Equilibrium Statistical Physics

Rating:
Summary: A fine advanced book on statistical physics
Review: I liked this book a lot since the first time I read the first edition. It's extremely up to date, many of the examples come from cutting edge research (like the very fashionable soft condensed matter field). But beware the level is a bit high, so it's probably not a good choice to learn about this subject on your own. Its highest utility is as a help to teachers and as a companion of a course on statistical mechanics.

Rating:
Summary: A good survey of condensed matter
Review: The focus of this book is squarely on condensed matter physics and so it is definitely not a recommended resource for learning the foundations of statistial mechanics. As such, if you are new to any of the material, this book on its own will not be of much use. It is certainly not "self-contained", as stated on the back cover, as important topics, such as the various models of ferromagnetism, are not fully described or developed before approximation techniques are introduced. That said, this book contains a wealth of information that would be difficult to find in any other single volume. The authors discuss a range of topics from ferromagnetism to quantum fluids, and there is even a good chapter on computer simulations. As many of the systems encountered in condensed matter are not exactly solvable, the emphasis is necessarily on approximation techniques though there is some discussion of the few exact solutions available (for example, there is a detailed derivation of the exact solution to the 2-d Ising Model on the square lattice). An extensive bibliography contains many good references, often to the original papers. All in all, this book is recommended to anyone with a firm grounding in statistical mechanics (and quantum mechanics) who is looking to study condensed matter physics. Keep in mind that this book was published in 1994 so it may not be as current as some. A 3rd edition would be most welcome.