts are too wordy, but the derivations straight to the point.

⭐Surprisingly a great book. A very good introduction to a really difficult topic. The only con I have is that it could definitely use more example problems, but it’s very easy to find solutions to many of these problems online since it’s been around for so long. The explanations are very thorough. I’ve also heard from many professors that this has been and still is *the* book for the subject.

⭐Don’t really know how to rate this book as it was gift to my nerdy older brother. He likes to study physics and other nerdy things. It’s great for nerds!

⭐Great textbook. Really helped me understand the class. Could have used a few more examples.

⭐Book arrived in way ahead of time and in fantastic condition (no physical damage although there are a few notations, witch is expected).

⭐A historical book necessary for any physical scientist. Specifically for those who are dealing with the great sector of physical chemistry.

⭐Muchas veces he estado buscando libros de estos temas, que el libro sea comprensible pero algunos son complicados para los que apenas estamos introduciéndonos al tema. Este libro lo recomiendo demasiado para los que son nuevos, sus temas y explicaciones son muy buenas y explica los conceptos también muy bien.En cuestión de la calidad del libro no decepciona, es pasta dura, sus hojas son gruesas pero no premium, aún así su impresión es de muy buena calidad y se logra visualizar todo el contenido excelente.

⭐Not found.

⭐5 stars absolutely

⭐Book very worn out. The cover is falling appart. Arrived quickly.

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