Statistical and Thermal Physics: Fundamentals and Applications 1st Edition by M.D. Sturge (PDF)

Description

This book is based on many years of teaching statistical and thermal physics. It assumes no previous knowledge of thermodynamics, kinetic theory, or probability—the only prerequisites are an elementary knowledge of classical and modern physics, and of multivariable calculus. The first half of the book introduces the subject inductively but rigorously, proceeding from the concrete and specific to the abstract and general. In clear physical language the book explains the key concepts, such as temperature, heat, entropy, free energy, chemical potential, and distributions, both classical and quantum. The second half of the book applies these concepts to a wide variety of phenomena, including perfect gases, heat engines, and transport processes. Each chapter contains fully worked examples and real-world problems drawn from physics, astronomy, biology, chemistry, electronics, and mechanical engineering.

User’s Reviews

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

⭐I worked through this book for a senior level stat mech course in physics.I was not impressed by the book. Too often results are arrived at in a hand waving way. Some topics also seemed too condensed to the point where I did not feel comfortable with the material while at the same time dragging on (if that’s even possible). His use of footnotes drives me nuts. It seems right in the middle of a thought / derivation he puts a footnote. Half the time the footnotes are pretty useless, just telling your the dates that a person lived, while other times he is referring to whole books….There are a couple of mistakes in the book, and only a couple of things that seem flat out wrong (or at the very least posed badly). Sadly Sturge is no longer alive, so I do not expect these mistakes to be edited in the future.At times his word choice and writing style seem unnecessarily complicated.Some of the homework problems seem ill posed and in need of extra information than what is provided. There are not enough basic homework problems to give the student a solid foundation to build upon in more advanced questions.Sturge also assumes the students have familiarity with a wide range of physics outside of the course when working examples or in the problems. I wish he did more explanation of the relevant physics being used in these. It makes the material harder than it need be.The book’s physical condition is not good. I purchased it new and halfway through the semester the pages started to separate from the binding (and I pamper my books). I also wish the pages were wider and the book not as thick. At least the pages are not shiny and easy to read.In summary, this book is NOT a graduate level text, and I did not find it a very good book to learn from at the undergraduate level, sadly. Only thing I really liked about the book was the affordable price.

⭐I wish I had this textbook when I was an undergraduate, some thirty years ago.Professor Sturge seamlessly combines results of both classical and statistical thermodynamics in a clear and enjoyable introduction to the subject. The greatest delight comes in the second half of this book, when those seemingly messy and arbitrary topics that used to be taught in introductory thermodynamics courses (heat engines, phase transitions) are presented as logical results and applications of the general theory.Many of the problems presented at the end of each chapter are worth the effort because they often bring new insights.I recommend this textbook to anyone who wants to understand rather than just pass their first course in thermodynamics,

⭐Sturge is rigorous and accurate, but there is much to be desired in his textbook pedagogy.Many important results and assumptions are hidden in the text, many necessary diagrams are omitted, and he does an awful job conceptually explaining many scenarios. Sometimes his derivations are incomplete, and he always refers to equations from chapters long ago without reproducing the equation in the derivation itself. He also shifts unit systems and notation on a moment’s notice, carelessly swinging from molar to kmolar to unitless whenever he wants. He’s also incredibly dry.I cannot fathom why my professor insisted on using this book because it is genuinely the worst physics textbook I have used in my major.

⭐I was fortunate enough to be one of Prof. Sturge’s Physics 43 students in 1999. My classmates and I found this to be a wonderful book written by a first-rate teacher. We firmly believe that we found all of the errors and typos ;)The problem sets nicely complement the text and cover a wide-range of topics. I still have my copy (a soft-binding before AK Peters published it), it is that good. Buy it and consider your money very well spent.

⭐This book is terrible. We used it for my introductory statistical mechanics class, and no one I talked to in that class liked the book. Things are not explained clearly, equations are often not derived, but either left as exercises, or just stated. Many important results aren’t stated clearly, are only implicitly stated, or are hidden in the text. Examples are often not done clearly, and pretty much just state the question and then the answer without showing you how it was arrived at. The index is also worthless, and does not actually list things found in the book. This is one of the worst physics books I’ve ever used.

⭐As expected.

⭐Good condition. Fair price.

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