Statistical Physics (Dover Books on Physics and Chemistry)

Rating:
Summary: a very good aid to understanding Statistical Physics.
Review: I recommend this book to any one interested in the subject. Wannier really pulls of a understandable approach to Statistical physics. You do need the proper backround, and a williness to read it. Otherwise it is very good.

Rating:
Summary: Move on friend, there is nothing but sorrow here
Review: I was looking for something beyond an undergraduate treatment when I came upon this book, and thought that for ... dollars, it was a good deal. The table of contents is really impressive, but reading the book is a horror. If you've taught a course in statistical mechanics, it is probably okay as a reference, but otherwise stay away!

Rating:
Summary: Move on friend, there is nothing but sorrow here
Review: I was looking for something beyond an undergraduate treatment when I came upon this book, and thought that for ... dollars, it was a good deal. The table of contents is really impressive, but reading the book is a horror. If you've taught a course in statistical mechanics, it is probably okay as a reference, but otherwise stay away!

Rating:
Summary: a very good aid to understanding Statistical Physics.
Review: I've come to acquire a taste for statistical mechanics. The first several times I ran across Gregory wannier's "Statistical Physics" I was very much unimpressed and put off by it, despite its treatment of topics of special interest to me. Now, having completed much of Donald McQuarrie's "Statistical Mechanics" and much of David Goodstein's "States of Matter", I am finding to my utter amazement that Wannier's book is *really* good and complements the other two (superb) texts quite well. Perhaps this is just a matter of acquiring taste for his approach, but equally likely it's a matter of having read McQuarrie and then Goodstein first, and in that order. With that experience under my belt, "Statistical Physics" has shined with lucidity and simplicity, and it's been a real joy to read.

Part of this may be due to the nature of statistical physics. To begin with, it is not a subject oriented around being able to produce quick numerical results- that is, statistical physics is not just back-of-the-envelope calculation. Instead, a leisurely conceptual approach gives more insight into its deep and intricate structure, and all three books mentioned here provide that and convey an appreciation of this beautiful subject. The wise reader will read it at his own unhurried pace.

Wannier classifies the chapters and sections of "Statistical Physics" into three types appropriate to the solid undergraduate, graduate and advanced graduate/post doc levels. So it may not work well as an introduction to the material at any of the levels.

Wannier has the honesty to treat the second law of thermodynamics as a useful but unproven principle as opposed to dogma, and devotes three complementary chapters to it on its statistical justification, its classical, axiomatic justification and its applications.

I also like the more generalized treatment which includes a nonequilibrium model in kinetic theory in addition to the usual treatment restricted to the equilibrium case.

Most of the mathematics occurs in the context of profuse prose, so only rarely is the reader left with too much mathematics connected by too few words. The writing is almost always clear.

I highly recommend the book to those with sufficient background, time and inclination to reap the great rewards it offers. P.S. If you still don't like Wannier's book, you might do well to look at it again in a few years when you have the experience given by reading other books.

Prerequisites: courses in thermodynamics, classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, and an introductory course in statistical mechanics, statistical physics or statistical thermodynamics.

Rating:
Summary: Wannier vs. Goodstein vs. McQuarrie
Review: I've come to acquire a taste for statistical mechanics. The first several times I ran across Gregory wannier's "Statistical Physics" I was very much unimpressed and put off by it, despite its treatment of topics of special interest to me. Now, having completed much of Donald McQuarrie's "Statistical Mechanics" and much of David Goodstein's "States of Matter", I am finding to my utter amazement that Wannier's book is *really* good and complements the other two (superb) texts quite well. Perhaps this is just a matter of acquiring taste for his approach, but equally likely it's a matter of having read McQuarrie and then Goodstein first, and in that order. With that experience under my belt, "Statistical Physics" has shined with lucidity and simplicity, and it's been a real joy to read.

Part of this may be due to the nature of statistical physics. To begin with, it is not a subject oriented around being able to produce quick numerical results- that is, statistical physics is not just back-of-the-envelope calculation. Instead, a leisurely conceptual approach gives more insight into its deep and intricate structure, and all three books mentioned here provide that and convey an appreciation of this beautiful subject. The wise reader will read it at his own unhurried pace.

Wannier classifies the chapters and sections of "Statistical Physics" into three types appropriate to the solid undergraduate, graduate and advanced graduate/post doc levels. So it may not work well as an introduction to the material at any of the levels.

Wannier has the honesty to treat the second law of thermodynamics as a useful but unproven principle as opposed to dogma, and devotes three complementary chapters to it on its statistical justification, its classical, axiomatic justification and its applications.

I also like the more generalized treatment which includes a nonequilibrium model in kinetic theory in addition to the usual treatment restricted to the equilibrium case.

Most of the mathematics occurs in the context of profuse prose, so only rarely is the reader left with too much mathematics connected by too few words. The writing is almost always clear.

I highly recommend the book to those with sufficient background, time and inclination to reap the great rewards it offers. P.S. If you still don't like Wannier's book, you might do well to look at it again in a few years when you have the experience given by reading other books.

Prerequisites: courses in thermodynamics, classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, and an introductory course in statistical mechanics, statistical physics or statistical thermodynamics.